JaredCap43™
I'm the Mighty Pocoyo, no CEO can defeat me!
Recently, WarnerMedia/Discovery Inc. has planned to merge with Corus Entertainment, which includes brands such as Global Television Network, Nelvana, Kids Can Press, Teletoon, YTV and Treehouse.
The talks started last Summer, but no details were known until today.
This merge is expected to be completed in the next three years (Before the current HBO deal with Sky Europe expires, but likely after the HBO deal in France with Canal+ and Orange Expires).
Q's and A's:
Is Corus getting a new name?
The working name for now is Warner Bros. Discovery Canada.
What about Nelvana?
The new name for Nelvana is Redknot, which was previously a joint venture between Corus and Discovery.
What Corus shows will Warner Bros. Discovery own?
Warner Bros. Discovery will own global rights to most of Nelvana's catalogue, as well as shows made for Corus channels and/or by Redknot that aren't owned by major or nonprofit (Read: PBS) companies including ReBoot (Mainframe Entertainment), The Ripping Friends (CinéGroupe), The Big Comfy Couch (Radical Sheep), Cybersix (TMS Entertainment/Diskotek) Kid Paddle (Spectra Animation), and shows from Fresh TV such as Total Drama and Grojband. The exception to being owned by major/nonprofit companies is if the rights have expired, which is the case for most shows from CBS Kidshow and PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch.
What will happen to Corus's Channels?
Corus/Warner Bros. Discovery plans to close/sell some networks and replace/keep others:
Treehouse is going to be replaced with Cartoonito, and on the credits of their TV Series the channel will be credited as "Cartoonito Canada" going forward.
All Disney Channels will be sold, closed, or replaced, there is no word about whether or not the English Disney channels will closed, but it's been confirmed that La Chaîne Disney will be replaced with Cártoonito, which as the name implies, is Cartoonito but in French.
Nickelodeon will close and be consolidated into Teletoon/Télétoon, Cartoonito/Cártoonito and YTV. As for Nick content, newer Nick/Nick Jr. content will be distributed by Corus in Canada, while any show older than 2015 that ended production in 2017 or earlier will be sold back to Paramount.
YTV is planned to be repurposed as a teen/family channel with sitcoms, reruns of classic Cartoon Network/Teletoon/YTV series, and WB movies not part of Bell's HBO deals, with newer animation moving to Teletoon. Corus/Warner Bros. Discovery are also in talks about launching a French version called TVJ (Télévision Jeunesse, or in English, Youth Television, YTV) to accompany Télétoon and Cártoonito.
What will happen to StackTV?
Though you've probably already guessed, StackTV will merge with HBO Max, with options to view content in English and French.
What about foreign HBO deals?
For countries where HBO has deals with other companies (including the UK, Italy, and Germany where HBO has a deal with Sky), Discovery+ will be replaced by StackTV until the deals run out, and them it will be replaced by HBO Max. In Canada, Discovery+ will merge with StackTV, with a French option being added.
What will happen to the Treehouse Direct and YTV YouTube Channels?
For languages that already have HBO Max or StackTV (Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Nordic Languages, Polish, etc.), the accounts will be replaced with HBO Max Kids accounts with most if not all full episodes being removed and content moving to HBO Max.
For languages that have HBO Max in some areas (English, Dutch, and soon French), but not all, the videos will be blocked in the areas that do.
The channels will stay up as "Cartoonito Direct" channels for languages under HBO deals that don't have StackTV yet.
What Corus shows will stream on HBO Max/StackTV?
For Redknot shows, WBD plans on having everything in their library from Babar (an HBO original) to The Dog & Pony Show (New to the US), as well as the Corus/shows not owned by Nelvana or major companies mentioned above.
Will Corus/Redknot characters appear in Pibby and Multiversus?
Yes, of course! It's been confirmed that characters such as Stacy and Bradley from Stickin' Around, Ned and Newton from Ned's Newt, Peri and Entrée from Spliced, Lee Ping from Detentionaire, Bob and Enzo from ReBoot, lots of Total Drama characters, and many more are to appear in both. Third-party characters such as Billy Blazes and Scaredy Squirrel might require negotiations, but they will try to get them to show up.
Other notes:
No, WBD won't be buying any shows owned by rival Canadian studios such as WildBrain and 9 Story. So for those of you who hate Cartoonito simply because Caillou airs on it, get your hopes up, it will leave soon!
Redknot purchases will not include shows such as Little Bear, The Backyardigans, and the first five seasons of The Fairly OddParents, which will revert to Paramount Global.
Streaming/broadcast deals for Nelvana content on rival US networks/services have been cancelled and will be with Cartoon Network and HBO Max only.
