Where can I watch Discovery Channel programming in Canada in 2025?

The Discovery Channel originally launched in the United States in 1985, and a Canadian version of the channel launched during the evening of December 31, 1994. Both versions of the channel were initially acclaimed for their focus on natural history and science, though the format later veered towards a less academic approach to those topics which has drawn more viewers.

The American version of the channel ultimately became well-known for its annual Shark Week event, and for series like Deadliest Catch, Expedition X, Gold Rush, and Naked and Afraid. Discovery Channel in Canada carried most of the same series alongside local productions like Heavy Rescue 401, Mighty Ships, and more.

Along the way, the American network launched several sibling channels including Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, the Science Channel, and Discovery Velocity (more recently known in the U.S. as the Motor Trend channel). Canadian versions of these channels soon followed.

On Wednesday, January 1, 2025 — just about exactly 30 years after Discovery originally hit Canadian TV screens — there will be significant changes affecting how Canadians will access programs from Discovery Channel U.S. and its related networks:

• At 12:00 midnight Eastern time on January 1, the previous Discovery Channel Canada, owned by Bell Media, lost the rights to the Discovery name, and very shortly thereafter relaunched as a Canadian version of USA Network, licensing those rights from NBCUniversal. It is carrying over many of the old Discovery Canada’s homegrown series like Highway Thru Hell, but will replace Discovery U.S. series with some of the programming of USA Network, like future seasons of the U.S. version of The Traitors.
   
  Select USA Network programs will also be available on Bell Media's subscription streaming service Crave (also available as an add-on subscription to Prime Video).
   
• At 5:00 a.m. ET that morning, Rogers Communications launched a new version of Discovery Channel in Canada, which will carry most programs from Discovery U.S. as new series or seasons begin. This channel will also be required to air Canadian series, but they will be different from those that had aired on Bell Media’s version of Discovery Canada.
   
  At least initially, it looks like this channel will only be available on Rogers-owned platforms, including Rogers Cable and Shaw Direct satellite TV, in a different channel position from the current Discovery Channel / USA Network which will vary by location and the type of service you have. Rogers customers can check this page for more information, while Shaw Direct customers will be able to find it on channel 397. Other providers may pick up the channel at a later date.
   
  For those without a TV provider, Discovery Channel programming will also be available for streaming through Rogers' Citytv+ add-on for Prime Video, and will also remain available through the Discovery+ streaming platform.
   
• Similar changes will happen with Investigation Discovery (ID), with Bell Media rebranding the existing version as Oxygen True Crime (another NBC-owned brand) and Rogers launching a new Canadian version of ID.
   
• Finally, the current versions of Animal Planet, Discovery Science, and Discovery Velocity will rebrand as CTV Wild, CTV Nature, and CTV Speed respectively, with replacement international programming. Rogers will not be launching new Canadian linear channels for those brands, but their American programming will move to Rogers’ on-demand and streaming platforms, including Citytv+, and will remain available on Discovery+.

We will endeavour to update this post if and when more information becomes available.

Why is this change happening?

As noted above, the Discovery Channel and associated networks have always been managed separately in Canada. While they have carried major new programming from their U.S. counterparts, this has long been supplemented with other Canadian programming, as well as international programs from various other sources.

In short, outside of primetime, Discovery Canada’s schedule has generally been very different from that of the U.S. version of Discovery, and the same has often been true of its sibling networks.

While there are some American cable channels that can be imported directly to Canada — such as TLC or CNBC – they cannot sell specific advertising for Canada, or offer significantly different program schedules in Canada. If they want to do that, under Canadian media laws they have been required to delegate the rights to their brands to domestic companies that run the day-to-day operations of the channels and provide Canadian content.

Thus, when Discovery launched in Canada in 1994, the channel seen here was majority-owned by a division of Labatt (as in the brewer), which at the time was a Canadian-controlled company which also owned TSN.

Following various transactions over the years, the channel is today technically a joint venture of Bell Media, Disney (through ESPN), and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the latter being the current owner of the Discovery Channel brand. (To be clear, it is unlikely that Disney has any role in how the channel is run.)

Although, from time to time, some offshoots of Discovery have been managed separately in Canada (such as the now-defunct Discovery Health and Discovery Kids), there was no public indication of any recent rift between Bell and WBD prior to spring 2024. Just one year earlier, the two companies had extended and expanded an agreement they had covering Canadian rights to Warner Bros., HBO, and Max content, which Bell distributes on its Crave streaming service and other TV channels.

But in June 2024, Bell’s largest Canadian rival, Rogers Communications, said it had reached an agreement with WBD to take over the Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands, including the Discovery Channel and its direct offshoots, as well as HGTV, Food Network, and Magnolia Network, all effective January 1, 2025. (We have separate articles here on WCIW discussing the fates of HGTV and Food Network, which were previously managed by Corus Entertainment in Canada.)

