Rogers acquires raft of US series

Canadian broadcaster Rogers Media has acquired a number of US series including NBC’s highly anticipated Amy Poehler comedy Parks and Recreation in a move that increases competition in Canada for US studio fare.

The broadcaster, which operates the CityTV channels after it acquired them from CTV last year, acquired midseason ABC series Surviving Suburbia and In The Motherhood.

This will increase competition for valuable US studio deals with CTV and Global Television.

Surviving Suburbia, which was originally developed by Media Rights Capital for its block on The CW, is a family comedy starring Full House’s Bob Saget. In the Motherhood is a comedy about three mothers and stars Megan Mullally. The series started life as web series produced by Mindshare Entertainment. Meanwhile, Parks and Recreation is the hotly anticipated NBC comedy from Amy Poehler that was originally described as a spin off to The Office.

This comes after Rogers announced that it inked a deal with NBC Universal to air Jay Leno’s forthcoming primetime talk show later this year.