(Toronto) Bell Media is seeking an injunction to prevent Rogers Communications from broadcasting Warner Bros. Discovery content on its television channels for two years, as Rogers prepares to acquire Canadian rights to the programming next January.
In a court filing on June 19, the BCE subsidiary claims that a licensing agreement announced nine days earlier between Warner Bros. and Rogers violated non-compete provisions.
The company also alleges that Rogers “induced” Warner Bros. to breach its non-compete obligations to Bell Media, which has broadcast some Discovery programming in Canada for 30 years.
Last month, Rogers announced that it had signed multi-year agreements with Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as NBCUniversal, for their popular lifestyle and entertainment brands in Canada.
This includes television channels that Bell previously held Canadian programming rights to, such as Discovery Channel Canada, Discovery Velocity, Discovery Science and Animal Planet, as well as others licensed to Corus Entertainment, including HGTV and The Food Network.
In a written statement, Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said Bell’s claims “are without merit and we will fight to ensure Canadians can continue to watch the shows they know and love.”
In its application, Bell asked the court for an injunction to prevent Warner Bros. Discovery and its affiliates “from directly or indirectly providing Discovery-related programming” to other competitors in Canada.
She also asked that the respondents, including Rogers and Warner Bros., be ordered to pay damages to Bell for breach of contract, inducing breach of contract, interference with economic relations and conspiracy.
The brief states that Bell Media has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars in developing, promoting and growing the Discovery brands in the Canadian market over the past 30 years.”
The document points out that its contracts with Warner Bros. contain a clause that ensures Bell is entitled to “an adjustment window of at least two years” if Warner Bros. refuses to renew licensing agreements for Discovery-related programs.
Bell argued that this prevents Warner Bros. and its affiliates from operating or providing programming to a competitor, including Rogers, during the two-year period.
“Our long-standing partnership, content and branding agreements for Discovery Canada channels include protections against the launch of competing services,” Bell Media spokesperson Mary Costa said in an email.
The next hearing on this issue is scheduled for September 13.