The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasting and telecommunications. It was created in 1976 when it took over responsibility for regulating telecommunication carriers. Prior to 1976, it was known as the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, which was established in 1968 by the Parliament of Canada to replace the Board of Broadcast Governors. Its headquarters is located in the Central Building of Les Terrasses de la Chaudière in Gatineau, Quebec.
The Cable Public Affairs Channel, better known by its acronym CPAC, is a Canadian specialty channel owned by a consortium consisting of Rogers Communications, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Eastlink, and Access Communications. The channel is devoted to coverage of public and government affairs, including carrying a full, uninterrupted feed of proceedings of the House of Commons of Canada, with three audio channels, one untreated feed and, with the assistance of interpreters, one in each of the official languages.
CKXT-DT was a broadcast television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that broadcast to much of southern and eastern Ontario. It was owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. Although beginning as a general interest independent station carrying a typical schedule of entertainment and information programming, by the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station had been converted into an over-the-air simulcast of Quebecor's cable news channel, Sun News Network. The station transmitted on channel 52 in Toronto.
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic.
Category A services were a class of Canadian specialty television channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, must be offered by all digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers that have the capability to do so.
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.
Omni Television is a Canadian television system and specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultural television stations, which are located in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and an affiliate in Quebec. The system's flagship station is CFMT in Toronto, which was the first independent multicultural television station in Canada.
Oprah Winfrey Network, more commonly shortened to OWN, is a Canadian English language discretionary service channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was launched in September 1, 1999 as Canadian Learning Television (CLT) by Learning and Skills Television of Alberta, Ltd., then held by CHUM Limited.
Ici ARTV is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel broadcasts the arts and culture including music, dance, theatre, visual arts, films and scripted television series.
Avis de Recherche (AdR) is a Canadian French language Category B specialty channel devoted to crime prevention. Despite AdR's Category B licence, it was formerly a must-carry channel in the province of Quebec on digital basic cable.
Canada is served by various multichannel television services, including cable television systems, two direct-broadcast satellite providers, and various other wireline IPTV and wireless MMDS video providers.
TSN2 is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.
Digital terrestrial television in Canada is transmitted using the ATSC standard. Because Canada and the U.S. use the same standard and frequencies for channels, people near the Canada–United States border can watch digital television programming from television stations in either country where available. The ATSC standards are also used in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and South Korea.
In 2007, significant ownership changes occurred in Canada's broadcast television industry, involving nearly every network and television system. In addition to the shuffling of network affiliations and mergers involving various networks, several new television stations and rebroadcast transmitters also signed on the air.
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast licence in 1999. It airs and produces programs made by, for and about Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is the first network by and for North American indigenous peoples.
Fee-for-carriage, value-for-signal, negotiation for value, or the "TV tax" all refer to a proposed Canadian television regulatory policy which would require cable and satellite television companies to compensate conventional, over-the-air television stations for the right to carry their local signals. Such a system has long existed in the United States, under the name of retransmission consent.
The Cult Movie Network is a Canadian-based English language online video-on-demand service consisting of programming devoted to cult films from a variety of genres, primarily horror, but also including fantasy, comedy, and action, among others. The channel is owned by the Cult Movie Channel Inc., a company owned by Dieter Kohler.
A Category C service is the former term for a Canadian discretionary specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, operates under the conditions of license for "competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news".
Canal M is a Canadian 24-hour French language non-profit audio broadcast television service. Canal M is an audio-only service that broadcasts readings of news articles from newspapers and magazines. It is owned by Vues & Voix. Canal M is a volunteer-based service, where individuals perform voice recordings at recording centres in Quebec.
WWE Network is a Canadian English language specialty channel programmed by WWE and distributed by Rogers Sports & Media. Its programming consists entirely of the linear feed offered as part of the WWE Network video streaming service.