So why did WBD decide to move all these brands to Rogers? We’re still not entirely sure, and can only speculate. Perhaps WBD wanted all of these lifestyle brands moved under one umbrella in Canada, and Rogers made the best financial offer in that regard.

However, after the move was announced, Bell filed for a court injunction to try to stop Rogers and WBD from relaunching these channels in January 2025, citing terms in its outgoing contract with WBD. While the matter has since been settled with a further extension to Bell’s HBO / Max rights, court filings made over the summer suggested that WBD pushed the deal through despite concerns raised by Bell, and neglected to mention some important details to Rogers about its previous contract. (Needless to say, the specific claims in these filings have not been adjudicated by a court of law.)

Which programs are moving to the new Discovery Channel? Which ones will remain on Bell Media channels?

In general, we expect that any Discovery Channel programming filmed in the United States featuring primarily American personalities, with new seasons starting on or after January 1, 2025, will air on the new Rogers-owned Discovery Channel — and repeats of past seasons of those shows should eventually move there as well. This would include shows like Gold Rush, Deadliest Catch, and Naked and Afraid.

The same goes for any American programming originated by Animal Planet (like the Puppy Bowl), ID, the Science Channel (previously aired in Canada on Discovery Science), and the Motor Trend channel (which had been airing here on Discovery Velocity).

However, over the years, Bell Media has built up a library of Canadian programs that premiered on its Discovery-branded networks — like Highway Thru Hell, Heavy Rescue 401 and East Harbour Heroes. Repeats of these Canadian series, and any new seasons where applicable, should continue to air only on Bell Media channels, like the rebranded USA Network. Alongside those programs on the former Discovery Channel will now be a selection of programming from, or inspired by, the American version of USA Network.

Some recent repeats and new episodes of ongoing seasons of Discovery Channel U.S. programs may continue to air on the rebranded USA Network, or other Bell Media channels, for a short period of time after the relaunch.

CTV Nature (previously Discovery Science) will likely consolidate the remaining natural history-related programming that had been airing on Discovery Canada but was not part of the output deal with WBD, while the other channels like CTV Wild (née Animal Planet) and Oxygen True Crime (previously ID) will simply substitute different, but thematically similar, international programming for the WBD programming they had been airing.

I'm not a Rogers customer. Will I have to subscribe to Rogers Cable to keep getting Discovery?

If you are an existing subscriber to a Rogers-owned TV service — including "classic" Rogers Digital Cable, Rogers Xfinity TV (previously known as Ignite TV), or Shaw Direct satellite TV — and subscribe to a tier that had the old Discovery Channel, we expect you should get Rogers' new version of Discovery, but specific packaging details have not yet been confirmed. (If you subscribed to the old Discovery Channel à la carte – i.e. as a single channel – you may need to add the new version to your package separately.)

For subscribers of other TV providers, as of late December 2024, the situation seems to be up in the air.

Rogers said in its original announcement about the WBD deal that it would "work with Canadian distribution partners to make the [WBD] content widely available". In short, much as existing Rogers-owned channels like Sportsnet and FX are available on other providers like Bell Fibe TV, Cogeco, and Eastlink, Rogers said it is willing to let other providers carry its new channels, like Discovery.

But that carriage is subject to negotiations between Rogers and each provider — and it's not a foregone conclusion that every provider will agree to carry the new channels. Telus, for example, recently decided to drop the former OLN entirely, and not carry its replacement, the newly-launched Rogers-owned version of Bravo.

Even providers that have specifically said they intend to carry the new Rogers-operated Discovery Channel, like Hay Communications, have noted they may not have a contract in place in time for launch — suggesting that Rogers may ultimately launch the new version only on its own cable and satellite services on January 1, with other providers potentially following weeks or months later.

In the event your service provider does not carry the new version of Discovery — or if you do not (and do not want) to subscribe to a traditional cable-style TV service— Rogers has said that all programming on its new Discovery channel will also be available on Citytv+, its streaming package available on Amazon Prime Video Channels.

As of late 2024, Citytv+ costs $4.99 per month (plus applicable taxes), on top of the price of Amazon Prime itself (currently $9.99 per month or $99.00 per year). [All prices in this article are in Canadian dollars before applicable sales taxes, which vary by province, and are subject to change without notice.]

Which other providers have announced that they will (or will not) carry the new Discovery?

As of December 30, 2024, the vast majority of providers, other than Rogers, that have made statements related to this transition have indicated they will carry the former Bell-operated Discovery Channel in its new guise as USA Network, and similarly for the other affected Bell-operated channels, but have not made any announcements as to whether they intend to carry the new Rogers-operated versions.

This includes Bell Canada itself, which operates a national satellite TV service as well as Fibe TV across much of the country; Vidéotron in Quebec; Eastlink which operates in various areas across the country; SaskTel and Access Communications in Saskatchewan; Cogeco which serves parts of Ontario and Quebec; Tbaytel, which offers TV service in and around Thunder Bay, Ontario; and Rally, a competitive IPTV-based provider primarily operating in the Toronto area.

