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114-520: OUTtv is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities . The network is owned by OUTtv Media Global Inc., majority owned (51%) by Ronald N. Stern through OM Acquisitions. The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 as PrideVision TV . Owned by Headline Media Group , it

228-518: A change towards industrialization, and during that time both the materials and products manufactured as well as the investors and consumers were American. The Canadian dependency on American capital and markets persisted through the Great Depression and its aftermath. This situation remained during the emergence of television and affected its development in Canada. Even with the emergence of radio, Canada

342-597: A complaint with the CRTC; however, the parties settled their disagreement before the matter was taken to a hearing before the CRTC and had agreed on a packaging deal. A similar deal was made with Bell later that year. On July 19, 2006, Shavick Entertainment , a film and television producer based in Vancouver , British Columbia , announced it would acquire the majority interest in both OUTtv and Hard on PrideVision from William Craig. Shavick also announced plans to rename OUTtv, upgrade

456-655: A direct-to-consumer SVOD streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland called FROOTtv . Less than four years later, the service would be rebranded as OUTflix , and expanded to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland via Allente . In March 2021, OUTtv launched in the United States as a streaming service. In November of that year, an OUTtv SVOD streaming service launched in Australia. The service would also launch in Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, and Israel in 2022. In November 2022, OUTtv announced

570-586: A distinct popular culture. With the fear of the United States stunting the growth of Canada as well as the country becoming increasingly divided by language, the government showed huge concern with how television affected Canadians. Graham Spry, founder and spokesperson of the Canadian Radio League, stated about the radio system: "The question is the State or the United States." According to the Canadian government,

684-652: A halt to television experiments. Television in Canada on major networks pre-date any telecasts that originated in the country as thousands of television sets that were capable of receiving U.S.-based signals were installed in homes near the Canada–US border between 1946 and 1953. Homes in southern and southwestern Ontario and portions of British Columbia , including the Toronto, Hamilton , London , Windsor , Victoria and Vancouver areas, were able to receive television stations from Buffalo , Cleveland , Detroit or Seattle with

798-539: A large proportion of the Canadian content on most stations, with each of the commercial networks rarely having more than one or two Canadian-produced drama or comedy series on their schedules at any given time. Among the English language broadcasters, only the public CBC Television airs a schedule that consists almost entirely of Canadian-produced programming, although even it will sometimes air selected programming from Britain, Australia or PBS ( American Public Television ) in

912-477: A later revision. The government-created corporation held the responsibility of establishing a national service and to monitor the entire broadcast system. Because of Canada's large land area, it would be difficult for one corporation to control the broadcasting system throughout the country, all while establishing a network to compete in that system as well as in the American system. Before 1958, Canadian law prohibited

1026-520: A low number of subscriptions. On April 4, 2008, a European version of OUTtv was initially launched in the Netherlands through a licensing agreement with the newly formed Dutch company, OUTtv Media Group. The Dutch channel subsequently launched in several additional countries. The association between the two networks ended with the sale of OUTtv (Canadian TV channel) to OM Acquisition in 2016, and each channel now operates independently. OUTtv launched as

1140-543: A majority of Canadian content, both throughout its schedule and in its primetime schedule. Industry Canada regulates the technical aspects of broadcast stations and certain aspects of other licensed undertakings. Unlike specialty services, conventional (or over-the-air ) broadcast stations are permitted to air a wide variety of news, information, entertainment, sports and other programming without any restriction as to theme or content, and none restrict themselves in that regard. Religious television stations are an exception to

1254-452: A mixture of stations, albeit one dominated by CTV. Also, it is not uncommon to find multiple affiliates of one network, and no affiliates of another network, available in the same market on basic cable , particularly in smaller markets. For instance, in Kingston, Ontario , two CBC affiliates are available, a local privately owned station and a CBC-owned station from Ottawa , while CTV Two

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1368-596: A month-long experimental pop-up channel, from October 4 to November 4, 2018, on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa . In March 2023, OUTtv partnered with OpenView HD to launch a full-scale linear channel in South Africa. In 2018, OUTtv expanded to New Zealand through a partnership with TVNZ and their TVNZ+ streaming service . In June 2020, OUTtv signed a distribution deal with MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax in South Africa. In November 2020, OUTtv launched

1482-588: A national identity. The Broadcasting Act of 1932 created a national network for each electronic medium in Canada's two official languages, French and English. When it was created, the Act referred mostly to radio broadcasting but it also included television once TV came to the country in 1952. The Act resulted in the creation of the CRBC, which would be replaced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in

1596-457: A new logo and refreshed on-air branding. The HD simulcast feed was launched on July 2, and the new website was launched on January 17, 2013. In December 2012, Shavick Entertainment purchased Pink Triangle Press's 24.94% interest and Peace Point Entertainment Group's 15% interest in the channel. Under Shavick's management, the channel has seen significant increases in its subscriber base, going from just 185,000 subscribers when they first purchased

1710-478: A new logo to coincide with the launch of its streaming service in the United States on Apple TV . American co-produced shows included Jonny McGovern 's talk show Hey Qween! , Ginger Minj 's cooking show Wigs in a Blanket , and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula . OUTtv's reality dating series For the Love of DILFs , hosted by Stormy Daniels , premiered on January 31, 2023, and received mainstream coverage. Following

