By Linda Stuart
Bell and Rogers announced Tuesday they have signed an agreement to distribute each other’s specialty channels across their respective Bell Fibe TV and Rogers Xfinity platforms.
Under the agreement, Bell is bringing Rogers Sports and Media’s HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, Magnolia Network and Investigation Discovery to its Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV app and Bell Satellite TV subscribers. Those customers will also continue to have access to Bravo. Bell is currently providing these new channel offerings to customers in free preview as of July 29, it said.
In addition, Rogers said its Xfinity customers will continue to have full access to Bell Media’s specialty portfolio, which includes USA Network, Oxygen True Crime and CTV-branded specialty channels, including CTV Comedy Channel, CTV Drama Channel and CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Rogers Xfinity customers continue to have access to HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, Magnolia Network and Investigation Discovery, Rogers said.
Bell and Rogers did not respond to emails asking for clarification as to whether or not Bell Media’s CTV Wild Channel, CTV Nature Channel and CTV Speed Channel — rebrands of its former Animal Planet, Discovery Science and Discovery Velocity channels — are covered under the companies’ distribution agreement.
In addition, Bell did not respond to a request for information regarding the channel positions on Bell Fibe TV for the suite of Rogers specialty channels Bell says it is now offering to customers on free preview. As of time of publication, Bell had not updated its list of channels in free preview on its website nor updated its Bell Fibe TV guide with the channel placements.
“Delivering the most compelling content to Canadians is our focus, and this agreement furthers that goal,” said Kevin Cluett, senior vice president of distribution and product platforms at Bell Media, in the companies’ joint press release. “We are providing customers more choice and ensuring Rogers customers will continue to have access to Bell Media favourites like Highway Thru Hell, Heavy Rescue 401 and Fear Thy Neighbor on our specialty channels. By making these channels more widely available, we’re giving viewers more of what they love while strengthening the Canadian broadcasting ecosystem.”
“It’s great that more Canadians will now have access to North America’s most recognized and beloved specialty TV brands like HGTV, Food Network and Discovery, and can access new titles and the latest seasons of top shows from Rogers Sports & Media,” said Hayden Mindell, senior vice president of television at Rogers Sports and Media. “The premium content we’ve invested in is unmatched in Canada, offering Canadians the programming they want most, including hits like My Lottery Dream Home, Beat Bobby Flay and Expedition Unknown, along with new series Chasing the West with Drew and Jonathan Scott.”
Reaching this distribution agreement appears to have ended a dispute the two companies have been in since Rogers scooped up the rights to the Discovery and Investigation Discovery brands from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in June 2024. Bell Media previously held the licensing rights to those channels and their U.S. content, and its USA Network and Oxygen True Crime are rebrands of its old Discovery and Investigation Discovery channels, respectively.
In the same deal with WBD last summer, Rogers also acquired the rights to the HGTV, Food Network and Magnolia Network brands, which had previously been held by Corus Entertainment. Rogers continues to be in disagreement with the media company over the distribution of Corus’s rebranded Home Network and Flavour Network channels, which replaced Corus’s old HGTV and Food Network channel properties at the end of last year. Rogers wants to relocate or remove those Flavour and Home channels, as well as Slice, from some of its TV packages. Rogers and Corus will be in court in September on the matter.
Image borrowed from Rogers’s website
