Rogers Sports & Media has dominated Canadian news feeds in 2025, thanks to high-profile channel launches, strategic partnerships and marquee programming.

The company’s portfolio now spans lifestyle channels, sports coverage and Canadian adaptations of global formats, positioning it as a larger player in the television landscape. The journey was fraught after a high-profile acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal brands, which created a seismic shift in Canada’s broadcasting sector.

Colette Watson (pictured top), president at Rogers Sports & Media, tells Playback that the company’s year can be summed up in three defining moments: the launch of the Warner Bros. Discovery channels in January, the 12-year renewal of the NHL deal in April and the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run in October. However, strategic decisions and well-crafted plans helped bolster those heavy-hitting headlines.

According to Fremantle EVP Michela Di Mondo, who has worked with Rogers on Canada’s Got Talent (McGillivray Entertainment Media, Fremantle, SYCO Entertainment) and teamed with them for the upcoming Howie Mandel-hosted The Price is Right Tonight (pictured right), the company’s ability to cut through this past year came down to unusual strategic clarity.

“They unabashedly know what they need,” she says. “The executive team can pin down exactly what they want for their audience and to build their audience.”

Rogers’ acquisition of the Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle channels — HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia, Discovery ID, Discovery, Cooking Channel, OWN, Motor Trend, Animal Planet and Discovery Science — and NBCUniversal’s Bravo remains the industry’s biggest structural change of the year. The rights to those brands had been previously held by Corus Entertainment and Bell Media. When Rogers launched the channels, it was without full carriage and with plenty of early market skepticism.

“It was bumpy out of the gate, but we’re good now,” says Watson. “The channels are distributed on 90% of Canada’s cable companies, and they are available on streaming through Citytv+ and Discovery+.”

Rogers eventually negotiated deals, including with Bell, for national availability, allowing the company to announce 11 new lifestyle originals for HGTV and Food Network — totalling 115 hours, with titles such as Bake Master Battle (pictured left) and Come Dine With Me Canada (Blink49 Studios) — during the Canadian upfronts. Leading up to those announcements, Watson says the company’s approach to content acquisition and adaptation has been methodical.

“We spent two, three years on the strategy of, how do we make Rogers Sports & Media a great media company? Our philosophy is to get the content people want to watch,” she says. “Let’s go get it and deliver it to them.”

Concurrently, Rogers expanded its direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, pushing Citytv+ wider across DTC platforms and bundling it with Sportsnet+. The company has not disclosed subscriber numbers, but Watson describes the growth as “consistent,” driven in part by the bundle and marketing efforts during major sports events like the World Series.

“If I can use a sports analogy, you have to go where the puck is going to be,” says Watson. “The mission to the team was platform-agnostic: just get the content and deliver it on the platforms that will reach the most people possible.”

On the lifestyle front, Rogers has formed an exclusive partnership with Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, and content deals with companies like Scott Brothers Entertainment helped bolster the upfront slate. “They are great creative collaborative partners,” says Josie Crimi, president at Scott Brothers Entertainment. “They were supportive from all departments internally, even when it came to announcing the shows.”

Crimi agrees with Di Mondo that Rogers is a company that knows what it wants. She says they provided clarity and precision about the type of programming they were looking for.

“They have a path,” she adds. “They had a really clear idea of where they wanted things to go and what they needed to do to launch those channels.”

On HGTV, Crimi says incoming series Top of the Block emerged as a flagship for the network because it “ticks all the boxes that people are looking for.” The Emily Michelle Project introduced fresh talent and a modern approach to design that’s accessible at all budgets. And Property Brothers: Commitment Issues, which was developed internally and later pitched the network, features two of Canada’s most recognizable personalities: Drew and Jonathan Scott (pictured right).

“Their brand is so recognizable. We just saw a [skit] on SNL with them. They are a household name,” Crimi adds.

Rogers also invested in Canadian adaptations of global formats. The Price is Right Tonight, produced in-house, represents the company’s first major domestic adaptation of a marquee international brand. “It was such a perfect fit for understanding this world of different Rogers brands and sports,” says Di Mondo. “Rogers understands that IP and brands are what’s cutting above right now in the market. They’re taking swings around what people recognize.”

That rings true for the ongoing success of Canada’s Got Talent, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (Lark Productions, Cameron Pictures), which was a decade in the making, and Hudson & Rex (Shaftesbury, Pope Productions), which is based on a German format.

Of course, every success story needs a bit of luck, which is where the Blue Jays’ historic seven-game World Series run comes in.

“All seven games of the World Series were record-breakers for Sportsnet,” says Watson. “They were such a likable team, and our broadcasters — Dan [Shulman], Buck [Martinez], Madison [Shipman], Kevin [Pillar], Hazel [Mae], Caleb [Joseph], Joe [Siddall] and Jamie [Campbell] — were part of our lives for 30 days. It was thrilling.”

Meanwhile, the $11 billion NHL deal not only ensures Canadian hockey will continue to broadcast nationally for the next 12 years, but the renewal was also perfectly timed among the channel launches. Looking forward, Watson says it makes Sportsnet an undeniable Canadian destination for audiences thanks to the cycle of baseball and hockey seasons keeping them glued all year long.

“We’ve got 12 months of the most sought-after programming, and having that stability … is an opportunity to cement our reputation as the place for Canada’s sports stories,” she says.

Despite challenges with Canadian production tax credits (for which game shows such as The Price is Right Tonight are not eligible outside of Alberta) and international competition, Watson says Rogers wants to invest in original but recognizable content while the CRTC continues modernizing its broadcasting framework.

“I am hopeful the CRTC will understand the need for flexibility and allow us to keep growing, because that’s the point, right?” adds Watson. “We are a Canadian company that tries really hard to entertain and inform Canadians. We want to be here for the long term, which is why we did what we did. It makes us strong for the long term, and we will keep looking for opportunities to keep us strong.”

Images courtesy of Rogers Sports & Media