1824-573: A result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media. On April 1, 2016, IFC's parent company Shaw Media was sold to Corus Entertainment . In July 2019, various cable operators reported that the channel would be shut down alongside CosmoTV on September 30, 2019. Its license was returned to the CRTC on November 4, 2019. In 2022, Bell Canada , the owner of its media division , entered an agreement with AMC Networks to carry IFC Films Unlimited on its Fibe TV service. Most of

1938-602: A review by the Diefenbaker government in the late 1950s, a number of new, "second" stations were licensed in many major markets, many of which began operating before the end of 1960. CTV , the first private network, which grew out of the inevitable association of these new stations, began operating in October 1961. About the same time, CHCH-TV in Hamilton disaffiliated from the CBC and became

2052-520: A rut of American popular culture during a time when Canadian national identity was very vague. Canada was not only made up of Francophones and Anglophones, there were also immigrants from around the world, at that time mostly from Europe . That fear of American influence convinced the Canadian government that its involvement was necessary in order for Canadian broadcasting to express and encourage Canadian identity and national unity. Though French-speaking Canadians feared expansion of American influence and

2166-538: A scenario would be virtually unheard of in a major American market. Despite a general CRTC policy that limits station ownership to one station per market per language per company, several exceptions have led to twinstick operations in several markets. In some cases, this allows multiple stations to serve a small market that could otherwise support only one station. In larger markets, however, Canwest and CHUM had justified several instances of twinsticks, generally two stations based in separate but neighbouring regions. This

2280-475: A single locally owned company operated both CTV and CBC affiliates in a community, is also now rare – within English Canada, only the cities of Thunder Bay and Lloydminster still receive television service from a twinstick operation, and of those two, only Thunder Bay's Thunder Bay Television is still locally owned. In 2012, Bell Media attempted to acquire Astral Media in a takeover . This initial attempt

2394-513: A single, if influential, newspaper, The Globe and Mail . Canwest continues to pursue its strategy; in late 2005, BCE announced it would sell most of its interests in Globemedia to a consortium of investors including the Thomson family and Torstar , although it still retains a minority stake in the company. In many respects, particularly since the consolidation phase of the late 1990s and early 2000s

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2508-617: A variety of languages, while Telelatino airs programming in Italian and Spanish on basic cable. Numerous third-language channels have been licensed as Category 2 services on digital cable . The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) airs programming targeted to the Indigenous peoples of Canada ; 28 per cent of the network's content is broadcast in aboriginal languages. The Canadian broadcasting industry, including all programming services (over-the-air or otherwise) and all distributors,

2622-406: A very large percentage of the airtime in peak viewing hours (in most areas, 7:00 to 11:00 p.m.) can be devoted to programs of foreign origin, in large part due to the significant amount of programming available from the U.S., not to mention the availability of the major U.S. broadcast networks themselves via cable or satellite, or even as terrestrial signals in border markets. A Canadian network

2736-524: A weak mix of programming all combined to affect PrideVision; it was losing a considerable amount of money. The channel's subscriber base grew much more slowly than expected, with only roughly 20,000 subscribers by the end of 2002 compared to channels such as IFC , which had over 520,000 subscribers in the same time period. To help grow its subscriber base, PrideVision offered another free preview period to its distributors, and launched an advertising campaign comparing this business situation to impotency . Many in

2850-597: Is allowed to override the cable or satellite feed of an American broadcast signal when they air the same program simultaneously, ensuring that the Canadian broadcaster, not the American broadcaster, is able to benefit from the advertising revenue associated with broadcasting to the Canadian audience. Arguably this right has led to an even greater glut of American programming on Canadian stations, including programs of little relevance to Canadian audiences, or poorly received series that may never be seen outside North America. In addition, higher rated American shows cannot be seen if

2964-473: Is far more popular than imports. As of 2003 the top ten shows on television in Quebec were written and created by Quebecers. The Standing Committee report found that Canadian French networks made a profit of $ 40,000 per hour of French-language drama, compared to $ 10,000 per hour of American drama. The Quebec television industry produced two and one half times more TV series per capita than American networks. While

3078-478: Is not available in that market. In many markets, including some major cities, there is only a handful of local stations, with other network services provided by an affiliate based hundreds of kilometres away. For instance, in Ottawa, only three English networks/systems – CBC, CTV and CTV Two – have stations based in the market; the "local" Global and Citytv stations are in fact rebroadcasters of Toronto-area stations. Such

3192-484: Is often aimed at a broader North American audience, although the similarities may be less pronounced in the predominantly French-language province of Quebec . The first experimental television broadcast began in 1932 in Montreal, Quebec, under the call sign of VE9EC. The broadcasts of VE9EC were broadcast in 60 to 150 lines of resolution on 41 MHz. This service closed around 1935, and the outbreak of World War II put

3306-483: Is owned and controlled by Ronald N. Stern, who is also president of Stern Partners, a conglomerate whose other holdings include a share in the Winnipeg Free Press . It was revealed through CRTC filings that the new owners intend to purchase additional channels, including international channels, and launch an online streaming service. Media reports revealed on January 11, 2017, noted that the agreement to purchase

