Then, it was event host eTalk correspondent Lainey Lui’s turn to address the outsized impact of the gay hockey romance.

“Everyone here is asking: ‘What’s the next ‘Heated Rivalry’?’” she said before unveiling mock posters for absurd spinoffs: “Heated MasterChef,” “Heated CP24” and “Heated Project Runway Canada.”

It was a comedy bit, sure, but the gags landed because they raised a serious question: How does Crave, Canada’s largest homegrown streaming service, follow the unprecedented success of its first true cultural phenomenon?

Bell’s answer involves two parallel ambitions. At home, executives want to establish Crave as more than just Canada’s gateway to HBO programming. Internationally, they’re trying to build a name as a reliable source of TV hits made with modest budgets.

“We feel the pressure, but it’s an exciting pressure,” said Justin Stockman, Bell’s vice-president of global content, inside his office at the company’s Queen West Street headquarters.

Stockman’s desk is surrounded by reminders of the TV shows he championed, including posters of “Sullivan’s Crossing” and “Canada’s Drag Race.” Noticeably absent is much evidence of “Heated Rivalry,” largely because he keeps giving the memorabilia away to the show’s many fans.

Interest in “Heated Rivalry” has buoyed Crave’s streaming service. Total subscribers reached 4.74 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 25 per cent increase from a year earlier. The company aims to hit 6 million subscribers in 2028, still only about half of Netflix’s subscriber count in Canada.

Stockman is one of the Bell power players behind the show’s success, having initially backed Jacob Tierney’s vision to adapt Rachel Reid’s romance novels. But the executive is no TV newcomer.

Three decades ago, he landed a job as a tour guide at the former CHUM building while attending university, and eventually climbed the ranks from web designer to creative director at MuchMusic, before helping launch Crave in 2014.

Since then, Stockman has been part of the team producing shows under its “Crave Originals” banner. While earlier hits “Letterkenny” and its spinoff “Shoresy” reached a level of international success, none has approached the impact of “Heated Rivalry.”

Bell Media is in the midst of a considerable effort to boost Crave’s reputation for the next stage of the streaming wars.

In Canada, it’s using “Heated Rivalry” to further define its brand as unique from HBO, the premium TV network that helped build Crave with hits like “Game of Thrones” and “The White Lotus.”

That’s one reason Crave is using every opportunity to trumpet its successes, and its executives are strategizing ways to attract hype and acclaim to its own shows. Recently, they rolled out the new season of YouTube star Jus Reign’s “Late Bloomer” alongside HBO’s “Euphoria,” in hopes it would reach a wider audience.

Outside Canada, Bell has increased its exposure to the TV production pipeline, a move to invest in, and reap the financial rewards of, Canadian shows that find mass appeal around the world. Last summer, the company made a strategic investment in Blink49 Studios, which will produce several of its latest series, while Bell oversees their global distribution. Bell also acquired a majority stake in Sphere Abacus, the worldwide sales arm of Montreal-based Sphere Media, allowing it to benefit from the global sales and distribution of other Canadian shows, including CBC’s “Sort Of” and “The Porter.”

Stockman said the approach makes sense in a highly competitive space where U.S. streaming giants are trying to dominate the Canadian market.

“If the foreign competitors are going to invade our territory and take our audience, we need to take our content outside of our borders or we’re just going to shrink,” he said.

Stockman said he sees an opportunity to build on that plan as Hollywood endures one of the most turbulent times in its history, hobbled by union strikes, consolidation and cost-cutting. He hopes the production slowdown will make top Canadian talent more willing to consider projects at home.

The clearest expression of that strategy is Crave’s 2026/2027 programming slate, which is packed with recognizable stars and unusual concepts that could redefine what audiences expect from a Canadian series. Among the 62 productions are a few linked to creators more commonly associated with Hollywood than Canadian television.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are attached to produce a revival of the dog adventure “The Littlest Hobo,” while “House” creator David Shore is developing the crime drama “I’m Not Here to Hurt You.”

Ivan Reitman’s 1979 summer camp comedy “Meatballs,” which starred Bill Murray, will be remade with “Heated Rivalry” breakout Robbie G.K. in the lead, while “Saved By the Bell” heartthrob Mark-Paul Gosselaar will don tight shorts for “Bulges,” a comedy set at a Hooters-like restaurant staffed by men in Niagara Falls, Ont.

“We’re trying to make a statement,” Stockman said of the lineup.

“They’re either weird concepts that everyone will talk about or they’ve got interesting talent that maybe you wouldn’t have thought of for a Canadian series.”

