Saturday Night Live is set to leave its longtime Canadian home on Global Television to join rival broadcaster CTV and the Crave streaming service, marking a seismic shift in the Canadian media landscape as the series enters its 52nd season later this year. The multi-year agreement between Bell Media, the parent company of CTV, and NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution brings one of the most enduring and influential programs in television history under the Bell umbrella. This transition represents more than just a change of channels; it signifies a broader consolidation of premium American content within Canada’s largest media conglomerates and highlights the ongoing volatility of domestic broadcast rights in the age of global streaming.
For decades, Saturday Night Live (SNL) has been a staple of the Saturday night lineup on Global Television, owned by Corus Entertainment. The move to Bell Media includes not only the broadcast rights for CTV but also comprehensive streaming rights for Crave, which already hosts an extensive library of past SNL seasons. This strategic acquisition allows Bell Media to further fortify its comedy portfolio and leverage the "simultaneous substitution" (simsub) advantages that come with airing high-profile American live broadcasts in tandem with their U.S. airings.
A Strategic Pivot for Bell Media and NBCUniversal
The deal arrives at a time when NBCUniversal’s domestic U.S. strategy for its streaming platform, Peacock, has remained focused on the American market. Rather than launching Peacock as a standalone direct-to-consumer entity in Canada, NBCUniversal has continued to opt for lucrative licensing agreements with established Canadian broadcasters. This approach allows NBCU to monetize its premium studio programming through traditional linear television and domestic streaming platforms like Crave, while avoiding the massive overhead and localized regulatory hurdles required to launch a new streaming service in the Canadian territory.
Justin Stockman, Vice President of Global Content at Bell Media, emphasized the cultural significance of the acquisition in a statement released Monday. "A proven hit for over 50 years, the series has always been at the vanguard of pop culture, setting the tone for modern humor," Stockman said. "We will be enjoying alongside viewers when the new season premieres on Crave and CTV."
By securing SNL, Bell Media adds another cornerstone to a content library that already includes partnerships with HBO, Max, and various Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) properties. For Crave, the addition of new SNL episodes provides a consistent draw for subscribers who value live topical content alongside the platform’s deep catalog of prestige dramas and comedies.
The Broader Context: A Game of Musical Chairs
The relocation of Saturday Night Live is the latest development in what industry analysts are describing as a game of "musical chairs" among Canada’s media titans. The Canadian broadcast sector is currently undergoing its most significant restructuring in decades, driven by the aggressive pursuit of American content rights by Bell Media and Rogers Sports & Media, often at the expense of Corus Entertainment.
The timeline of this realignment reached a fever pitch in May 2024, when Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would be moving its suite of popular lifestyle and entertainment brands from Corus Entertainment to Rogers Sports & Media. Starting in 2025, Rogers will become the Canadian home for HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network, and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). This was a devastating blow to Corus, as these channels represent some of the most consistent ratings drivers and advertising revenue generators in its specialty portfolio.
The disruption continued as WBD also moved other major entertainment brands, including Discovery, Motor Trend, Science, Animal Planet, and Investigation Discovery (ID), from their long-term homes at Bell Media to Rogers. This realignment has forced Bell Media to look elsewhere to bolster its lineup, leading to a more aggressive pursuit of NBCUniversal properties like SNL to ensure CTV remains the top-rated network in the country.
The Financial Erosion of Corus Entertainment
The loss of Saturday Night Live is a symbolic and practical setback for Corus Entertainment, which has long relied on the "Global" brand to compete with CTV for primetime dominance. While Corus retains rights to major American franchises such as Survivor, NCIS, FBI, and 9-1-1, the departure of SNL removes a high-visibility cultural touchstone from its schedule.
Corus has been grappling with severe financial headwinds, including a sustained decline in linear television advertising revenue and a heavy debt load. The company has implemented a rigorous recapitalization plan to remain viable, a move that is currently awaiting final approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the federal watchdog for the industry. The loss of key brands to Rogers and now SNL to Bell Media complicates Corus’s efforts to stabilize its business model, as advertisers increasingly follow high-demand content to the platforms with the largest reach.
Industry data suggests that the shift toward digital consumption is accelerating in Canada. According to recent market reports, Canadians are increasingly favoring global streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. In response, domestic broadcasters are desperate to control "appointment viewing" content—live events, sports, and topical comedy like SNL—that still commands a premium in the advertising market.
The Lorne Michaels Connection and SNL’s Canadian Roots
The move of Saturday Night Live to CTV also brings the show "home" in a metaphorical sense, given the program’s deep Canadian DNA. Created by Toronto-born producer Lorne Michaels, SNL has maintained a strong connection to Canada since its inception in 1975. Michaels, an alumnus of the CBC, recruited many of the show’s original writers and cast members from the Toronto and Chicago Second City troupes, including Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner.
Throughout its nearly 50-year history, the show has served as a bridge between American and Canadian comedy. The transition to CTV, a network with its own long history of producing Canadian comedy (such as The Kids in the Hall and SCTV), is viewed by some as a natural fit for the series. The 52nd season is expected to be a major television event, following the highly anticipated 50th-anniversary celebrations which have already sparked significant nostalgia and renewed interest in the brand.
Implications for the Canadian Advertising Market
From an advertising perspective, the move to Bell Media offers a more integrated "omnichannel" approach for brands. Bell Media’s ability to sell advertising slots across CTV’s linear broadcast, the CTV app, and the ad-supported tiers of Crave provides a level of scale that is difficult for smaller players to match.
The use of simultaneous substitution remains a critical factor in this deal. Under CRTC regulations, Canadian broadcasters can replace the signal of an American station with their own if they are airing the same program at the same time. This allows CTV to keep Canadian advertising dollars within the domestic economy rather than letting them flow to American border stations. SNL, which airs live across all time zones, is one of the few remaining non-sports programs that guarantees a massive, synchronized audience, making it an invaluable asset for Bell Media’s sales team.
Future Outlook: The Consolidation of Canadian Media
As the 52nd season of Saturday Night Live approaches, the Canadian media landscape appears more divided than ever. The industry is essentially splitting into two tiers: the "haves" (Bell and Rogers), who possess the capital to secure multi-year, multi-platform deals with Hollywood studios, and the "struggling" (Corus), who are finding themselves squeezed out of the high-stakes bidding wars for premium content.
The CRTC’s role in this transition will be pivotal. As the watchdog reviews Corus’s restructuring and monitors the growing dominance of Bell and Rogers, there are concerns about the diversity of voices in Canadian media. However, for the average viewer, the immediate impact is a simpler, albeit more consolidated, viewing experience. With SNL moving to CTV and Crave, Bell Media further solidifies its position as the primary destination for "prestige" American imports.
The realignment of these brands highlights a fundamental truth about the current state of television: content is no longer tied to a specific channel by tradition, but by the strategic needs of streaming ecosystems. As Bell Media prepares for the premiere of SNL’s 52nd season, the move serves as a clear signal that in the battle for Canadian eyeballs, the old rules of broadcasting have been permanently rewritten. The departure from Global Television marks the end of an era, but for CTV and Crave, it represents a high-profile victory in the ongoing struggle to define the future of Canadian entertainment.