3420-771: Is regulated in regards to ownership and content by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which in most cases issues licences for each such operation. The CRTC issues licences pursuant to Canadian laws and the Commission's own regulations and conditions of licence, which regulate such matters as Canadian content, domestic ownership and accessibility issues such as closed captioning . Among other regulations, all Canadian broadcasters and distributors must be at least 80% owned and controlled by Canadian citizens; also, all conventional stations, and most established specialty services, are required to air

3534-517: Is the only Citytv O&O, as well as one of only three stations affiliated with the network, to carry nightly locally produced evening newscasts). To maximize simultaneous substitution opportunities, in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones , prime time programming airs from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m., while in the Central Time Zone it generally airs from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., in both cases mirroring

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3648-508: The Windsor region near Detroit . Television viewership outside Ontario was limited to British Columbia's Lower Mainland with access to American programming from Seattle and some sets in Montreal . Television sales were promoted not only by the arrival of CBC Television , but by revised credit practices at that time, which allowed purchases without requiring an initial cash deposit. Following

3762-711: The 10:00 p.m. hour, Atlantic and Mountain Time Zone stations will typically delay their 11:00 p.m. news programming to 12:00 a.m. and air the entire program in unison with the time zone directly west (thus, a program scheduled to air from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. in Eastern and Pacific Time Zones is typically aired from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. in the Atlantic and Mountain Time Zones (10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Newfoundland Time), with syndicated programming airing in

3876-507: The 1970s and 1980s, nearly every major Canadian market saw the launch of independent third stations, most of which were either launched by or eventually acquired by Izzy Asper 's Canwest , and which served as a de facto third network although they were not yet branded or formally structured as such; these stations, by and large, were eventually unified as the Global Television Network. The 1980s and 1990s saw exponential growth in

3990-482: The 8:00 p.m. hour). CBC Television airs all programming corresponding to the local time zone, except for a 30-minute delay in the Newfoundland Time Zone. Overnight programming varies from broadcaster to broadcaster, and may consist of purchased programming or infomercials , or repeat airings of daytime programming. As of 2003 three quarters of English-Canadian television shows on prime time were from

4104-501: The American IFC service, the channel was described as "a national English-language Category 1 specialty television service consisting of dramatic and non-fiction short and feature-length independent films, and programs focusing on the independent film-making process, film makers and film festivals." On February 9, 2001, the CRTC approved a proposed corporate restructuring that would allow Salter Street Films acquire Triptych Media's 5% in

4218-503: The American version's original programming aired on this channel; they had instead been picked up by competing Canadian channels. For example, Portlandia premiered on Super Channel and aired in syndication on BiteTV (Now Makeful). For a number of years, it mainly carried content from the American cable network Showtime under a licensing agreement with that network's owner, the CBS Corporation . As of December 2013, Bell Media ,

4332-415: The CRTC approved an application that would see HardTV sold and spun off into its own company, 4510810 Canada Inc., a company owned by Pink Triangle Press (55%) and Peace Point Entertainment (45%). The transaction closed at a later date. On May 23, 2012, OUTtv announced that it had passed 1 million subscribers, and would launch a high-definition feed on July 2, 2012. Concurrently, the network also introduced

4446-468: The CRTC approved the purchase Salter Street Films by Alliance Atlantis. On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media, acquired control of IFC through its purchase of Alliance Atlantis' broadcasting assets, which were placed in a trust in August 2007. On October 27, 2010, ownership changed again as Shaw Communications gained control of IFC as

4560-441: The CRTC for a new premium service, which would be devoted to gay adult programming. In November, PrideVision expanded its adult programming—now branded with the double entendre -tinged monicker Hard on PrideVision —into primetime (from 9:00 p.m.—6:00 a.m. Eastern Time ), in preparation for the expansion of the block into a 24-hour service, alongside a non-adult network tentatively named "Glow TV". In February 2005, it

4674-620: The CTV affiliate-owner in British Columbia to include many of the stations of Allarcom and Maclean Hunter , in order to satisfy its long-held desire to enter Alberta , but also giving it a second network. CHUM secured two regional services in Ontario before expanding to British Columbia and merging with Craig, its equivalent in the Canadian Prairies . The early 2000s, aside from the completion of

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4788-548: The Canada–US border were available for several years prior, and gained a sizeable audience in cities like Toronto, within range of U.S. signals, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was the first entity to broadcast television programming within Canada, launching in September 1952 in both Montreal and Toronto. Private CBC affiliates began operating late in 1953 to supplement the Corporation's own stations;

4902-567: The Canadian Radio-Television Commission (now the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission ). The government still referred to the Canadian broadcasting system as the "single system". Among other concerns, this implied that both private and public networks were working toward the same goals, notably the national objective of unity and Canadian content and ownership. Government intervention helped

5016-836: The Canadian broadcasting industry economically but failed to create a distinct culture that was in sharp contrast to American popular culture. However, it did allow Quebec to run its own broadcasting service and economically, it helped out the Canadian broadcasters, particularly the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Due to their protests, Bill C-58 was passed. Among many changes, Bill C-58 removed tax deductibility benefits for Canadian Corporations advertising on American stations. The 1968 Act had also given priority carriage for Canadian broadcast services. Policies such as these produced important economic benefits for Canadian broadcasters. Economic prosperity for Canadian broadcasters took priority over Canadian identity in that prosperity

