The three E!-branded stations owned by the Jim Pattison Group have secured a new pipeline of US series from Rogers Broadcasting, as Canwest sells off its share of the underperforming network.

Starting Sept. 1, Pattison’s CFJC, CKPG and CHAT stations in western Canada will receive around 40 hours of programming per week from Rogers as part of a new output deal.

The move was prompted by the pending demise of Canwest’s E! network, which supplied content to the three Pattison E! stations, including US series Deal or No Deal and The Apprentice.

In 2007, Canwest bet heavily that a program supply deal with the US-based E! Entertainment Network would revive its secondary CH network.

But the rebranded net continued to bleed losses, and the E! Entertainment Network program pipeline is expected to be diverted to Global Television and Canwest’s specialty channels as the E! network is shuttered.

Pattison’s three stations will now air series like Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, The Office and the new Jay Leno Show.

From Playback Daily