Telus Optik TV (B.C. and Alberta) and Telus-owned Start.ca TV (Ontario) initially said they would be dropping the Discovery-branded networks entirely — neither carrying over the Bell-operated versions into their new brands, nor picking up the new Rogers-operated versions. However, late in the day on December 31, Telus posted an update indicating they would continue to carry Bell's rebranded channels after all. (Start has not yet posted a similar update but we suspect the situation will be the same.)

Hay Communications, which operates in rural southwestern Ontario, originally stated in November that "[i]f you enjoy the Discovery Channel, Rogers will become the new provider of this popular channel brand[…] The channel will remain exactly where it is for you to enjoy.” A subsequent update indicated they intend to pick up the new Discovery Channel once they can reach an agreement with Rogers, but at least in the meantime it will offer USA Network and the other rebranding Bell-owned channels.

If there are updates about other major providers that are (or aren't) carrying the new Rogers version of Discovery, we will endeavour to add them to this article.

Why can't (or won't) Rogers just take over the existing Discovery channel?

While Rogers will be acquiring Canadian rights to the Discovery Channel brand, neither Rogers nor WBD can force Bell to sell the existing Discovery Canada channels or any other associated assets. Thus, Bell has the right to do what it wishes with the channels (within the CRTC's rules), and it will be repurposing those licences as described above

That said, in many ways it's easier for Rogers to launch Discovery as a new service rather than simply taking over the old one. If it did, it'd have to pay extra money to Bell to acquire the assets of the old Discovery channels, and then money on top of that to a CRTC-mandated benefits package typically required during ownership transfers. As it stands, Rogers can leverage the well-known brands to help its service quickly build a subscriber base, without paying to acquire an existing channel licence.

So I will need to look up a new channel number for the new Discovery Channel?

Yes. We originally thought that Rogers Cable might just put the new Discovery Channel in the same channel positions as the Bell-owned version. And in general, TV providers have the right to organize their channels in whatever way they see fit, subject to CRTC-mandated change notice requirements and any clauses in their agreements with channel operators.

But, perhaps due to complaints from Corus Entertainment about several channels it owns, and subsequent warnings from the CRTC, it currently appears Rogers will leave the old channels as-is — as placeholders for its new Discovery Channel (and ID) have already appeared in different positions on the Rogers lineup.

If my provider carries the new Discovery Channel, will I also get USA Network?

For now, it appears that all (or nearly all) providers, including Rogers, will carry the Bell-owned channels under their new brands, including USA Network. As noted above, the only exception we were aware of was Telus, but they have apparently since reached an agreement to maintain the channels as noted above.

Of course, for providers other than Bell Fibe / Satellite, this may only be temporary. We don't know the specifics of Bell's agreements with the various TV providers across Canada, but it's possible that over time, if the new programming on each channel doesn't live up to expectations, third-party providers may end up dropping them entirely.

Has the CRTC approved this? Could they stop it?

Rogers does not require any explicit approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada's media and telecommunications regulator, to proceed with the launch of its new version of Discovery, for a couple of key reasons.

First, since its "Let's Talk TV" policy was released in 2015, the CRTC has not enforced most kinds of genre protection policies that were commonplace in years past, which might have otherwise blocked the launch of another service in the exact same category as an existing Canadian channel.

In short, if Rogers or anyone else wants to launch a new version of Discovery — or any similar channel with a similar programming focus under a different brand — they are free to do so, and any complaints Corus might have on that launch would likely end up being ignored (or summarily dismissed) by the CRTC. For that matter, Rogers could have also taken an existing specialty channel and reformat it as Discovery (as Rogers did recently with OLN / Bravo) and there would be no repercussions.

As for the Discovery brand itself, that is purely a contractual matter between Bell, WBD, and Rogers. As noted above, Bell did seek a court injunction over the planned transition, citing various non-compete clauses in its expiring agreements with WBD, but ended up settling the dispute in favour of an extended agreement with WBD for HBO and Max content.

Second, if Rogers (as it appears) chooses not to use an existing channel licence, it doesn't need to apply to the CRTC in advance of the channel launching. Under that same 2015 policy, any Canadian company can launch a new channel without CRTC approval, and does not need to apply for a licence until it reaches 200,000 subscribers.

The new Discovery Channel may very well exceed that threshold the moment it launches, but the point is that Rogers can launch the service, then apply and wait for the CRTC to take as much time as it wants to give it full approval — and not the other way around.

Significant revisions

In the interests of efficiency, this article was based in part on similar posts we previously published concerning HGTV / Home Network, and Food Network / Flavour Network.

• January 1, 2025 – updated to reflect very late updates to Telus' plans
• December 31, 2024 – updated channel information for the new Rogers-owned Discovery channel
• December 30, 2024 – initial publication of Discovery Channel article