Originally licensed to CHUM Limited in 2001 as a specialty channel to be titled Relationships, the service eventually launched as Sex TV; The Channel, and by the time it was acquired by CTVglobemedia in 2007 as part of the acquisition of the assets of CHUM Limited (see below), Sex TV was describing itself as “…a unique mix of informative, educational and cutting-edge features about the human sexual experience.” On July 12 it was announced that Bell Globemedia would pay C$1.7 billion for CHUM Ltd., in a deal that would see the company become part of the BCE-owned media conglomerate, subject to CRTC approval.
A CRTC hearing on the CTVglobemedia application to acquire the assets of CHUM Limited was held on April 30th 2007. On June 8 the CRTC approved the acquisition of CHUM Ltd. by CTVglobemedia, on condition that CTV sell off its five City-TV stations, CITY-TV Toronto, CHMI-TV Portage La Prairie/Winnipeg, CKEM-TV Edmonton, CKAL-TV Calgary and CKVU-TV Vancouver.
Rogers Communications announced on June 25th that a deal had been reached for them to buy these stations from CTV, subject to CRTC approval. Among the CHUM assets acquired by CTVglobemedia in the deal were seven television stations, 21 specialty channels , including Sex TV, and some 33 radio stations.
On July 15th 2009, Corus Entertainment Inc announced that it had agreed to purchase SexTV from CTVglobemedia, subject to CRTC approval. On September 29th, Corus president John Cassaday said that Sex TV would be replaced with W Movies early in 2010.
On November 19th, Corus announced that the CRTC had approved the deal. In February, it was announced that W Movies, would launch on March 1st, 2010. Corus claimed that it would be the first movie channel programmed exclusively with women in mind.
W Movies was replaced December 12, 2016, by the Cooking Channel, which was a spin-off of the Food Network.
Ownership: Corus
Start Year: 2001