Corus Entertainment has raised the curtain on its two new lifestyle brands.

Home Network and Flavour Network will launch on Dec. 30, replacing the HGTV and Food Network brands, respectively, after Corus’s agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery ends.

The 2025 winter/spring schedule includes 460 hours of content, with more than 110 hours of original Canadian programming, according to a news release.

Some of the newly announced titles are the Home Network series Life is Messy (Scott Brothers Entertainment), featuring home reno personalities Kortney Wilson and Kenny Brain, and Flavour Network’s The Big Burger Battle (Nikki Ray Media Agency) starring Andrew Phung (Run the Burbs). Flavour will also be the home of an untitled travelogue series focused on beverages.

Corus said it’s in development on more titles, including a new series with the Sebastian Clovis-led production company Shoots ‘N Leaves Media, and additional seasons of Rock Solid Builds and House of Ali.

New Home and Flavour series previously announced during the June upfronts include Building Baeumler with Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, Rentovation with Natalie Chong, Beer Budget Reno with Kristen Coutts and Pamela’s Cooking with Love.

The rebranded networks will have more Canadian originals in 2025, compared to HGTV Canada and Food Network Canada in 2024 or 2023, Corus co-CEO Troy Reeb tells Playback Daily.

He says Corus has been able to invest more of its Canadian programming dollars into lifestyle, diverting some of its production dollars from kids content.

“We know the kids space is more challenged, and that’s taken a lot of our traditional Canadian investment,” says Reeb, adding that Corus is not “abandoning kids, but moving with the market.”

He says the increased spend in lifestyle leans into what “advertisers respond best to,” noting that the company has already heard positive feedback from media agencies about the partnership opportunities with the Home and Flavour networks.

“We have full control over these brands, we don’t pay trademark fees,” says Reeb. “We set what the brand parameters are, what kind of integrations we’re able to do, and how we can engage with the advertising community.”

Beyond Canadian originals, Reeb says the channels will also boast competitive acquired content, featuring recognizable talents such as Gordan Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares), Jessica Alba (Honest Renovations), Carla Hall (Chasing Flavor with Carla Hall) and Joanna Teplin and Clea Shearer (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition).

Home and Flavour will be competing with their predecessors, with Rogers announcing last month that it will launch linear channels under the HGTV and Food Network brands in January.

While Reeb says the new Rogers channels will water down an already-challenged advertising market for broadcasters, Corus has an “established pedigree as a company and as a programming and lifestyle expert to make [Home and Flavour a] success.”

He says one indication of that is the ratings performance of Slice, which had to pivot its programming strategy after losing its Bravo output deal. The channel’s 25 to 54 audience is up 8% compared the first two weeks of September in 2024, and was up 12% in August compared to the same period last year, according to Corus, citing figures from Numeris.

The channel brand announcement comes less than one month ahead of a looming deadline for Corus to resolve its current debt problem. The company received a six-week extension from lenders to maintain its current debt levels at 4.75 times its operating income. As of Oct. 15, that ratio will be reduced to 4.25.

Corus has slashed costs over the summer, including hundreds of layoffs and selling off its majority stake in Aircraft Pictures. Quebecor has also reportedly proposed to acquire Corus, according to The Globe and Mail, though Reeb declined to comment on the possibility of a sale.

When asked about the financial stability of the company beyond Oct. 15, Reeb said it’s “a matter for ongoing discussion, but the goodwill is there on the part of every single player connected to this conversation.”

“One thing we hear from every stakeholder, whether they be a financial stakeholder in the company, an advertiser, or our production partners and talent, is everyone sees the value in what we do,” he says. “Canada is a better place with Corus channels in it and I don’t think there’s any doubt around that.”

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment