Television Network International Limited (later ATN) was licensed in November 2000 to operate The Caribbean and African Network as a cable specialty channel dedicated to serving Canadian communities with those origins. The channel was launched in 2001, by which time it had been renamed the Commonwealth Broadcasting Network, and its program schedule was primarily dedicated […]
Author: Christopher Zikos
On August 20th 2008, the CRTC granted the CBC a licence for a new speciality channel, CBC Sports Plus, which would offer programming “dedicated primarily to the coverage and celebration of Canadian athletes, with a particular emphasis on amateur athletes”. The licence specified that a minimum of 30% of the programming should be devoted to […]
Between 1979 and 1992, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation operated this specialty channel to broadcast the proceedings of the House of Commons. Television coverage from the Commons had only begun in 1977 with the CBC being assigned the responsibility to distribute the service to cable companies via Anik satellites. Because of budget cuts, the CBC announced […]
The wide availability of CNN in the early 1980s prompted both private and public Canadian broadcasters to apply for a licence for a similar 24-hour news service in Canada. In 1987 the CRTC awarded such a license to the CBC, and CBC Newsworld began broadcasting in the summer of 1989, as Canada’s first 24-hour news […]
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The Cave
Licensed to Global and TVA in December 2000 as Men TV, the name of this specialty cable channel, aimed specifically at a male audience, had been abbreviated to Mentv by the time it launched in September of the following year. The channel’s program content was described by its owners as “from classic cars to casinos, […]
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The Cartoon Network
The Cartoon Network was launched as a specialty cartoon channel on July 4th 2012, and was wholly owned by Teletoon Canada Inc., a 50/50 partnership between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment. In March 2013 Corus Entertainment announced that, subject to the successful conclusion of the latest application by Astral Media Inc for approval to sell […]
On October 16th 1990, the CRTC approved applications by The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. (NBRS) and La Magnétothèque for licences to carry on national audio programming network operations in English and in French respectively to provide, via satellite, programming of benefit to persons who were blind, visually impaired or print handicapped due to physical […]
BuyNOW Media Inc. (owned by Evan Kosiner) launched specialty channel BuyNow in the summer of 2014. The CRTC considered the channel to be a teleshopping service. As a result, it was exempt from requiring a licence. BuyNOW was shut down in 2017. Start Year: 2014 to 2017
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Bravo
Current Station Group: Bell Media Inc. Licensed in 1994, Bravo went on the air the following January 1st. Promoted as Canada’s New Style Arts Channel, Bravo covered all facets of the Arts, with movies, specials documentaries and interviews covering everything from ballet to architecture, and from literature to jazz. The Network was owned by CHUM Limited, […]
The curious name stands for Beats Per Minute, and identifies a specialty channel dedicated to dance music of all forms, and the world of dance clubs, djs and their music. It was originally licensed to Stornoway Communications in November 2000 as The Dance Channel, but by the time the channel launched in September 2001, the […]