How Crave approaches original Canadian programming like Heated Rivalry

For the past several months, Heated Rivalry has been all the rage in the TV space.

Crave’s Canadian sports romance series garnered rave reviews and huge audiences worldwide for the steamy love story between rival hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. The second season is set to begin production this summer.

But of course, that’s far from the only Canadian series in the works, especially from Crave. At its latest Upfront event, Bell confirmed that a total of 118 original titles (including 56 French-language projects) are coming as part of its 2026-2027 slate. This includes Meatballs, a new raunchy comedy series starring Heated Rivalry‘s Robbie C.K.; Cats in the Plateau, a new Montreal-set comedy series from Jared Keeso (Letterkenny, the upcoming I Kill the Bear); I’m Not Here to Hurt You from Canada’s David Shore (The Good Doctor); The Littlest Hobo (a live-action drama based on the eponymous Canadian classic from Vancouver-born Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg); and a new season of Big Brother Canada (taking over from previous network Global).

To learn more about Bell’s wider programming slate, MobileSyrup sat down with Bell’s Justin Stockman, VP of content development & programming, and Carlyn Klebuc, general manager of original programming. They talked about some of this new Canadian programming, what they look for among the many content pitches they receive, how the success of Heated Rivalry has informed their greenlighting process and how to best uplift Canadian media.

With all of that Upfront news, what are some of the particular highlights that stand out to you?

Justin Stockman: I think broad strokes, this is our most exciting slate of announcements we’ve had in a very long time. We’re taking a lot of big swings. We’ve got a lot of really exciting programs that are attached to interesting creatives, whether in front of the camera, behind the camera, that I think really shows that we mean business, and we’re here to be a big player. So I think that the whole list of announcements together really showcases that.

One of the announcements is you’re taking on Big Brother Canada. What was the impetus for wanting to add that to your content portfolio?

Stockman: With Big Brother, and I’ll also say with Saturday Night Live, in both cases we saw those franchises as being both a broadcast opportunity, but also a streaming opportunity. And in their previous home, they didn’t have the same streaming opportunity that they will with us. So when they were up for renewal, we made a move to get both those franchises, because we think they’ll do really. Obviously, we’ll get good ratings when we have them on CTV, but we think they’ll have a great life on Crave afterwards, like with Big Brother. We see Love Island, The Traitors — all these types of programs are really performing well in streaming, and I think Big Brother will do excellent there outside of the folks that want to tune in and watch it live when it’s on broadcast. Then we had the opportunity to bring back Big Brother Canada, which was always a massive hit when it was on our competitor’s [networks]. It hurt us. [laughs] But I think there was an economic challenge. It’s a very expensive show to produce, and we had an opportunity.

Carlyn Klebuc: Canadians love to see themselves on screen and in these big format shows, and our Quebec colleagues have been commissioning Big Brother Celebrity for multiple seasons. So we have the house, we have the expertise, and we think we’ve set this up, with shooting this in Montreal with the current production team, to be a repeated year-over-year success.

I was reading an interview with you, Justin, where you mentioned something around 1,000 pitches that Bell receives for original content per year, and you greenlight about 65. What are some of the things you look for when you’re looking to make those ultimate approvals?

Stockman: That’s a good question. I would say, first of all, our development team is looking for: is there a unique take? If we could go buy it, it’s easier to buy a show than it is to make a show. And so, if we could go to the marketplace and buy this show, I don’t know why we would make it. And so, we’re really looking for big swings that will, again, sort of give the market something new they don’t have, or has a new take on an idea that’s interesting and sort of will cut through. Or if there’s interesting talent attached, whether it’s a writer or on-screen talent that we want to work with that we think could do something new for us that they haven’t done before.

That’s how you sort of make it through that first filter, and then when it comes to the wider programming team of deciding what to greenlight, it’s all those things. Through the development, do they actually deliver on all those things we hoped would happen, and then is it producible? Can we actually get the money together, and can it be made to whatever the vision of the show is? And do we have other things like that in the pipeline right now that would still stand out? And then it’s a go.

