The launch of Home Network and Flavour Network has allowed the Corus Entertainment programming team to explore new territory without straying too far from its roots.

The lifestyle channels launched on Dec. 30, 2024 ahead of the HGTV and Food Network brands moving to new channels from Rogers Communications. According to Corus, about 9.2 million Canadians have tuned in to Home and Flavour since then and the channels have maintained their top 10 positions across specialty networks.

For the programming team, the move away from HGTV gives them more space to be innovative and collaborative in their originals and acquisitions.

“We’ve been able to push out of that box into a whole new world that’s ours and really meet audiences where they want to be,” Rachel Nelson, VP, original programming and head of Corus Studios, tells Playback Daily.

She says the broadcaster has focused much of its original content investments into lifestyle programming for Home and Flavour, affirming previous comments from Corus co-CEO Troy Reeb. That means the plan is to roughly maintain the increased number of original programming hours, which was bumped up to 110 hours for the 2025-26 broadcast year from 95 in the prior period.

Part of the commissioning strategy for Home and Flavour is to find programming that appeals to a younger demographic, as well as bringing in new talent to complement the familiar faces on the network, like Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray.

Key examples are Rentovation (Nikki Ray Media Agency) and Beer Budget Reno (Proper Television), which skew to young viewers who aren’t home owners or are working with lean renovation budgets.

Nelson says Corus has also seen an uptick in the popularity of food competition series, noting that Great Chocolate Showdown (Nikki Ray) has seen a boost in views since the Flavour launch. Some of the new programming leaning into the competition space is Big Burger Battle (Nikki Ray), hosted by Run the Burbs and Kim’s Convenience star Andrew Phung.

Corus is also seeking to appeal to younger viewers on the luxury end of things with House of Ali (Nikki Ray; pictured), featuring the big-budget renovations of home designer Ali Budd. The series was greenlit last year and has already been renewed for a second season.

“We’ll continue to look for big, bold characters because that’s just television, period,” says Nelson. “You always want to have amazing characters at the forefront.”

Complementing the network originals are a raft of new acquisitions, led by Jennifer Abrams, SVP of programming and multiplatform.

Abrams says the acquisitions strategy isn’t drastically different from what they’ve already been doing, but it’s allowed them to expand their partnerships with companies such as ITV Studios, Fifth Season, Banijay, All3Media and Hat Trick International.

“Food travelogue is a place that we find a real opportunity to expand, bringing in really big faces and international stories on food makes a ton of sense,” says Abrams. “This is really a growing genre, and so much so for younger viewers.”

Some key examples are a catalogue of series from British chef Marcus Wareing, acquired in a deal with ITV Studios, and Chasing Flavor with American chef Carla Hall.

Nelson says the “tiny and mighty team” at Corus has been also working hard to expand the independent producers they work with in Canada. Part of that is communicating their flexibility in financing and being more open to different rights structures with partners.

“Every deal is a little bit different, and we have never looked to distribute every show that we produce [through Corus Studios],” says Nelson. “We’re going to ebb and flow with the best creator for the channel, and then work our business deals within those and keep Corus Studios a priority, but it doesn’t have to be a self-distributed show for us to greenlight it.”

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment