Rogers Communications announced multi-year licensing deals with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery ahead of its 2024 upfront presentation on Monday (June 10).

The company is launching NBCUniversal’s Bravo channel and will become the content rights holder in Canada, beginning in September.

And starting January 2025, Rogers will become the home of Warner Bros. Discovery’s suite of English-language U.S. lifestyle and factual brands, including HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia Network, Cooking Channel, and Discovery channels including Motor Trend, Science, Animal Planet and ID.

Rogers said it will partner with domestic distribution partners to make the content widely available, including on Citytv+.

Corus Entertainment, which currently holds the licenses to HGTV, the Food Network, Magnolia Network and Cooking Channel, issued a statement last Friday on the content and licensing arrangement being terminated as of Dec. 31, stating it would explore potential remedies.

Bell Media issued the following statement to Playback Daily: “Bell Media is Canada’s foremost media company, with industry-leading assets across every content genre. Our long-standing partnership, content, and brand arrangements for the Discovery Canada channels includes protections against the launch of competing services. We fully intend to assert our rights with a view to protecting our business.”

Ahead of its upfront, it was also announced that Citytv’s Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is getting a two-season renewal after its debut season was a ratings success for the network.

The Toronto-set spinoff of the popular franchise joins Canada’s Got Talent (which will include Canadian singer Shania Twain as a judge), Hudson & Rex and OMNI Television’s Abroad in receiving greenlights for new seasons as part of Citytv’s 2024-25 original programming slate. The lineup was announced ahead of the Rogers Sports & Media upfront presentation on June 10.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, produced by Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures and developed by showrunner Tassie Cameron, will kick off production in July, with the second and third seasons slated to premiere from early 2025.

The show pulled in more than 1.1 million viewers for its debut, making it the No. 1 primetime premiere ever on the channel.

The returning cast includes Aden Young, Kathleen Munroe, Karen Robinson and K.C. Collins.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is produced in association with Universal International Studios. The Criminal Intent format is licensed by NBCUniversal and Wolf Entertainment.

Canada’s Got Talent is returning for a fourth season, with music icon Twain and comedian Katherine Ryan joining Howie Mandel and Kardinal Offishall on the judges panel, with Lindsay Ell as host.

Produced in partnership with McGillivray Entertainment Media, Fremantle and SYCO Entertainment, the show will begin production this fall in Niagara Falls, Ont., and premieres in spring 2025 on Citytv and Citytv+. Auditions are now open.

The canine-cop procedural Hudson & Rex returns for season seven, with production starting this month in St. John’s. The series, produced by Shaftesbury and Pope Productions in association with Citytv, will premiere in early 2025.

OMNI Television’s sketch comedy series Abroad, produced by Longhope Media, has been renewed for a fourth season. The series, co-created by and starring Filipina comedian Isabel Kanaan, is based on the immigrant experience in Canada. The 6 x 30-minute new season will episodes in English and Tagalog and air on OMNI Television in spring next year.

Meanwhile, Citytv’s lifestyle entertainment show, Breakfast Television, will premiere an extended  from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m nationally starting in September, featuring media personalities Cheryl Hickey and Tracy Moore. The new hour was first announced in May along with news that the daytime talk show Cityline was ending after 40 years.

On the news side, CityNews 24/7 will expand to serve Alberta (in addition to Ontario and B.C.) beginning in July. CityNews 24/7 provides coverage of breaking news stories and live events, plus exclusive interviews and in-depth insights.

Rogers earlier announced five new acquisitions for Citytv and Citytv+  as part of its fall broadcast schedule in 2024-25.

Among them is the NBC drama Brilliant Minds, the animated Fox comedy Universal Basic Guys, Freevee’s reality court show Judy Justice and the ABC reality series Golden Bachelorette — all for Citytv. Coming in as a Citytv+ exclusive on Prime Video Channels is the Paramount+ drama Stags.

The fall schedule includes 21 returning series and special events on Citytv and Citytv+.

Updated with a statement from Bell Media

Photo by Peter Stranks, courtesy of Citytv