Klebuc: We don’t want to put anything in development that we don’t think has a path to greenlight.

Stockman: Yes, we don’t want to say no very often after that first initial no if it doesn’t make it to development, so we really hope if it makes its development pipeline, it’ll get to greenlight. They often don’t, but that’ll be because it just didn’t come together creatively during that period, or something has changed and now there’s a show just like it that’s come in, or all sorts of other factors that might happen.

Klebuc: The only thing I would add is Canada’s such a large, diverse country. There are so many different audiences, and we have so many channels, platforms, and mouths to feed to here. So we have a lot of opportunity to feed those different audiences and those different channels and platforms. So while it’s correct that we’re looking for something that’s interesting and cuts through, and we’re looking for great, it’s different in each case. We’re really trying to to satisfy all those various audiences.

To that point, there’s so many different kinds of things that could constitute a “Canadian story.” How do you land on what seems like a good fit for what Canadians might want to see when you’re sort of greenlighting those types of projects?

Klebuc: There’s some stuff where there’s the obvious, like hockey. [laughs] We know there’s a built-in audience for hockey, but I think it’s one of those things that you just feel, as a Canadian, it’s difficult to define, sometimes, what Canadian culture is. But we’re Canadian. We know it. We experience it. We live it. And we know what we want to watch. And our audiences tell us through their ratings of programs what they want to watch. So we’re trying to figure that out.

We do definitely do some shows that we call our “Big C” Canadian shows that we are feeding just to Canadians. I think Letterkenny and Shoresy were a good example of that originally. As it turns out, the world loved them, but something like Canada’s Drag Race or Big Brother Canada, that’s really for the Canadian audience. And then our other programming, we want to make sure, yes, it serves that Canadian audience first, but is it likely that it’s going to travel and serve international audiences? So we look at programming in all different ways with different strategies, too.

On the subject of very popular international audiences: Heated Rivalry. With the big success of that, how has that informed your approach going forward in terms of the types of projects that you’re looking for?

Stockman: I think it more just reinforced that the path we were on is the right path, where we wanted to take bigger swings, we wanted to have global impact with what we were doing, we wanted the world to realize that Canadian Canadian series are premium and can be high quality, and this isn’t just where you come to shoot series because it’s cheaper. And how do we elevate all these Canadian creatives that are known around the world that left because they want to work on bigger budgets? Come work with us and we’ll figure out how to get the money together. And so I think Heated Rivalry proved our point, really, at the right time, but we were already on this path. So I think all these announcements we’re making really show how many swings we’re taking, and all the interesting talent we can work with that we can draw in to work with us to make these big Canadian series.

Klebuc: Our originals are a key part of our strategy. That’s how we differentiate ourselves on our platforms and channels, and we see originals really as drivers, and they are there in the top 10. They are selling around the world, so they are a really key part of our overall programming strategy.

Out of all the pitches you get, how many steamy sports stories are you getting now?

Everyone: [laughs]

Stockman: Some people are lacking in imagination. [laughs] So we do get a lot of queer and sports [pitches]. Yeah, we’ve got that covered. We’re good.

Klebuc: But we’ve been doing sports-adjacent programming for many, many years.

Stockman: Slo Pitch is a queer softball show.

Klebuc: A lot of documentaries… The Rebuild [Montreal Canadiens docuseries] incredibly successful. We’re doing a new one with Jay Baruchel called Blood on the Ice, just looking at Canadian culture and why do these gentle Canadians love a hockey fight so much. And then Balls Deep is another new one that we’re doing, which is sexy, queer, beach volleyball players.

Stockman: Maybe secretly queer.

Klebuc: Secretly queer? The secret’s going to be out soon!

Everyone: [laughs]

I saw you mention in an interview, Carlyn, that we’re sort of in the “Golden Age of Canadian TV…”

Klebuc: Should I regret saying that? [laughs]

Stockman: It’s continuing!

