In 2000, Showcase Television Inc. (division of Alliance Atlantis) received CRTC approval to launch Action Television, "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service devoted to action movies and series primarily driven by a fast-paced fictional plot featuring car chases, explosions, special effects, or martial arts." Showcase Action launched on September 7, 2001. The Showcase part of the name came from another Alliance Atlantis channel, Showcase.
Corus Entertainment (51%) and Shaw Media (49%) launched a new specialty channel, ABC Spark, on Monday, March 26, 2012. ABC Spark, based on the successful U.S. brand ABC Family, launched with series including The Secret Life of the America Teenager (starring Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley and Molly Ringwald), Switched at Birth (ensemble cast including Katie LeClerc, Vanessa Marano, Lea Thompson, D.W.
Teletoon, a channel established to present animated film and tape productions, was originally licensed in 1996 to a group consisting of Astral Communications, WIC, YTV, Cinar and Nelvana. A subsequent ownership realignment gave 40% ownership to Corus Entertainment, 40% to Astral and 20% to Cookie Jar Entertainment (formerly Cinar), and still later, Astral and Corus acquired Cookie Jar's 20% between them for a 50% ownership each.
subsequent ownership realignment gave 40% ownership to Corus Entertainment, 40% to Astral and 20% to Cookie Jar Entertainment (formerly Cinar), and still later, Astral and Corus acquired Cookie Jar's 20% between them for a 50% ownership each.