5130-707: The Canadian network overriding the signal interrupts the program for a news bulletin, unless the cable company switches the signal back to the American station's feed. Many Canadian broadcasters broadcast on a 24-hour schedule. Daily programming begins at about 6:00 a.m., usually with a local or national morning show . Daytime programming, including talk shows and soap operas , follows, although some Canadian stations may air "brokered-time" religious or charitable programming as well, which unlike traditional infomercials can count towards Canadian content requirements. Most Canadian television stations are required to carry some news programming as per their licence. As opposed to

5244-409: The Eastern and Pacific Time Zones is typically seen from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. in the Atlantic and Mountain Time Zones (9:30 to 11:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time)), and 10:00 p.m. programming aired earlier in the evening at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time). Also, in the rare event a program scheduled to start before 10:00 p.m. in the Eastern and/or Pacific Time Zones runs into

5358-489: The IFC acronym, possibly due to the decreasing number of independent films in its programming lineup. The channel still utilized the 2001 IFC logo rather than the current-day American version, which was still used by IFC Films at the time of the network's closure. IFC also began to regularly air TV series. These were mostly second-run programs that previously aired on other Canadian channels, such as sister channel Showcase . None of

5472-454: The Love of DILFS , X-Rated , The Sherry Vine Variety Show , Dr. Jackie , and Willam Belli 's courtroom show Iconic Justice . In mid-2006, OUTtv ventured into its first international market when it reached a deal with SelecTV to distribute the network on its lineup in Australia through a package called "CurveTV". However, in early 2007, OUTtv and the CurveTV package was discontinued due to

5586-475: The Ontario/Manitoba border have adopted this scheduling format for their local news programming. In contrast, some stations carry a locally produced morning news programs even if they do not carry evening newscasts at all (such as City's owned-and-operated stations, all of which produce a weekday morning news/talk program using the title Breakfast Television ; the television system's Toronto flagship CITY-DT

5700-415: The U.S. model, most stations, even in major markets like Toronto , carry a single newscast during the late-afternoon/early-evening period, specifically from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. However, as in the U.S., "strip" programming fills the following hour, at least in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and is followed by prime time programming. One or more newscasts follow, usually beginning at 11:00 p.m.;

5814-874: The U.S. networks. However, viewers in the Mountain Time Zone – i.e. Alberta – have historically received U.S. network feeds from the Pacific Time Zone, not from the Mountain Time Zone. Similarly, those in Atlantic Canada receive U.S. feeds from the Eastern Time Zone. Local stations in those regions also use 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. (8:30 to 11:30 p.m. in Newfoundland and Southeast Labrador ) as prime time, but with most programming advanced by an hour (thus programming seen from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. in

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5928-460: The United States. American television programs are much more profitable for English Canadian networks than domestic ones. A Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage report found that networks lost $ 125,000 per hour of English-language Canadian drama, but made a profit of $ 275,000 per hour of American drama. Scripted television programming in Canada tends toward the shorter runs more typical of British television rather than

6042-414: The United States. While under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations at least 60% of program has to be Canadian-produced, and 50% during prime time, English-language private broadcasters such as CTV and Global have always had difficulty airing more than a bare minimum of Canadian-produced programming in primetime; in actual practice, network and local news accounts for

6156-729: The case of the Maritimes ) through a network of rebroadcasters rather than through multiple licensed stations. Some privately owned network affiliates do still exist, although these are now relatively rare and exist only in smaller television markets. Bell Globemedia (soon after renamed CTVglobemedia and then Bell Media ) announced plans to acquire CHUM Limited, in a deal that would place Canada's four largest private English-language broadcast services under just two owners (in CTVgm's case, CTV and Citytv ). The enlarged CTVgm would also own interests in nearly 40 specialty channels and pay services. As part of

6270-518: The channel applied to the CRTC to have its Canadian content commitment reduced from 49 to 35 per cent of revenues. According to chief operations officer Bradley Danks, the library of viable LGBT-themed Canadian programming is limited enough that the channel has sometimes had to rely on repeat airings of programming from other networks, such as the talk shows 1 Girl 5 Gays and Steven & Chris , on "not obviously gay" programs such as The New Addams Family , and on overscheduling multiple airings of

6384-481: The channel closed in December 2016 and that the new owners of OUTtv would shift focus from the specialty channel to its streaming service , OUTtvGO, citing positive audience trends for adopting online television services and sagging cable subscription numbers. The television service was expected to close at a later date; however, the company revealed that the channel would remain on the air until at least 2020. The agreement

6498-624: The channel to over 1.2 million in 2008. OUTtv would become a partner in Wolfe Video 's GayDirect, a premium subscription channel for LGBT content on YouTube , during this period. OUTtv's improved ratings have been attributed to domestic airings of Logo TV 's RuPaul's Drag Race . The channel would also produce aftershow features for Drag Race , with Richard Ryder in character as drag queen Wilma Fingerdoo. OUTtv has also seen ratings success with original drama series Sex & Violence , created by Canadian film director Thom Fitzgerald . In 2013,

