TORONTO – Bell Media and Corus Entertainment have inked a multi-year, multi-platform deal with HBO for the exclusive Canadian rights to the entire past-season library of every HBO scripted series currently on air. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal includes the rights to more than 700 episodes from past seasons of current programs, in addition to the 300+ episodes of HBO series that are already available (Ed note: so take that, shomi and Netflix). Starting this fall, past seasons of hits like Game Of Thrones, Girls, Boardwalk Empire, and True Detective will also made available to subscribers of The Movie Network and Movie Central at no additional charge. HBO Canada is a multiplex channel of Bell Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada).
The Movie Network and Movie Central currently carry all of HBO’s hit programming on HBO Canada, including recent Emmy winners Veep, True Detective, and The Normal Heart. Subscribers will now be able to catch-up on past seasons via on-demand and video-streaming services in time for the broadcast premieres of the latest seasons on HBO Canada. In Eastern Canada, episodes will be available on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand, while in Western Canada, episodes will be available on the go with Shaw Go Movie Central app, Bell TV app, Telus Optik on the go, and HBO Canada On Demand.
“With this deal, our premium subscribers will be able to enjoy all of their favourite HBO programs, significantly increasing the value of a subscription to The Movie Network,” said Bell Media president Kevin Crull, in the announcement. “Now we can offer even more of what our subscribers want, which is all of HBO’s incredible programming across multiple platforms, including the industry-leading TMN GO.”
“This deal reinforces our commitment to providing our customers with a great value proposition,” added Corus Entertainment president and CEO John Cassaday. “Securing prior seasons of HBO’s hit programs enables our subscribers to view past episodes of current series that they might not have seen from the very first season and positions HBO Canada as the place to see the most talked about series from start to finish.”
