Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Lifestyle and Fact Channel continues to switch networks in Canada.
Rogers Communications confirmed in the past 30 minutes that Discovery ID, Discovery, and more will be released on January 1st.
This comes after Rogers’ rivals Bell and WBD admitted to staying silent on the issue while simultaneously expanding Max’s content deal with HBO. However, the announcement did not say whether Rogers and WBD would move forward as partners on the latter’s lifestyle channel, although a representative said there would be no changes.
For 30 years, Bell has been the Canadian home of WBD and its predecessor Discovery suite, and has operated many of its channels locally. But in June, Rogers signed a deal to move WBD’s lifestyle and fact channel into that territory. In response, Bell applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to block Rogers from distributing the show, alleging that WBD was preventing it from moving the show.
Rogers said today that Bell has “admitted that all allegations against Rogers are without merit and have abandoned his legal efforts.”
As a result, Rogers will launch Discovery ID and Discovery Channel as a linear network that will be distributed to third parties such as Bell. Content from Cooking, OWN, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, and Discovery Science will be available on demand and via Amazon Prime Video channel Citytv+.
“We are already home to Canada’s No. 1 sports network, and this partnership is an opportunity for us to expand our portfolio of diverse media from some of television’s most iconic brands,” said Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media. “This will help solidify our leadership in the entertainment sector.”