6612-616: The colloquial sense, below, although in the regulatory sense they may or may not be licensed networks. However, they are often treated very differently from U.S. networks. For instance, most networks provide a full slate of programming, often, but not always, buying the national rights to "syndicated" programs that air across affiliates of multiple American networks. In Canada, hence Dr. Phil and The Ellen DeGeneres Show only air on CTV stations, and Entertainment Tonight only on Global stations. However, for historical reasons, The Oprah Winfrey Show (until it ended its run in 2011) aired on

6726-503: The consolidation described above, brought an apparent convergence craze among the major media conglomerates. CanWest bought the Southam newspaper chain, including the leading broadsheet papers in several major cities, raising new concerns on media concentration . Telecom giant BCE , believing it needed control over content to fuel its new media strategy, formed Bell Globemedia , essentially CTV and its specialty services put together with

6840-561: The creation of private television networks. Private stations did emerge but could not exist independently, and were obliged to become affiliated with the French national network or the English national network. The Act of 1958 as well as its revised version in 1968 allowed for the existence of privatized networks. The private stations were then recognized as direct competitors to the CBC, which maintained its role as national broadcaster but lost its regulatory power. The 1968 Broadcasting Act created

6954-843: The day and in prime time , as well as pornographic films nightly after 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time . As PrideVision, the channel maintained a national advisory committee to provide input and feedback on the station's programming and its effectiveness at serving LGBT communities. The committee included businessman and activist Jim Deva , Outlooks publisher Roy Heale, Egale Canada executive director John Fisher, Suzanne Girard of Divers/Cité , Carmela Laurignano of Evanov Communications , Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray , Toronto city councillor Kyle Rae , Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes , Ruby Hamilton of PFLAG and Halifax businesswoman Shelley Taylor. PrideVision had considerable difficulty building an audience in its early years, due primarily to its pornographic programming:

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7068-460: The deal, OUTtv and Crave also share Canadian rights to the franchise, airing episodes of the U.S. and British version on their platforms day-and-date with their domestic premieres. In recent years, the channel has reduced its reliance on acquired library programming and increased its investment in new original content. Initial Canadian-based productions included Cam Boy , Fak Yaass , Group Sext and Call Me Mother . In 2021, OUTtv unveiled

7182-454: The development of the respective E! and A (now CTV Two) systems. Nonetheless, the local news coverage these stations provide do not prevent them from airing programs with mass appeal during the rest of their schedules, frequently promoted on their sister stations. IFC (Canada) The channel was launched on August 15, 2001 by Salter Street Films with the name licensed from the American company Rainbow Media (now known as AMC Networks ),

7296-450: The difficulties that might arise in protecting the French language , inexpensive imported U.S. programs, which filled the schedules of many English language Canadian TV channels, were not attractive to French-speaking audiences. In this situation, society affected the division in the Canadian broadcasting industry as much as the division affected society. The intensity of fears of "continentalism"

7410-512: The first private CBC affiliate in Canada was CKSO-TV in Sudbury , Ontario in October of that year, with CFPL-TV in London , Ontario following a few weeks later. All television stations that signed on in Canada were required to be CBC affiliates, as the CBC was the only television network operating in Canada at the time. In 1948, there were 325 television sets in Canada, but thousands more were sold in

7524-637: The first station not affiliated with either network, not counting the initial launch period of most of the soon-to-be CTV stations. Over the next 25 years or so, many more new stations were launched, primarily CBC stations in major markets replacing private affiliates (which subsequently joined with CTV or became independent) and new independent stations in the largest centres, such as CITY-TV in Toronto, CITV-TV in Edmonton , and CKND-TV in Winnipeg . During this time cable television also began to take hold, securing

7638-526: The fortunes of individuals such as Ted Rogers , who secured the licences for much of Toronto. In 1966, CHCH in Hamilton formed the nucleus of the first serious attempt to form Canada's third terrestrial television network. The original plan was withdrawn for regulatory and financial reasons by 1969, but a scaled-down version resulted in the 1974 launch of CKGN-TV in Toronto, whose branding as Global Television Network would eventually extend nationwide. Through

7752-461: The gay community interpreted this as the company blaming them for the channel's problems, although the owners denied this. Despite this, PrideVision's subscriptions did increase slowly. In an effort to reduce its losses, staff at PrideVision were cut from 25 to 10, most of its original programming was dropped, and the street-level studio on Church Street in Toronto was closed in December 2002. On December 3, 2003, Headline Media Group announced that it

7866-426: The help of elevated outdoor antennas and amplifiers. U.S. television programs and the networks that originated them thus became popular in those Canadian cities within range of their signals, and those cities represented a sizeable proportion of the total Canadian population. This helped spur development of a specifically Canadian television programming and transmission system during the late 1940s and early 1950s, but at

7980-416: The historic development of mass communication and television in the country. Three factors have made the historical development of television in Canada a unique one: The threat of American influence, the language divide, and the government's response to both of these. American influence and the fear of that influence greatly affected television's development in Canada. The first decades of the 20th century saw

8094-512: The largest cable television provider in Western Canada , which was accused of constraining the availability of PrideVision during the channel's first few months in operation. During a three-month-long free preview period that was mandated by the CRTC to help launch the slate of new digital specialty channels that had launched at that time, Shaw offered the channel on a "request-only" basis, requiring viewers to go through multiple menus and to call