The diversity of Crave’s lineup also suggests that rather than commissioning obvious successors to “Heated Rivalry,” Bell is betting on projects that differ sharply in genre and tone.

Stockman points to “Yaga,” a supernatural thriller based on Kat Sandler’s stage play, which has already secured U.S. distribution on AMC Plus. Set in a small town haunted by a child-eating witch, the series follows a sheriff, detective and university professor investigating a string of murders.

“The Matrix” star Carrie-Anne Moss leads the cast, which features “Schitt’s Creek” star Noah Reid, veteran actors Sheila McCarthy and Megan Follows, as well as Hudson Williams in a supporting role that’s already generated online buzz. A trailer shown at Bell Media’s presentation promised lots of spells and even more sex.

“Our cast is kind of the Canadian Avengers,” said Sandler, who is a writer and executive producer on the TV adaptation.

“Everyone feels the excitement, and the weight, of having all these eyes on us, as one of the next things after ‘Heated.’ (The Crave executives) are encouraging us to push the show to a place where it feels really different, dangerous and exciting.”

Sean Cohan, president of Bell Media, has become the loudest champion of that philosophy. The former New Yorker spent 15 years at A+E Networks helping expand the company’s global footprint, and when he joined Bell in 2023, his priorities included accelerating a “digital pivot” and expanding Crave’s original programming slate.

He also managed Bell Media through its most recent round of layoffs last year, when parent company BCE Inc. shed thousands of jobs as it adjusted to slower growth in its telecom operations.

Cohan frames Crave’s production strategy in two categories: “Big C” shows, rooted in Canadian themes, and “Little C” projects designed for global appeal with stories that “could have happened to anyone.” Both employ Canadian casts and writers, and he hopes both will entice international audiences.

Carlyn Klebuc, general manager of Crave’s original programming, said Cohan’s vision has already manifested in the quality of the programming. When a production warrants it, additional funding can be allocated to enhance the final result, like securing popular music rights or casting recognizable stars in guest roles.

“There’s a freedom that we haven’t had in the past to take bigger swings,” she said, “to get more money on screen and really strive for excellence.”

Whether any of these series reach a fraction of “Heated Rivalry”’s audience remains to be seen.

“One hit is always just one hit,” said Joe Adalian, West Coast editor of Vulture and author of the streaming newsletter Buffering.

“And it’s not going to change the fact that Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus are much bigger than Crave.”

Cohan said the fierce competition for viewer’s attention is one reason he’s building out Crave with new features. The platform recently introduced a news hub for CTV’s evening and national newscasts, as well as a section devoted to video podcasts, following a similar move by Netflix. Cohan said he hopes the new offerings will encourage Crave subscribers to make a “daily habit” of using the service.

He said Bell has also renegotiated many of its CTV licenses for live sports events and awards shows to also include streaming rights. (Crave streamed the Oscars for the first time earlier this year.)

Even as Bell pushes for growth, technical issues remain a drag on Crave’s user experience.

For years, subscribers have complained about persistent glitches that led them to cancel the service, including frequent buffering, playback errors and crashes.

Last year, the platform underwent a massive overhaul that resolved many of the problems. However, new ones cropped up, including programs vanishing from the “Continue Watching” carousel, forcing viewers to search the title each time a new episode is released.

Cohan said that many of these errors are on his radar.

“I get emails from people,” he said. “It’s gotten a lot better, but it’s not where it needs to be.”

Earlier this year, Bell simplified its processes by shutting down both its CTV and French-language Noovo streaming apps, and integrating all of the programming into the Crave platform.

As Crave forges its new identity, other uncertainties await.

The US$110 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery raises questions over whether Crave’s long-standing licensing deal for HBO content will be renewed the next time it expires. In an official statement, Bell downplayed the impact of potentially losing HBO’s deep catalogue, saying Crave will continue to carry HBO’s prestige programming for the “foreseeable future.”

The end of a similar distribution deal three years ago offers a glimpse into what losing HBO might look like. When Bell’s agreement with U.S. premium network Showtime expired, such hit shows as “Dexter” and “Ray Donovan” migrated from Crave to its competitor Paramount Plus in Canada.

Stockman suggested that whatever might happen with HBO years from now, he believes Crave will be ready. He pointed to last Christmas when six of the Top 10 shows on the service were Crave originals. In one of the busiest viewing periods of the year, he considered that a big win, and it’s one he hopes to replicate many times over.

“We’ll have to prove ourselves again and again,” Stockman said. “And that’s what we’re intending to do.”