The History of Canadian BroadcastingOn May 18th 2006, Allarco Entertainment Inc. of Edmonton was licensed by the CRTC to launch a new national digital pay television service, the first such national service in Canada, that would compete for viewers with the existing pay TV services provided in the West by Corus with Movie Central and Encore Avenue, and in […]
On December 8th 2009, Corus Entertainment and Rainbow Media announced that they had finalized a licensing agreement that would enable Corus to add Sundance Channel to its portfolio of Canadian specialty services. Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel featured a broad range of programming, from niche, genre-focused cinema to socially provocative films, […]
On June 15th, 2010, Quebecor Inc. announced that its companies Sun Media Corporation and TVA Group Inc. would be asking for CRTC approval to launch a new 24 hour news channel on January 1st 2011. As part of the process, Toronto SunTV station CKXT-TV would initially carry Sun News in simulcast, but would later be converted from […]
In 1995, the CBC received CRTC approval to operate the national pay audio service, Galaxie. When It launched in 1997, Galaxie had 30 channels in English and French. In 2002, Galaxie and Max Trax (Corus Entertainment) began providing a joint 40 channel music service called Galaxie Max Trax. The new service offered 20 Galaxie and […]
Licensed in 1996, and launched in 1999, CHUM Limited’s Star speciality channel was a national entertainment service dedicated to the world of show business, and the hundreds of thousands of people who make it happen. Inspired by the success of their StarTV weekly television series, Star offered a program schedule heavy on the movie business, but reaching into […]
On March 3rd 2010, Rogers Broadcasting Limited (Rogers) was licenced by the CRTC to launch a second sports specialty channel, to be called Sportsnet One. Programming would include extensive coverage of NHL hockey games involving Canadian teams, Major League Baseball games as well as Union of European Football Associations soccer and other mainstream sports. Sportsnet […]
Sportsnet 360 was originally known as Sportscope, and operated an alphanumeric service beginning in 1994. In 1996 the CRTC licensed Sportscope Plus as a national specialty channel devoted to “video highlights of sports events, as well as text and graphic displays that provide sports scores and schedules”. The owners were Headline Media Group and Western Co-Axial […]
With CTV as majority owners, Sportsnet was launched in October 1998, but was acquired by Rogers in 2001 and renamed Rogers Sportsnet when CTV had to sell off the specialty channel on acquiring control of TSN. The program service of live and recorded sporting events, documentaries and specials, scores and statistics was delivered on four […]
Current Station Group: Bell Media Inc. Licensed to CHUM Limited in 1996, Space – The Imagination Station was launched on cable in October 1997, and quickly became one of the most popular speciality channels in the system. Its programming ranges over “science fiction, science fact, speculation and fantasy” and challenges the imagination of its viewers with […]
Current Station Group: Corus Entertainment Inc. Another in the group of very successful Alliance Atlantis-owned cable specialty channels, the Life Network was launched in January 1995, having been licensed seven months earlier. Its content was as wide-ranging as life itself, with a broad range of programming of interest to all demographics and lifestyles. A typical day’s schedule […]