8208-413: The launch of Hard and the removal of all adult content from the newly renamed OUTtv, the channel was still facing resistance from Shaw Communications and its national satellite television service, Star Choice . Both distributors wanted to continue packaging OUTtv as a standalone premium service rather than a general interest specialty channel, which most other major television providers had done. OUTtv filed

8322-650: The launch of a FAST channel called OUTtv Proud , in partnership with Fuse Media . The channel first launched on Pluto TV in Canada in June of 2023, and has since been picked up for distribution in the US on Pluto, Freevee , Xumo , Plex , Rewarded.tv and TCL. In 2024, OUTtv Proud became available in the United Kingdom on Channelbox, Netgem and Plex. Television in Canada Television in Canada officially began with

8436-407: The longer seasons that predominate in the United States. A typical Canadian drama or comedy series will produce between six and thirteen episodes in its first season, although an exceptionally popular series such as Corner Gas may produce up to 20 episodes in later seasons. A slight deviation from this model is with the long-running teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation (the fourth iteration of

8550-550: The main exception is The National , which airs at 10:00 p.m. on CBC. However, there is a growing trend of some television stations adopting a newscast schedule similar to the American television model, with locally produced newscasts in the mornings (usually lasting about 3 to 3½ hours and airing only on weekdays, though a few stations do carry weekend morning newscasts) and during the lunch hour, in addition to early and late-evening newscasts; most owned-and-operated stations of Global nationwide and most CTV O&Os located west of

8664-686: The majority of services operate in English, there are a growing number of similar services in the French language, serving primarily Quebec . Ici Radio-Canada Télé , the French-language equivalent of CBC Television, broadcasts terrestrially across Canada, while TVA , one of Quebec's two commercial French-language networks, is available across Canada on satellite and cable. RDI , the French equivalent of CBC News Network , also has cross-Canada cable carriage rights, as does TV5 Québec Canada . Most other French-language networks are available only in Quebec, although some have optional cable carriage status in

8778-464: The merger (most of the properties were sold to Corus Entertainment – which already owned Teletoon and its related children's specialty channels – although Remstar acquired MusiMax and MusiquePlus and DHX Media acquired Family Channel and its sister channels ). As outlined below, Canadian regulations ensure that the majority of programming aired by Canadian stations are of domestic origin. However, thanks to domestic newscasts and daytime programming,

8892-472: The money – the poorer the country, the more American productions." English Canadian broadcasting illustrated how this was problematic for some Anglophone Canadians as well as the Canadian government . A major question was how any sense of "Canadianism" could come out of such an attractive (and rich) American world. There was a fear of communicating ideas and opinions that were not Canadian, to Canadians - especially

9006-457: The multichannel universe, beginning with pay television services and later continuing with various waves of specialty services, usually launched in one fell swoop. The launch of direct-to-home satellite television services in the mid-1990s accelerated this growth. The early- to mid-1990s in particular also saw further growth and consolidation of broadcast television. Baton Broadcasting , owner of Toronto CTV affiliate CFTO-TV and already seen as

9120-649: The near future. Other major specialty operators include Corus Entertainment (owned by the Shaw family) and Channel Zero . Consolidation has also continued between cable companies, and between specialty channel operators. There are now few of the small family-owned television groups that dominated the formative era of Canadian television, the most notable perhaps being the Stirling family, which owns NTV in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador . The twinstick model of broadcasting, in which

9234-572: The network did not have a timeshift channel for the West Coast, which led to PrideVision's adult content airing as early as 9:00 p.m. in the Pacific Time Zone . As such, the channel was marketed by many television providers as a standalone, premium service adult channel, rather than in a bundle with other specialty services, considerably reducing the number of potential subscribers. The channel also faced particular resistance from Shaw Cable ,

9348-483: The network in their lineup. Headline Media Group owned 70.1% of the licence, while Alliance Atlantis owned the remaining interest. In February 2001, before the channel was launched, Alliance Atlantis sold its entire interest in the licence to Headline Media Group, which became the sole owner of the licence. The network launched with a lineup of lifestyle and general entertainment programming, consisting of dramas, comedies, feature films, documentaries and talk shows during

9462-451: The network's dominant player, bought or replaced most of the network's other affiliates and ultimately acquired the network itself. In 1997, Asper's regional networks became united under the Global Television Network brand previously used only by his Ontario station. Additional groups also sprouted up in the form of Western International Communications , CHUM Limited and Craig Media . In 2000, CanWest bought WIC, which had itself grown from

9576-419: The novelty. Television performer and producer Lorne Michaels said, about the advent of television, "it was all we talked about at school. We literally raced home to watch TV". It became important to Canada that Canadian values would be projected onto this large audience and then onto the entire nation. Although many watched the available American television programs, some feared that Canada would end up stuck in

9690-467: The owner of IFC , but the company was acquired by Alliance Atlantis later that year. After various ownership changes, the channel ceased operations on September 30, 2019. In November 2000, a joint venture between Salter Street Films (95%) and Triptych Media Inc. (5%) were awarded a broadcasting licence by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a channel called The Independent Film Channel Canada , intended to emulate

