Bell Media and Warner Bros. Discovery have settled their Canadian content rights dispute regarding Bell Media’s suite of Discovery-branded channels. In June, Bell filed an application in Ontario Superior Court seeking an injunction to block Rogers from distributing Discovery channels. In a release Tuesday morning, Rogers said Bell acknowledged all claims “were unfounded and abandoned its legal efforts.” Bell Media says details of changes to its Discovery channels will be announced in the coming weeks. Bell Media simultaneously announced the expansion of its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, extending Crave’s run for multiple years as the exclusive home of HBO and Max content in Canada. The new agreement also includes a co-production commitment for original Canadian content “with global appeal,” licensing of Bell Media original content for use on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms outside of Canada, and extended access to French-language content for use on Bell Media platforms. Read more here.
Crave has unveiled a new brand campaign, leading up to the streamer’s 10th anniversary in December. Targeted to both the English and French markets in Canada, it features stars from Crave Original series, Boman Martinez-Reid (Made for TV) and Katherine Levac (Completement Lycee). The campaign spans digital, social, radio, TV, and outdoor (OOH) platforms. The promo will run throughout the fall during key primetime slots, including NFL and NHL games, and CTV’s new programming line up.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has released a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Report, based on 2023 data. For the first time, the data showed a decline in the number of episodes across every TV format. In addition, series covered in this year’s report hired fewer writers than ever before. Compared with 2016, the number of WGC members working on Canadian TV decreased by 11%. WGC says the decline jeopardizes hard-fought progress to establish a growing pool of diverse working writers within the industry. Based on data from 76 series (53 live-action, 23 animation) in production in 2023, in addition to the 372 covered from 2019-22, the report indicates the percentage of WGC diverse writers working in Canadian TV has increased steadily from 26% in 2019 to 40% in 2023. The participation of writers with disabilities increased slightly to four per cent in 2023. WGC has released a Best Practices Guide for Producers Working with Diverse Screenwriters as a companion to the report.
MTM’s latest report, Sporting Propositions, looks at sports viewing on TV and SVODs, as well as awareness of sports betting advertising. It finds half of Canadians (50%) watch sports content on linear TV. While sports SVODs are not as popular as sports TV channels, nine per cent of households subscribe to them. Close to half of online Canadians (45%) have seen an ad for an online sports betting site or app. Not only have three in five sports TV viewers (58%) and SVOD subscribers (60%) seen these ads, nearly a third of those who hadn’t watched sports in the prior month (31%) are aware of them. Even with the heavy promotion, only six per cent of online Canadians say they have bet on sports through one of these sites.
Telefilm Canada and the Talent Fund have welcomed 17 new film teams through the Talent to Watch Program with an investment of $3.45 million. Telefilm says it received a high volume of applications under the Talent to Watch Program for fiscal 2024-25, with 150 projects assessed representing nearly $35 million in funding requests.
Canfro Productions President and award-winning showrunner and industry leader Anthony Q. Farrell is calling for applications for a new cohort of the Diversity Showrunner Bootcamp program, sponsored by Warner Bros Discovery Access Canada. To be eligible, applicants must have/had a series (for web or television) in development with a Canadian or U.S. broadcaster or production company, or attained a producer-level credit on at least one season of a Canadian series, or have a story editor credit on an animated series. Applications are now open until Oct. 22.
Global Calgary turned 70 this week. CICT-TV first signed on the air on Oct. 8, 1954, as CHCT-TV, and was the first television station in the province of Alberta. The station was originally a CBC affiliate, owned by Calgary Television Ltd. CICT joined the Global Television Network full-time on Sept. 4, 2000.
TVO Today is set to launch new show, Big [If True] (28 x 30’), hosted by Molly Thomas. The weekly program dives into the disruption and division disinformation is creating in society. Each week, Big [If True] will take viewers on a journey through curious claims, hoaxes, and lies circulating online, with Thomas and a lineup of experts helping viewers navigate falsehoods and reassess how to critically think about content. Big [If True] will be available to stream across Canada starting Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on the TVO Today YouTube channel, website, and Smart TV app. The series will also be aired on TVO’s broadcast channel in Ontario.
Asian Television Network (ATN) has acquired exclusive Canadian rights for the first season of National Cricket League of USA being played in Dallas. The inaugural season of the NCL kicked off Oct. 4 and will feature teams from New York, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. ATN also has the exclusive rights for the highly-anticipated West Indies v England bilateral cricket series starting at the end of October and continuing into November. All games will air LIVE on both sports channels owned and operated by ATN, Commonwealth Broadcasting Network (CBN) and ATN Cricket Plus.
