Deadline: Rogers Confirms It Will Launch Warner Bros Discovery Lifestyle & Factual Brands After Bell Ends Court Action

Story from Deadline:

The Warner Bros Discovery lifestyle and factual channels will still switch networks in Canada.

Rogers Communications has in the past half-hour confirmed the likes of Discovery ID and Discovery will launch on January 1.

This comes after Rogers rival Bell and Warner Bros Discovery confirmed they had buried the hatchet over the issue, and expanded their HBO and Max content deal at the same time. However, that announcement didn’t make clear whether Rogers and Warner Bros Discovery would move forwards as partners on the latter’s lifestyle channel, though a rep indicated there would be no change.

Bell has been the Canadian home of Warner Bros Discovery and predecessor Discovery’s suite for three decades, operating many of its channels locally. However, in June, Rogers struck a deal to move Warner Bros Discovery’s lifestyle and factual channels into its sphere. Bell responded by filing for an injunction at the Ontario Superior Court to stop Rogers distributing the networks, claiming that Warner Bros Discovery was blocked from moving its shows.

Rogers said today that Bell “acknowledged all claims against Rogers were unfounded and abandoned its legal efforts.”

The upshot is Rogers will launch Discovery ID and Discovery Channel as linear networks and distribute them to third-parties such as Bell. Content from Cooking, OWN, MotorTrend, Animal Planet and Discovery Science will be available on-demand and via Citytv+ on Amazon Prime Video Channels.

“We’re already home to Canada’s number one sports network, and this partnership helps solidify our leadership in entertainment with a diverse media portfolio of TV’s most iconic brands,” said Colette Watson, President, Rogers Sports & Media.