Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, the $2 billion Canadian cable TV giant, is set to retire after 35 years with the company.
Watson will leave Rogers in mid-May, while serving in an advisory role through fall 2026. Sarah Schmidt, a Rogers spokesperson, said in a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter that Watson “has helped shape everything from content and channel line-up to the policies that govern them. She’s led Rogers Sports & Media making blockbuster deals and critical investments to build Rogers into a sports and entertainment powerhouse. We wish Colette all the best in her upcoming retirement.”
Rogers Sports & Media is a division of telecom and media giant Rogers Communications, which has wireless and cable TV operations across Canada. She first joined Rogers in 1990 as the company’s Ottawa Bureau Chief and went on to run the Rogers TV community channel business and oversee programming affiliations and pay-per-view operations.
Rogers Sports & Media also owns the Toronto Blue Jays pro baseball club and drives key revenue from its Sportsnet cable sports channel as it holds the exclusive broadcast rights to National Hockey League games in Canada.
Besides recently renewing its NHL TV deal for another 12 years in hockey-mad Canada, Watson was behind Rogers’ multiyear content deal with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery for its lifestyle channels like Bravo, Food Network, HGTV and Discovery.
