Rogers Media

One-time NHL exec Jim Gregory received a licence from the CRTC in November 2000 to form what would become The NHL Network Inc, an organisation that would operate a specialty channel to be known as The Hockey Channel.   Its success encouraged the formation of a similar network in the US.

In December 2000, the CRTC approved an application byMaple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE)  for a license to operate a specialty channel to be  known as Raptors Basketball Channel, which would be devoted primarily to the Toronto Raptors basketball club and the National Basketball Association (NBA), plus coverage of other areas of the game of basketball.

The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 under the name Raptors NBA TV.  On October 15, 2010, MLSE renamed the channel as NBA TV Canada.

On March 2nd 2010, the CRTC granted Rogers Broadcasting Limited a licence for a new speciality channel to carry NHL Hockey games involving Canadian teams, Major League Baseball,  Union of European Football Associations and other mainstream sports.  The licence was for a six year term.

Written by Pip Wedge - March, 2010

While a very popular specialty channel in terms of numbers of subscribers, Leafs TV’s availability was limited by NHL regulation  to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club’s home province of Ontario, but excluding the Ottawa Valley, which infringed on the Ottawa Senators’ territory.  Owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Leafs TV was licensed in 2000 and launched in 2001; it covered all aspects of the Toronto Maple Leaf team, its players and its games, both current and historical. It began to be available in high definition in 2006.

In June 2005, Insight Sports applied for and was granted a license by the CRTC to operate a digital specialty channel to be known as The Soccer Net.  The name was changed to GolTV on September 25th 2005, and the channel launched on November 1st.  The channel had an association with GolTV in the US, while accepting its responsibility for specific amounts of Canadian content as a condition of licence.   The channel was dedicated entirely to soccer, or football as the sport is known virtually everywhere in the world outside North America.

Rogers Broadcasting was granted a specialty licence in November 2000 for a channel to be called Tech TV Canada, which would “provide lifestyle information for the ‘e generation’, with programming devoted to computers, technology and the Internet.” It launched under that name in September 2001, by which time the ownership was split three ways between Rogers, Shaw Communications and the US Tech TV cable and satellite channel.  Early in 2004, the US Tech TV merged with Comcast, who had their own cable channel G4, and as of May 2004 both the Canadian and U.S.

Rogers Media announced on May 30th 2011 that it would launch a 24-hour all news television specialty channel, to becalled CityNews Channel. It would feature Toronto news originating with  680 News, Maclean's Magazine and Citytv.

It had been announced in December 2010 that Rogers Media's application for an all news channel was approved by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC). The 24-hour news channel licence was granted to serve the city of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, including Peel, York, Durham and Halton.

While conventional television broadcasters in Canada did their best to satisfy what appeared to be an insatiable appetite for biographical programs on the part of their audiences, there were still vast sources of untapped material in this genre being produced around the world. In November 2000 Rogers, in association with Shaw Cable and A and E, was granted a licence for a Canadian Biography channel,  which was modelled on the American channel of the same name and was launched the following year.