HBO Canada strikes US content deal

Bell Media in Canada has struck an exclusive deal with HBO in the US to bring hundreds of hours of current and past scripted series from the premium cablenet to its Canadian counterpart.

Bell Media has made two agreements with HBO to bring its content to its subscribers.

The first, a multi-year, multi-platform deal between Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and HBO, means series such as Game of Thrones, Girls, Boardwalk Empire and True Detective will immediately become available to subscribers of The Movie Network and Movie Central in Canada at no additional charge.

The deal includes the rights to more than 700 episodes from past seasons of current programmes, in addition to the 300-plus episodes of HBO series that are already available.

Bell Media’s The Movie Network (TMN) carries HBO Canada in the eastern half of the country under a deal with Corus Entertainment and its Movie Central business, which handles the west.

In eastern Canada, episodes will be available on THM Go and HBO Canada On Demand. In western Canada, episodes will be available on the go with the Shaw Go Movie Central app, Bell TV app, Telus Optik on the go and HBO Canada On Demand.

Meanwhile, on top of the nearly 700 hours of current HBO content, Bell Media has also exclusively acquired national multi-platform rights, including SVoD, for the entire off-air library of HBO’s programming catalogue.

This acquisition represents more than 850 hours of past scripted programming alone, as well as hundreds of hours of HBO movies, documentaries, and stand-up and music specials.