{
  "id": 11160298,
  "title": "Heated Rivalry was an overnight hit. Its creators and network worked overtime to make that happen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/heated-rivalry-was-an-overnight-hit-its-creators-and-network-worked",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91587928/heated-rivalry-oral-history-crave-hbo"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Heated Rivalry, a romance series centered around male hockey players, rocketed to success overnight, becoming Crave's most profitable original show in 2025. This surge in popularity led to the show's expansion into international markets, notably HBO Max in the U.S., where viewers watched each episode over 10 million times by February 2026. Initially, the show's creators, Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady, faced skepticism from potential partners due to the show's explicit content. Despite these challenges, they secured funding and distribution through Bell Media's investment in Sphere Abacus, a company in which Bell Media took a majority stake in March 2025. Production commenced from April to June 2025, and the show's buzz was amplified by superfans from the original romance novels, which were written by Rachel Reid. At the MIPCOM trade show in Cannes in September 2025, the series received significant attention, leading to its acquisition by HBO Australia and HBO U.S. In a strategic move, the show was scheduled to premiere during the holidays, rather than around the Winter Olympics, capitalizing on the pre-existing enthusiasm. This decision proved to be a turning point, as the show garnered widespread acclaim and led to Crave securing a second season, set to air in spring 2027, based on the sixth book of Reid's series. The show's impact was evident, with HBO Max calling it their biggest acquisition since launch and the series trending at No. 1 in the U.K. Additionally, a third of viewers had watched it more than once, marking it as a significant driver of new sign-ups for Crave.",
  "summary": "Once it became an instant hit, Heated Rivalry ’s success may have seemed preordained. Based on a popular series of romance novels by Rachel Reid about romances between interconnected male hockey players, the show debuted in November 2025 and has become Canadian streamer Crave’s best-performing original show, driving more sign-ups than anything else in 2025 to the streamer (owned by Canadian media…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}