The year 2024 may eventually be considered a benchmark for Canada’s screen sector. Between initial regulatory decisions, historic labour disputes and controversial content deals, there was no shortage of drama. But what will the long-term effects be for Canada’s indie production scene? Playback spoke with several industry leaders to reflect on the year that was and how it may shape the years to come.

Part one, below, looks at the shakeup in licensing and content for Canada’s major broadcasters. Parts two and three examine the historic writers strike vote and the potential impact of the base contributions regulations, respectively.

The morning of June 10, 2024, sent shockwaves through the industry when Rogers Communications announced new content deals with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and NBCUniversal for content rights previously licensed to competitors Bell Media and Corus Entertainment.

Under the agreements, Rogers had the rights to launch six new channels: Bravo in September and HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia, Discovery ID and Discovery on Jan. 1 as well as add content from Cooking Channel, OWN, Motor Trend, Animal Planet and Discovery Science on Citytv+.

The reaction was swift. Corus co-CEO Troy Reeb became the talk of the Banff World Media Festival when he compared Rogers executives to schoolyard bullies stealing lunch money – a statement he tells Playback he still stands by – and Bell Media threatened legal action.

Bell Media followed through that same month, filing for an injunction to block the launch of a new Discovery channel and seek damages from WBD. The dispute between Bell Media and WBD was settled in October, and the company dropped its legal action against Rogers. Rogers did not provide comment at press time.

Despite it all, SVP, content and sales Stewart Johnston (pictured right) says Bell Media is “in a stronger position today than we were six months ago.” He credits this to quick action from the company to replace the Discovery brands and an extended deal with WBD to keep HBO content on Crave “for the foreseeable future,” enabling long-term planning for the streamer.

In October, Bell Media announced the rebranding of its Discovery channel to USA Network and Investigation Discovery as Oxygen True Crime, effective Jan. 1, thanks to a deal with NBCUniversal. That same day the company rebranded Animal Planet, Discovery Science and Discovery Velocity to CTV Wild, CTV Nature and CTV Speed, respectively.

Johnston says Bell Media had already been in talks with NBCUniversal to expand their partnership. Because of the legal dispute, he says the companies continued to stay in touch, but talks didn’t get into high gear until they settled with WBD. After that, the parties secured the new partnership in “record speed.”

Corus unveiled a rebrand of its own in September, with HGTV Canada changing to Home Network and Food Network Canada to Flavour Network, effective Dec. 30.

“We’ve never been afraid of competition,” says Reeb. “Competition is always more difficult when your competitor has the brands that you built, but we’re not afraid of it. We have decades of experience in [lifestyle programming] and the reality is, for our services, it really is the Canadian content that most resonates with Canadian audiences.”

In fact, Reeb (pictured left) says Home and Flavour has led to new opportunities for original programming. They have 110 hours of originals slated for the 2025-26 broadcast year, up from 95 hours in 2024-25. He says Corus is connecting with new independent producers on original content and has already secured partnerships with new studios, including Beer Budget Reno (Proper Television), a coproduction with A&E Networks.

For Bell Media, Johnston says the commissioning strategy remains the same as under the prior brands, with mainstay originals like Highway Thru Hell (Great Pacific Media) and new series My Pet Ate What? (Tyson Media) available alongside acquired shows such as Suits and The Traitors franchise. A co-development deal with WBD will bring global resources in the creation of more Canadian originals.

“It’s refreshing to see broadcasters competing over media assets in this country,” says Reynolds Mastin, president and CEO of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). “We’ve heard from broadcasters that they are hungry for content to fill these new channels. There has been so much doom and gloom and we’ve seen Canada’s private broadcasters, until very recently, seem to retreat from broadcasting. These deals seem to represent a 180-degree change in approach, and that is a great thing for the system.”

While Bell Media and Corus are leaning on optimism, the seismic event has shifted the broadcast landscape at a time when advertising revenue for linear continues to decrease. For Corus, which is actively seeking ways to cut costs to offload its $1 billion in debt, the pain is felt more sharply.

The company claims that Rogers has abused its position as Canada’s largest distributor, arguing it is competing for program rights and launching new channels while seeking cost reductions from other broadcasters.

Corus and Rogers are currently in a dispute over the carriage and alignment of Slice, Home and Flavour, with the CRTC quietly ordering Rogers to maintain status quo on the channels until the dispute is resolved. Rogers brought the matter to the Federal Court of Appeal in December, arguing that the CRTC has exceeded its authority in the decision and that moving Home and Flavour is the company “taking necessary action to protect the value of its significant investments.”

“This was not a helpful move by Rogers to go and start bidding up the price of studio content at a time when there’s only so many dollars to go around,” says Reeb, adding that pending regulation on the market dynamics between small and larger players in the system will be crucial in leveling the playing field in 2025.

Corus’s credit facility agreement has been extended to March 31, giving them a few more months to work out their debt problem.

“Everyone is invested in finding a solution,” says Reeb. “Of course, we can’t speak to what that solution might be, but I will say this: All of our suppliers are getting paid, no one’s had any concerns on that front. It’s business as usual as we work through this.”

Image: Unsplash

A version of this story originally appeared in Playback‘s 2024 Winter issue