Warner Bros. Discovery is also in talks about buying Mattel (and not just for Thomas), but there will be more details soon, if you have other questions, the people I am talking with have literally all day (Until 4/2/2022 at 12:00 AM EST).
The talks started last Summer, but no details were known until today.
This merge is expected to be completed in the next three years (Before the current HBO deal with Sky Europe expires, but likely after the HBO deal in France with Canal+ and Orange Expires).
Q's and A's:
Is Corus getting a new name?
The working name for now is Warner Bros. Discovery Canada.
What about Nelvana?
The new name for Nelvana is Redknot, which was previously a joint venture between Corus and Discovery.
What Corus shows will Warner Bros. Discovery own?
Warner Bros. Discovery will own global rights to most of Nelvana's catalogue, as well as shows made for Corus channels and/or by Redknot that aren't owned by major or nonprofit (Read: PBS) companies including ReBoot (Mainframe Entertainment), The Ripping Friends (CinéGroupe), The Big Comfy Couch (Radical Sheep), Cybersix (TMS Entertainment/Diskotek) Kid Paddle (Spectra Animation), and shows from Fresh TV such as Total Drama and Grojband. The exception to being owned by major/nonprofit companies is if the rights have expired, which is the case for most shows from CBS Kidshow and PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch.
What will happen to Corus's Channels?
Corus/Warner Bros. Discovery plans to close/sell some networks and replace/keep others:
Treehouse is going to be replaced with Cartoonito, and on the credits of their TV Series the channel will be credited as "Cartoonito Canada" going forward.
All Disney Channels will be sold, closed, or replaced, there is no word about whether or not the English Disney channels will closed, but it's been confirmed that La Chaîne Disney will be replaced with Cártoonito, which as the name implies, is Cartoonito but in French.
Nickelodeon will close and be consolidated into Teletoon/Télétoon, Cartoonito/Cártoonito and YTV. As for Nick content, newer Nick/Nick Jr. content will be distributed by Corus in Canada, while any show older than 2015 that ended production in 2017 or earlier will be sold back to Paramount.
YTV is planned to be repurposed as a teen/family channel with sitcoms, reruns of classic Cartoon Network/Teletoon/YTV series, and WB movies not part of Bell's HBO deals, with newer animation moving to Teletoon. Corus/Warner Bros. Discovery are also in talks about launching a French version called TVJ (Télévision Jeunesse, or in English, Youth Television, YTV) to accompany Télétoon and Cártoonito.
What will happen to StackTV?
Though you've probably already guessed, StackTV will merge with HBO Max, with options to view content in English and French.
What about foreign HBO deals?
For countries where HBO has deals with other companies (including the UK, Italy, and Germany where HBO has a deal with Sky), Discovery+ will be replaced by StackTV until the deals run out, and them it will be replaced by HBO Max. In Canada, Discovery+ will merge with StackTV, with a French option being added.
What will happen to the Treehouse Direct and YTV YouTube Channels?
For languages that already have HBO Max or StackTV (Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Nordic Languages, Polish, etc.), the accounts will be replaced with HBO Max Kids accounts with most if not all full episodes being removed and content moving to HBO Max.
For languages that have HBO Max in some areas (English, Dutch, and soon French), but not all, the videos will be blocked in the areas that do.
The channels will stay up as "Cartoonito Direct" channels for languages under HBO deals that don't have StackTV yet.
What Corus shows will stream on HBO Max/StackTV?
For Redknot shows, WBD plans on having everything in their library from Babar (an HBO original) to The Dog & Pony Show (New to the US), as well as the Corus/shows not owned by Nelvana or major companies mentioned above.
Will Corus/Redknot characters appear in Pibby and Multiversus?
Yes, of course! It's been confirmed that characters such as Stacy and Bradley from Stickin' Around, Ned and Newton from Ned's Newt, Peri and Entrée from Spliced, Lee Ping from Detentionaire, Bob and Enzo from ReBoot, lots of Total Drama characters, and many more are to appear in both. Third-party characters such as Billy Blazes and Scaredy Squirrel might require negotiations, but they will try to get them to show up.
Other notes:
No, WBD won't be buying any shows owned by rival Canadian studios such as WildBrain and 9 Story. So for those of you who hate Cartoonito simply because Caillou airs on it, get your hopes up, it will leave soon!
Redknot purchases will not include shows such as Little Bear, The Backyardigans, and the first five seasons of The Fairly OddParents, which will revert to Paramount Global.
Streaming/broadcast deals for Nelvana content on rival US networks/services have been cancelled and will be with Cartoon Network and HBO Max only.
Warner Bros. Discovery is also in talks about buying Mattel (and not just for Thomas), but there will be more details soon, if you have other questions, the people I am talking with have literally all day (Until 4/2/2022 at 12:00 AM EST).
