Saturday night Live The longtime Canadian domestic is set to leave Global Television for rival CTV and Crave streamers, beginning with a 52nd season later this year.
The deal between CTV-parent Bell Media and NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution will move the NBC sketch comedy series to CTV and Crave, which already has the library. snl episodes on its platform. A shift in Canadian rights holders also sees NBCU’s Peacock continuing to focus on the US market as a direct-to-consumer streaming platform and striking deals with Canadian broadcasters for its studio programming.
Justin Stockman, vice president of global content at Bell Media, said in a statement Monday, “A proven hit for more than 50 years, the series has always been a leader in pop culture, setting the tone for modern comedies. We will be delighted with audiences when the new season premieres on Crave and CTV.”
canadian rights snl Corus Entertainment has long been moving north of the US border as the local media giant continues to play musical chairs with major US TV brands amid streaming competition. In May 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery struck a deal to transfer popular lifestyle and entertainment brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network, and OWN from Corus Entertainment to rival Rogers Sports & Media.
WBD also switched other entertainment brands such as Discovery, Motor Trend, Science, Animal Planet and ID from the former Bell Media homes to Rogers. The restructuring of top US channels and series is intended to allow local broadcasters to continue to pursue online TV audiences, and where possible to target Canadians who are increasingly favoring US streaming platforms Netflix and Prime Video.
The biggest loser in that Canadian TV horse race is Corus, a major buyer of American series from major Hollywood studio suppliers but which has been troubled by a recapitalization plan to stay in business that has not yet received final approval from the country’s TV watchdog CRTC. Canadian primetime TV draws viewers with American series like The Chorus survivor And NCIS franchise, FBI, CIA And 9-1-1 series, but has now left snl As it relates to the continued decline in linear TV advertising in Canada.