No, absolutely. And Crave is helping to usher that in a lot of ways. And Carlyn mentioned the need to have “our own storytelling.” How do you think we can holistically continue to push for all of that, in addition to the content that Crave is producing?

Klebuc: I think all boats rise. I think Heated Rivalry has had an effect that there is a little bit more competition. I think everybody’s challenged to get the most money that on screen work with the best creators. And like you said, Justin, just to show that our our content is shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. content and is exciting around the world. So I feel personally like the pressure is on to keep delivering. We’re excited about Yaga [a Canadian mystery thriller starring Schitt’s Creek‘s Noah Reid] as one of our next big shows to come out. That is very well-written, very well-executed, with some really amazing talent attached, and it’s just about continuing to deliver high quality, premium content to all our various audiences.

I do a lot of Canadian content coverage in general, and specifically, in the video game space. Something I’ve noticed is that lot of people don’t really know just how much amazing Canadian content is made here, whether that is on the video game side, the movie side, TV side, etc. So, obviously, outside of continuing to produce this content, how do we — on a more holistic level, not necessarily just Bell — better promote this sort of thing so people know that this content is being made here, it’s inherently Canadian, that sort of thing?

Stockman: It’s been a couple years now where we’re beating that drum of we make great [content] and reminding people of who all these Canadians are that maybe forgot we’re Canadians that are making shows for them. We’re still on the journey, we’re working through it. But I think the whole industry will benefit the more that people realize how strong we actually already are. And we want a flywheel effect, where the stronger we get just creates more opportunity. And so you’ll see on Crave, we never bury any of our Canadian content. We spend a lot of money on these shows. [laughs] So if we take the time to make a show, greenlight, it’s always featured very prominently to ensure that audiences know it’s a Crave original and that it’s ours and we made it for them. And so we always feature that super prominently. I think the addition of our top 10 in Crave has been really helpful, because we don’t really manipulate the top 10. It’s real data, and you can see how much of the Canadian shows are breaking through and showing up in the top 10.

Klebuc: Heated Rivalry, Sullivan’s Crossing…

Stockman: Yeah, Heated Rivalry is back in the top 10 this week. Sullivan’s was in there. So I think the top 10 is another way that we’re reinforcing that these Crave originals that are being created for Canadians are actually performing, and “hey, Canada, other Canadians are watching this Canadian thing, you should watch it, too.” And it helps really reinforce that what we’re doing has impact.

Klebuc: And ensuring that our brand stays on our content when it travels, too. That hasn’t always been easy and it’s something that we’re making a priority.

Stockman: All these awards that Heated Rivalry is winning around the world, Crave is associated with in every case, which I think really is going to help the industry overall.

You often hear when you talk to creatives that Canadian content that’s set in Canada isn’t necessarily “commercial.” But obviously for a long time, Bell has been producing titles like Letterkenny and Heated Rivalry, and even something like Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie that Bell was involved with is such a Toronto movie…

Stockman: This building [Bell Media Studios] is in like half of the scenes!

We see stuff like that that resonates with people everywhere. So as you’re having conversations with counterparts around the world who maybe still have that sort of mindview, how do you push back against it and show that what Canadians are making will resonate with everyone, even if it is set in Toronto or set in Montreal, or wherever?

Stockman: It’s one project at a time. I think each one will prove the next one more true. Obviously, Heated Rivalry gave us a little extra boost where we were already making progress, but you can see with our list of announcements. Like the David Shore, Freddie Highmore series with Sony, that’s them taking a big leap with us to create a show that doesn’t have a U.S. buyer yet, but we’re going to invest our money together, make it here with David Shore, one of the best-known showrunners in the world who happens to be Canadian. And re-teaming with Freddie Highmore — they made a pretty big show together [The Good Doctor]. So we know they can do it. But then trusting us to shepherd this through, and to deliver them separately, we’re both taking a little risk, but I think it’s pretty calculated risk. And that project, I’m sure, will be successful, and it will then lead to more like that with maybe other studios. And so it’ll be one or two things at a time, to just sort of keep snowballing as we go.

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This interview has been edited for language, clarity and length.