Canada’s Rogers Communications announced Monday that it has entered into multi-year carriage deals with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Starting in September, Rogers will launch NBCU’s Bravo channel on its own cable systems and streaming service Citytv+, and will also hold the Canadian distribution rights to the channel’s English-language content, which includes popular reality TV series like The Real Housewives franchise, Vanderpump Rules and Top Chef.

And starting in January 2025, Rogers will be home to WBD's suite of English-language lifestyle brands, including HGTV, Food Network and other channels. 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rogers, Canada’s largest cable provider, ended the first quarter with 2.72 million pay TV subscribers — this platform alone represents a nice North American distribution bounty for WBD and Comcast-owned NBCU, both of which are dealing with vastly reduced reach in the U.S. because of cord-cutting. 

Also Read: Canada’s Rogers Licenses More Comcast Tech, Including a ‘New Device Powered by Entertainment OS’

Rogers said in a release that it “will work with Canadian distribution partners to make the content widely available,” with the ultimate goal to blend linear distribution with streaming options like its service, Citytv+.

“We’re evolving our business to reflect where consumers are going, bringing the best mix of U.S. and Canadian content to audiences in the way they want to watch it," said Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, in a statement. “This investment also advances our position as a strong Canadian broadcaster that can compete with foreign streamers.”  

NBCUniversal has named Deirdre Brennan general manager of kids network Sprout.

Sprout has turned over its executive team since the departure of network president Sandy Wax last year.

Related: Sandy Wax Named COO of Lieberman Research Worldwide

Brennan, who had been vice president of content at Corus Entertainment, will oversee oversee programming, marketing and business strategy at the 24-hour service aimed at pre-schoolers. She will report to Frances Berwick, president, Lifestyle Networks, at NBCU Cable Entertainment.

“Sprout is evolving and growing rapidly as we reinvent our business model to an originals-driven brand," Berwick said. "I’m thrilled to have a leader with Deirdre’s unparalleled experience drive this growth phase.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Canada-based media and broadcast company Corus Entertainment has formed an exclusive deal with Visible  World, the ad-tech company acquired by Comcast last year, that will enable programmatic advertising capabilities for linear TV services.

Corus, they said, is the first Canadian broadcaster to commit to bringing a more automated, data-driven programmatic-style to linear television, claiming it will enable advertisers to get higher returns on their TV ad buys.

For the rollout in Canada, the solution will use traditional Numeris ratings, as well as aggregate, anonymized data, and audience segmentation information.  

They said advertisers and media planners can use existing in-house demand-side platforms or connect into the Visible World system to plan, buy, and report on their campaigns.

Corus’s portfolio includes 45 specialty television services as well as 15 conventional TV stations.

“Through our Next Generation Advertising offering, we are delivering superior results to our advertisers by leveraging advancements in data and technology,” Greg McLelland, EVP and chief revenue officer at Corus, said in a statement “Bringing programmatic capabilities to television will not only streamline the buying process across platforms, it will also enable advertisers to gain new insights into audiences to optimize their media buy.”

³We are looking forward to the partnership with industry-leading broadcaster, Corus,² said Seth Haberman, Founder & CEO, Visible World.

“We believe the collaboration will help enhance ad sales efforts with data-driven insights and automation across the Canadian marketplace and further Comcast Platform Service¹s partnership with Corus,” added Visible World CEO Seth Haberman.

Comcast acquired New York-based Visible World and its programmatic TV subsidiary, AudienceXpress, last year.

Corus Entertainment has agreed to purchase Shaw Media, the programming arm of Canadian cable giant Shaw Communications, in a deal valued at $2.65 billion in cash and stock.

Shaw Media includes about 19 cable networks like HGTV Canada and Food Network Canada. As part of the deal, Shaw Communications will own about 40% of Corus. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal 2016.

"This is a transformational acquisition that redefines Corus and Canada's media landscape," said Corus CEO Doug Murphy in a statement. "This game-changing transaction brings together a powerful portfolio of synergistic media assets that will solidify Corus' position as the market leader in the highly valued Women, Kids and Family segments. It will also advance our strategic priorities through investment in content creation for our own platforms, and for global markets."

Corus Entertainment was founded by Shaw Communications executive chair JR Shaw and spun off as a separate company in 1999. Shaw Communications intends to use most of the proceeds to fund its $1.6 billion acquisition of wireless carrier Wind Mobile.

The combined Corus/Shaw Media company will have 45 specialty channels, 39 radio stations, content studio Nelvana and 15 conventional broadcast TV stations.  

"We believe these two companies will form a winning combination. Their complementary mix of assets and strong management teams fit extremely well together," said Shaw Communications executive chair JR Shaw in a statement. "This transaction represents an exciting new chapter and allows us, as a family, to participate in what we see as a very successful future for Corus, one that will support a vibrant Canadian broadcast system."

Shaw Media's assets include the specialty channels Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, DIY Network Canada, Slice, Lifetime, History Canada, H2, Showcase, National Geographic Canada, Nat Geo Wild Canada, Action, MovieTime, IFC Canada, Global News: BC1, BBC Canada, DejaView, Crime + Investigation, DTOUR and FYI. It also includes Global Television's national conventional service with stations in Vancouver, Okanagan, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Saint John.

The combined companies would have revenue of about $1.9 billion in revenue, and $619 million in adjusted cash flow. The transaction is expected to generate $40-$50 million of annual cost synergies to be realized within 24 months, in addition to significant revenue synergies.

This deal is subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. In addition, Corus will hold a special meeting of shareholders to vote on the deal in March.

RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor and Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP acted as legal counsel to Corus in connection with this transaction.