Bell Media has filed for an injunction against the deal between Rogers Sports & Media to use Discovery channels from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
A spokesperson for Bell Media confirmed to Playback Daily that the company filed a claim on June 19 seeking an injunction and damages against WBD and Rogers Sports & Media. The news was first reported by C21.
Rogers Communications announced on June 10 that it had inked an agreement with WBD to acquire several of its channel brands, including Discovery channels Motor Trend, Science, Animal Planet and ID, which have been under Bell Media control since its parentco BCE’s acquisition of CTVglobemedia in 2011. Discovery Canada first launched in 1995.
“Our long-standing partnership, content, and brand arrangements for the Discovery Canada channels include protections against the launch of competing services,” added the Bell Media spokesperson.
At the time the deal was announced, Bell Media issued a similar statement, adding that “we fully intend to assert our rights with a view to protecting our business.”
Rogers Communications told Playback Daily in a statement that Bell Media is “asking the court to block Canadians from seeing these Discovery channels for two years – stopping anyone in Canada from distributing them and stopping anyone in Canada from watching them.”
“Bell’s claims against Rogers are without merit and we will fight to make sure Canadians can continue watching the programs they know and love,” continued the statement.
WBD declined to comment.
The Rogers deal with WBD also includes the brands HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia Network, and the Cooking Channel, which are currently under Corus Entertainment. Rogers said the brands will launch in January 2025 and that it will “work with Canadian distribution partners to make the content widely available,” in addition to streaming it on Citytv+.
Corus issued a note to investors on June 7 that WBD had informed the company that it would be ending the content and trademark agreements as of Dec. 31.
At the time, former president and CEO Doug Murphy said Corus would “explore all potential remedies” to the situation. Murphy departed Coruson June 17 to “take an early retirement,” with Troy Reeb and John Gossling stepping in as co-CEOs effective immediately.
Reeb spoke candidly about the Rogers deal at a panel at the Banff World Media Festival on June 10, claiming it is “an abuse of the system, because there are no channels at Rogers right now to put those services on.”
Image of A Cut Above courtesy of Bell Media. A version of this story previously appeared on Playback.
