TORONTO and LOS ANGELES — Bell Media announced Wednesday it has signed a long-term, exclusive deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution to bring HBO Max original programming to Canada via Bell Media’s Crave streaming service and its suite of CTV-branded platforms, beginning in 2020.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it this new deal will surely cost Bell more than the estimated $100 million/year sources tell us it already pays HBO for exclusive access to its content in Canada for its various platforms.
WarnerMedia announced Tuesday its HBO Max streaming service will launch in May 2020 with more than 10,000 hours of premium content. (Ed. note: The direct-to-consumer HBO Max service in the U.S. is expected to cost subscribers US$14.99 per month and the company said it planned to launch a lower-cost ad-supported on demand portal, with different content, too) Bell Media’s deal to distribute HBO Max original programming via Crave and its CTV channels is the first announcement of its kind for HBO Max programming outside of the U.S., Bell Media said in its news release on Wednesday.
The agreement extends Bell Media’s existing programming partnership with HBO, while establishing a new alliance with HBO Max, Bell Media said. The deal extends the pay TV rights for Warner Bros. first-run feature films, adding to the strong relationship already in place between Warner Bros. and CTV for network series, and with Bell Media’s specialty services for cable series, the company said.
All-new scripted series produced for HBO Max that are confirmed to be coming to Crave and the CTV channel portfolio include:
- the recently announced new Gossip Girl series that is set to follow a new generation of New York private school teens, executive produced by the creative team behind the original series;
- The Flight Attendant, a dark comedic thriller starring and executive produced by The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco in her much-anticipated return to television, along with Rosie Perez, Game of Thrones alum Michiel Huisman, and Zosia Mamet of Girls;
- Dune: The Sisterhood, from Academy Award-nominated Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and set in the universe of Frank Herbert’s epic Dune novel series; and,
- College Girls (working title) from Emmy-nominated writer/producer Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project; The Office) about the romantic lives of three young women at an East Coast university.
“As we approach the one-year anniversary of the all-new Crave, we’re more committed than ever to ensure ongoing access to highest calibre content,” said Randy Lennox, Bell Media president, in the news release. “With this new HBO Max agreement, we are expanding our long and successful partnership with HBO and Warner Bros. and demonstrating this commitment to premium content in an era of increasing competition.”
Jeffrey Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution, added: “Bell Media has been a long-term and strategic partner for both Warner Bros. and HBO. It is only logical for us to expand the relationship by adding the upcoming original programming from HBO Max as well as extend the successful relationship covering our feature films, network series and cable programming. All of this together makes Bell Media a great Canadian home for all of these assets from WarnerMedia.”
Bell Media said specific details on the rollout of HBO Max programming in Canada will be confirmed in the coming months.
