Discovery Channel (Canadian TV channel)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
Country | Canada |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Nationwide |
Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Bell Media (80% and managing partner) Discovery, Inc. (20%) |
Sister channels | Animal Planet Canal D Discovery Science Discovery Velocity Investigation Discovery |
History | |
Launched | January 1, 1995 | ; 25 years ago
Links | |
Website | Discovery Channel Canada |
Availability | |
Cable | |
Available on most cable systems | Channel slots vary on each provider |
Satellite | |
Bell Satellite TV | Channel 520 (SD) Channel 1602 (HD) |
Shaw Direct | Channel 505 (SD) Channels 93 and 593 (HD) |
IPTV | |
Bell Aliant Fibe TV | Channel 286 (SD) Channel 430 (HD) |
Bell Fibe TV | Channel 520 (SD) Channel 1520 (HD) |
Bell MTS | Channel 104 (SD) Channel 1104 (HD) |
SaskTel | Channel 51 (SD) Channel 351 (HD) |
Telus Optik TV | Channel 701 (HD) Channel 9701 (SD) |
VMedia | Channel 42 (HD) |
Zazeen | Channel 89-91 (HD) |
Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by Bell Media Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media (80%) and Discovery, Inc. (which owns the remaining 20%). The channel is devoted to nature, adventure, science and technology programming.
History[]
Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1994, Discovery Channel launched on January 1, 1995 under the ownership of NetStar Communications Inc.
On March 24, 2000, the CRTC approved a proposal by CTV Inc. to acquire voting interest in NetStar Communications Inc. CTV renamed the company CTV Speciality Television Inc.
A high definition simulcast feed of Discovery Channel that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format was launched on August 15, 2003.[1] The feed would later be shut down on December 19, 2005, and be replaced by a separate category 2 digital cable specialty channel called Discovery HD Theatre.
On June 17, 2011, Bell Media announced that it would launch, for a second time, an HD simulcast feed of Discovery Channel; this feed was launched on August 18, 2011.[2]
In November 2015, Bell Media announced Discovery Channel Canada's first original scripted drama, the Jason Momoa-fronted Frontier, chronicling the North American fur trade. The series was picked up internationally by Netflix.[3]
Programming[]
In addition to shows acquired from its American counterpart, the Canadian Discovery Channel produced much of its own original programming through its Exploration Production group including its former flagship daily science news program, Daily Planet, and its own domestic version of Cash Cab.[4] Several programs produced by the Canadian Discovery Channel (such as How It's Made) have also aired on the U.S Science Channel.
Since 2018, enabled by the 2015 retirement of CRTC genre protection rules which mandated that it predominantly air factual programming,[5] the channel has added reruns of scripted series from other Bell Media networks that contain scientific themes, such as The Big Bang Theory and CSI: NY.
Original series[]
- Against All Odds
- Aerospace
- Airshow
- Alien Mysteries
- Beyond Invention
- Bitchin' Rides
- Blood, Sweat & Tools
- Blueprint for Disaster
- BBQ Pit Wars
- Breaking Point
- Break It Down
- Building the Ultimate (UK: Five coproduction)
- Canada's Greatest Know-It-All
- Canada's Worst Driver
- Canada's Worst Handyman
- Cold Water Cowboys
- Cash Cab
- Combat School
- Connections
- Creepy Canada
- Daily Planet (formerly @discovery.ca) (cancelled in 2018 as the result of Bell Media layoffs)
- Dangerous Flights
- Doctor*Ology
- Don't Drive Here
- Eco-Challenge
- Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science
- Fat N' Furious: Rolling Thunder
- Fool's Gold
- Forensic Factor
- Frontier
- Great Canadian Parks[6]
- Guinea Pig
- Highway Thru Hell
- High Tech Rednecks
- How Do They Do It? (UK Wag TV coproduction)
- How It's Made
- Insectia
- I Shouldn't Be Alive
- Jacked!
- Jade Fever
- Jetstream
- Junk Raiders
- Junk Raiders 2
- Last Car Standing
- Licence to Drill
- Licence to Drill: Louisiana
- Manufactured
- Mayday
- Mega Builders
- MegaSpeed
- (UK coproduction)
- Mighty Planes
- Mighty Ships
- Mighty Trains
- Naked Science (UK Pioneer Productions coproduction)
- Never Ever Do This At Home
- Patent Bending
- Pyros
- Qubit
- Risk Takers
- Rocket Science
- Star Racer
- The Body Machine
- The Exodus Decoded
- The Sex Files
- Ultimate Cars (UK coproduction)
- Ultimate
- Vegas Rat Rods
- White Hot Winter
- You Asked For It
See also[]
- Discovery Channel (US)
- Science Channel (US)
References[]
- ^ Over-the-Air Transmitters Now Broadcasting CTV High-Definition Signals in Toronto and Vancouver CTV 2005-08-17
- ^ Discovery Channel and Bell Media Factual Networks Announce Fall 2011 "Must See" Highlights CNW 2011-06-17
- ^ "Netflix Picks Up Canadian Period Action Series 'Frontier' Starring Jason Momoa". Deadline. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ "Bell Media cancels shows 'Daily Planet' and 'Innerspace,' lays off 17 positions". The London Free Press. 2018-05-24. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ^ Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (March 12, 2015). "Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-86". Retrieved May 12, 2018. (paragraph 254)
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2006-02-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links[]
- Bell Media networks
- Discovery Channel
- Analog cable television networks in Canada
- Television channels and stations established in 1995
- English-language television stations in Canada
- 1995 establishments in Canada