9804-449: The popular Degrassi franchise), which due to a switch to a more serialized format in 2011, began producing up to 40 episodes per season. Less expensive forms of programming, such as news and sketch comedy programs, will usually produce many more episodes each year, coming closer to the American model. The French-language commercial networks air significantly more Canadian content than their English counterparts, and domestic programming

9918-545: The previous statement but must provide a variety of programs reflecting different points of view. CRTC regulations have so far prevented a large number of the infomercial - or religious-based stations now frequently found in major centres in the U.S. from operating in Canada; infomercials, even those made in Canada, are not considered Canadian content. Nearly all broadcast stations have now been aligned, in one form or another, into national groups based on ownership and/or content. Many of these groups are designated as "networks", in

10032-416: The programs that were aired on IFC Canada now airs on Crave and Much . Like its U.S. namesake, the channel originally focused almost exclusively on smaller independent films. However, it eventually broadened its programming to include more mainstream films as many independent studios became divisions of major film companies. It also de-emphasized the use of the full Independent Film Channel name in favor of

10146-639: The proposal, CTVgm would sell several of CHUM's less valuable properties, such as the smaller A-Channel system, to Rogers Communications , Canada's largest cable provider and already a major media company in its own right. On June 8, 2007, however, the CRTC approved the CHUM merger, conditional on CTV divesting itself of Citytv rather than A-Channel. This sparked another round of media consolidation. In early 2007, Canwest, in partnership with Goldman Sachs , announced an agreement to buy Alliance Atlantis , another major specialty channel operator, and more deals are expected in

10260-464: The provider, being charged 1 cent to be able to view PrideVision. This process was not required for any other similarly-licensed specialty channel. PrideVision took its concerns to the CRTC, who sided with the network and ordered Shaw to properly offer a free preview of PrideVision to its customers. Mounting issues with distribution, disputes with television service providers, slow growth among digital channels industry-wide, and criticisms around providing

10374-756: The rest of Canada. V , for instance, is carried on cable in New Brunswick and parts of Ontario and is available nationally by satellite. The Ontario government's French public television network TFO is the only French-language broadcaster in Canada whose operations are located entirely outside of Quebec. Other ethnic and multicultural services, serving one or more cultural groups outside of these two official languages, are also growing in strength. Six terrestrial TV stations, CFMT and CJMT in Toronto, CFHG in Montreal , CJEO in Edmonton , CJCO in Calgary and CHNM in Vancouver , air multicultural programming in

10488-480: The same programming, to meet its licensing obligations. A nationwide free preview period in March 2014 saw OUTtv achieve fully 300 per cent higher ratings than the same month in the previous year, and led to a rise in new subscriptions in the months following the preview. In November 2016, the CRTC approved the sale of the channel from Shavick Entertainment and the other minority owners to a new company, OM Acquisition. OM

10602-608: The same time caused it to develop within American technical standards that had been previously mandated by the Federal Communications Commission between 1941 and 1946. Since the first Canadian stations ( CBFT in Montreal and CBLT in Toronto) signed on in September 1952, television developed differently in Canada than in the United States because it was introduced and developed in a different context. The distinct social, political, and economic situation of Canada shaped

10716-489: The service. Three days later, on February 12, Alliance Atlantis announced that it would be purchasing Salter Street Films, acquiring the licence for the Independent Film Channel Canada in the process. The channel was launched on August 15, 2001 as Independent Film Channel or IFC, under the sole ownership of Salter Street Films, with its name licensed from its American counterpart, IFC. In December 2001,

10830-486: The sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada , the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by media in the United States , perhaps to an extent not seen in any other major industrialized nation. As a result, the government institutes quotas for " Canadian content ". Nonetheless, new content

10944-662: The success of the series, OUTtv announced a multi-year first-look deal with producer Daddy TV, including a second and third season. Expanding on its international complement, OUTtv acquired global SVOD rights to the BBC competition series Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star in 2024. The network will also co-finance the show’s sixth series. OUTtv's programming consists of originally produced LGBTQ+ content ( Sew Fierce , Dating Unlocked , Sugar Highs and Call Me Mother ), as well domestic and foreign acquisitions. Original American content that OUTtv produced in association includes For

11058-460: The survival of Canadian television depended on public funding for Canadian programs, which would be produced, broadcast and controlled by a public corporation. The Broadcasting Act of 1932 began of government involvement. Its main aim was the "Canadianization of mass media". In other words, it wanted to create a Canadian broadcasting system to replace the American system that had infiltrated itself into Canada, as well as to unite Canadians in creating

11172-462: The technology infrastructure, and provide a wider variety of programming to the channel. Shavick listed its Hollywood-based partner Regent Studios, owners of American LGBT channel here! , as a major content provider to the channel. In 2008, the channel ended its long-standing dispute with Shaw Cable, securing an agreement that would see the channel marketed and distributed in the same package as other Category A digital channels. On December 3, 2009,

11286-489: The television industry in Canada now more closely resembles the British or Australian models, in which the vast majority of stations are directly owned by their networks and offer only slight variance in local scheduling apart from local or regional newscasts, rather than the American network affiliate model that formerly predominated. In some cases, in fact, a single station serves an entire province (or even multiple provinces, in

