Most of the story, that was featured on the cover of the “Culture” section of Saturday’s Star, is about how the people behind Bell’s Crave are trying to capitalize on the success of “Heated Rivalry,” the smash hit about two gay hockey players.
 
It turns out there’s a slew of new shinny shows coming to the service, although most of those were in the pipeline before “Heated” became so hot. And these three executives have made it their business to ensure consumers crave more Crave.
 
There’s no doubt the service is now the premiere streamer in Canada, although still well behind Netflix for Canuck consumer subscription dollars. I’ve often wondered whether Rogers has ever been sorry it gave up on its heated rivalry with Bell when it canned its Shomi streaming channel in 2016. The idea was relatively new then, and when it didn’t immediately take off, Big Red abandoned it, essentially handing the ball to Bell.
 
Yes, it still has City TV+, but it’s a poor cousin to Crave in terms of the kinds of offerings on its menu and it’s now way too late for Rogers to ever catch up. As for Crave, those behind it insist the best is yet to come. (Ironically, one of Ted Rogers’ favourite sayings.)
 
What’s next after ‘Heated Rivalry’? Inside Crave’s big plans to be more than Canada’s HBO gateway