Fifth Season has secured an extension to its existing partnership with Roku, which sees Latin American and Canadian rights plus new seasons and series added to the companies’ current agreement – under which it serves as Roku’s international format and tape distribution partner for a slate of unscripted Roku Originals worldwide. Second seasons of existing flagship titles, including Jessica Alba’s Honest Renovations, Morimoto’s Sushi Master, UFO Cowboys, Reptile Royalty, and Meet Me in Rome – the follow-up feature to Meet Me in Paris from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine – have now been added to the overall agreement. Additionally, Fifth Season has secured a raft of multi-title sales across Roku’s unscripted originals, including with Corus Entertainment in Canada.
Great Pacific Media, part of Thunderbird Entertainment Group, has sold global distribution segment rights of Highway Thru Hell to Banijay Rights, the distribution arm of content powerhouse Banijay Entertainment. Banijay Rights, the longtime distributor of Highway Thru Hell internationally, now holds the rights to license, distribute, publish and broadcast short-form segments and stories excerpted from the series, which is currently in pre-production on its 14th season. An official HighwayThruHellTV YouTube channel, created and managed by Banijay Rights, launched in August. Additionally, Banijay Rights now publishes segments on social media platforms, including Highway Thru Hell’s Official Show Page on Facebook.
Cottage Life’s new original series, Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, a reboot of the hit Holmes on Homes program, sees construction pioneer Mike Holmes reflect on his career helping homeowners and advocating for the trade industry. In the new six-part series, audiences will witness Holmes’ determination to instill his values in his children, Michael and Sherry, as they continue his legacy. The show delves deeper into the Holmes family dynamic, following Mike as he returns to his “make it right” roots and mentors his children in the family business. Cameras follow the trio as they work side-by-side to create life-changing renovations for deserving homeowners, while also capturing heartfelt behind-the-scenes family moments with Mike, his kids and grandchildren. The series premieres Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Super Channel has announced the long-awaited return of When Hope Calls, the spinoff sequel to Canadian author Janette Oke’s book series and TV series When Calls the Heart. The highly-anticipated second season of When Hope Calls started production this month in Powassan, ON and will premiere in Canada on Super Channel Heart & Home in the first quarter of 2025. Great American Family will air the series in the U.S. Joining the all-star Canadian cast for season two are series newcomers Cindy Busby (Crown Prince of Christmas), Christopher Russell (Reacher, A Lot Like Christmas), and Nick Bateman (A Christmas Miracle with Daisy). Returning cast members include Wendy Crewson, Morgan Kohan (Sullivan’s Crossing), Ryan-James (RJ) Hatanaka (Criminal Minds) and Hanneke Talbot (Star Trek).
Prime Video has released first look images for The Sticky (6×30), a fast-paced, dark comedy, inspired by the true story of 2012’s “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” From showrunners Ed Herro and Brian Donovan, the series follows a tough, middle-aged syrup farmer, played by three-time Emmy winner Margo Martindale, who turns to crime when the bureaucratic authorities threaten to take away everything she loves. Also starring Chris Diamantopoulos and Guillaume Cyr, Jamie Lee Curtis appears as a guest star in addition to executive producing. The Sticky premieres Dec. 6 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.
Thunderbird Entertainment Group has announced that The Day You Begin, a brand-new animated original special from Atomic Cartoons, is heading to PBS Kids. The special is currently in production at Atomic’s Vancouver studio. Based on the New York Times-bestselling picture book of the same name by Macarthur Fellow and Jacqueline Woodson, the 45-minute special follows three kindergarteners on their first day of school, and is told from each of their points of view to create an interconnecting narrative.
Crave will start streaming Born Hungry on Oct. 21, based on the true story of Toronto-based celebrity chef Sash Simpson. Directed by Barry Avrich and produced by Mark Selby, and award-winning actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Purple Pebble Pictures), the human drama is about a young Indian boy who finds himself abandoned by his family in rural India, thousands of miles from home. Ultimately rescued and adopted by a Canadian family, Simpson returns to India armed with only blurry memories to find his lost family and reclaim his Indian roots. Born Hungry premiered at the 2024 Palm Springs International Film Festival and screened at Hot Docs in Toronto to three sold out audiences.
Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) has opened funding applications for its 2025-26 cycle. LAC gives close to $1.5 million every year to community organizations so they can dedicate the necessary resources to projects aimed at promoting their collections and making them more accessible, while strengthening their capacity to preserve Canada’s documentary heritage. Eligible organizations are invited to submit by Jan. 9, 2025.
