The way Canadians view HBO programming — and much else in the future battle for television attention north of the U.S. border — is up for grabs after Paramount Skydance, owner of Paramount+, won a bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. Television. Discovery, home of HBO Max.
Paramount’s David Ellison has talked about merging HBO Max and Paramount+ into one streaming service after completing the WBD acquisition. The prospect, set to mark a major turning point in Canada’s rapidly evolving TV landscape, could see private local broadcasters reliant on US imports push profits further to the margins as US streaming giants like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ increase their cross-border dominance.
Seeking to keep up, HBO Max and Comcast’s Peacock have chosen to license their content to local broadcast stations and digital platforms, rather than going directly to Canadians through their U.S.-based digital platforms. This led local media player Bell Media to sign a multi-year programming supply agreement with WBD to show HBO Max and HBO fare on its local Crave streaming platform.
But with WBD heading to Paramount after the merger, Bell Media will face very different terrain to renew its supply agreement to keep HBO Max series on Crave. This deal was concluded in May 2023 and was last renewed in October 2024.
“In addition to Canada’s best curated entertainment, news and sports stories, Crave remains home to HBO and HBO Max programming in Canada through a long-term deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for the foreseeable future,” Bell Media said in a statement. hollywood Reporter, Without indicating how long the current supply agreement with the WBD subsidiary will last.
Paramount Canada did not offer any comment when asked about a potential mix of HBO Max and Paramount+ north of the border. That’s because U.S. streaming companies increasingly dominate TV ad revenue and viewership in Canada, and the combination of Paramount+ and HBO Max will likely accelerate that dominance.
The move into the Canadian market is also intended to allow U.S. streaming providers to better control local distribution of their content to sign up and retain digital subscribers. This, in turn, challenges Canadian broadcasters to deliver their own US content that dominates prime-time viewing north of the border and manage their customer bases as cord-cutting and changing TV viewership impact their business models.
In the Canadian market, Rogers Sports and Media has signed a multi-year deal with WBD effective January 1, 2025 to acquire the Canadian rights to the popular lifestyle and reality channel brands such as HGTV, Food Network and OWN after the properties were with Bell Media and Corus Entertainment. Along with its nationwide cable TV network, Rogers distributes U.S. channels and programming through Canada’s other major cable TV providers, Citytv+ and Discovery+.
“We are proud to continue bringing these beloved brands – Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Magnolia Network and Investigation Discovery – and this great content to Canadian audiences,” a Rogers Sports and Media spokesperson said. THR In a statement. There is no word on how long the channel’s current deal with WBD will last beyond its first year.
elsewhere, THR There has been no response after reaching out to Corus Entertainment about the potential local impact from the WBD merger deal on Paramount-owned free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV, which expands to Canada in 2022 via the private broadcaster.