11400-463: The ten most popular programs on French-language television were made in Quebec, including La Famille Plouffe . Gradually, French Canadians showed a strong preference for Quebec-produced television programs, which was significant considering the fierce American competition that English Canada dealt with (and still deals with to this day). French-language television was distinct from English-language television in that "one of its most distinctive aspects

11514-498: The two countries being tied very closely on an economic standpoint, almost anything produced in the U.S. could be considered to be of general interest to Canadians. Changes to this were attempted in the late 1980s. Government intervention throughout the development of television in Canada affected the way it was developed domestically as it developed through laws and policies rather than a free market. While American television stations, including affiliates of ABC , NBC and CBS , near

11628-452: The two networks to expand their lineups with more programming of interest to the LGBT community. Hard on PrideVision was expected to launch on April 7, 2005, but the launch was delayed to April 12 due to difficulties gaining carriage. Concurrently with the official launch of Hard, PrideVision was re-branded as OUTtv, with a 24-hour lineup of general entertainment and lifestyle programming. Even with

11742-700: The years from 1948 to 1952, most of them tuned to stations from either the Buffalo, Seattle, Cleveland or Detroit television markets . When Canadian television began, the Radio-Television Manufacturers Association of Canada estimated that 85,000 sets were expected to be sold in 1952. 95% of these were concentrated in Ontario, with 57.4% in the Golden Horseshoe region (40.2% in Toronto and Hamilton, 17.2% in Niagara Peninsula ) and 34.6% in

11856-406: The youth. With the exception of radio, television presented an opportunity, for the first time, to reach a very wide audience at the same time. By 1954, a million television sets had been sold in Canada. Even though those sets were very expensive at the time, the large majority (9 of 10) of Canadian households owned a television set by the end of the 1950s. People became excited and obsessed with

11970-564: Was Canada's first 24-hour cable television channel targeted at LGBT audiences. It was also the second LGBT-focused channel to be established in the world, after the Gay Cable Network in the U.S., which shut down in 2001. PrideVision TV was one of 21 digital specialty services that were granted a Category 1 license by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on November 24, 2000; all digital cable and direct-broadcast satellite providers would be obliged to carry

12084-495: Was allowed on the basis that, in another owner's hands, stations like CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario and CHEK in Victoria, British Columbia (both Canwest stations that were sold off in 2009, CHCH to Channel Zero and CHEK to a consortium of the station's employees) would inevitably turn their focus to the larger Toronto and Vancouver markets respectively, leaving their cities of licence with little or no local news coverage. This led to

12198-474: Was already trying to keep foreign ownership and programming at a minimum to avoid the American imperialism that would be caused by such dependency on the United States, which in fact was already incipient. The issue of economy of scale played a large role. "Americans [were] pushing smaller cultural communication aside with their dominating programming, not because they [were] based on a policy but because they ha[d]

12312-408: Was as strong as its opposing force of attractiveness of American television programs to Canadian viewers. Most Anglophone viewers could relate easily to the American programs as much as they did to their Canadian programs, since people spoke the same language as they did. For example, in 1957, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presented American programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show . However,

12426-487: Was later modified to include minority owners James Shavick (18%), Bradley Danks (18%), Phillip Webb (11%), and other minority owners at 2%. In June 2019, OUTtv and Bell Media announced that they had co-commissioned a Canadian version of RuPaul's Drag Race for the network and the Bell-owned Crave . Canada's Drag Race was announced to be airing on both services, first premiering on Crave on July 2, 2020. As part of

12540-418: Was not compromised for identity. This can be inferred through the vagueness and ineffective policies passed in the aim of protecting Canadian culture. For example, Canadian content regulations were introduced in 1959 and revised again in 1978. "Canadian content" is broadly defined as programs of "general interest to Canadians". Since Canadians easily identify with Americans and their popular culture as well as

12654-401: Was officially announced that PrideVision would drop its adult programming and re-launch as OUTtv in March 2005, alongside the launch of the standalone Hard on PrideVision channel. Its license was approved on March 4, 2005. Craig explained that the removal of adult programming would make OUTtv more attractive to television providers and improve its distribution, and the narrower focus would allow

12768-854: Was rejected by the CRTC as this would have resulted in Bell increasing its share of the Canadian broadcasting market to 42%. Bell filed a new application for the proposed takeover with the CRTC on March 6, 2013, two days after the Competition Bureau approved the acquisition; the Commission approved the merger on June 27, 2013, with Bell volunteering to sell certain cable television properties including Family Channel , Disney XD , MusiMax , MusiquePlus and Historia as well as Astral's interest in Teletoon , in an attempt to relieve concerns surrounding Bell's total market share in English-language television following

12882-534: Was selling a majority interest in PrideVision to 6166954 Canada, Inc., a consortium led by broadcaster William Craig . Craig would own the majority share in the company and act as managing partner, while Pink Triangle Press and various other independent production companies and investors held minority stakes. Headline Media retained a minority stake in the company. The transaction was finalized later in 2004. In September 2004, 6166954 Canada submitted an application to

12996-490: Was the bringing together of international and local influences, American and European television styles and programming ideas and merging them with the cultural idioms of rapidly modernizing and assertive Quebec." The merging of local and foreign ideas and techniques was a novelty in North American television. Since English and French language television in Canada had developed separately, French-language broadcasting developed

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