CTV Wild Channel
| File:CTV Wild Channel Logo.png | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | 9 Channel Nine Court, Scarborough, Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (2011–present) 480i (SDTV) (2001–present) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | CTV Wild Canada Company (CTV Specialty Television) |
| Sister channels | CTV CTV 2 CTV Comedy Channel CTV Drama Channel CTV Life Channel CTV Nature Channel CTV News Channel CTV Sci-Fi Channel CTV Speed Channel Oxygen USA Network |
| History | |
| Launched | September 7, 2001 |
| Former names | Animal Planet (2001–2024) |
| Links | |
| Website | CTV Wild |
CTV Wild Channel is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel majority-owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual series and documentaries relating to animals.
The network was originally established in 2001 as a Canadian version of the U.S. cable network Animal Planet, expanding upon CTV's existing relationship with Discovery Communications for Discovery Channel. Today CTV Wild Channel is owned by the CTV Wild Canada Company, which is a consortium consisting of CTV Specialty Television.[1]
In January 2025, the channel was rebranded as CTV Wild Channel, due to Bell losing its rights to Warner Bros. Discovery factual brands and related programming to Rogers Sports & Media. Rogers does not plan to launch a new linear channel for Animal Planet, with its programming to instead be distributed via digital platforms.
History
[edit | edit source]In November 2000, CTV Inc. was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch Animal Planet, a service described as being "broadly based on family entertainment that will combine high-quality Canadian programming and attractive series and documentaries from the U.S. counterpart, in the United States.
The channel was launched under its current ownership structure (with the exception of Bell Media, wherein Bell Globemedia, later renamed CTVglobemedia, owned its shares at the time) on September 7, 2001.[2]
On June 30, 2008, Animal Planet unveiled a new on-air appearance, including a new logo and graphics, to align itself with the American service which had updated its appearance earlier that year.[3]
Ownership changed once again when BCE (a minority shareholder in CTVglobemedia) acquired 100% interest in CTVglobemedia and was renamed to Bell Media on April 1, 2011.[4][5][6]
On June 10, 2024, Rogers Sports & Media announced it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands beginning in January 2025, which were subsequently confirmed to include Animal Planet.[7][8] This led to a lawsuit by Bell, which claimed the move would violate previous non-compete clauses with WBD; the matter was settled out of court in October.[9][10] Rogers announced that Animal Planet content would move to its on-demand and streaming platforms including Citytv+, rather than a new linear channel.[11] On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced the channel would rebrand as CTV Wild Channel on January 1, 2025. The channel will carry over certain Canadian series previously commissioned by Bell for Animal Planet Canada, as well as other animal-related content from third-party distributors.[12]
At some point after the rebranding, WBD and BBC divested its stakes in the channel, making a sole owner.[13]
Animal Planet HD
[edit | edit source]On June 17, 2011, Bell Media announced that it would launch Animal Planet HD, a high definition (HD) simulcast of the standard definition feed, by the end of 2011.[14] The channel launched on December 15, 2011, initially on Bell Fibe TV and Shaw Cable and launched at a later date on Telus TV.[15] About six years later, Shaw Direct added it and 5 other HD channels (Business News Network, Cooking Channel, Crime & Investigation, OWN, and Travel + Escape) to the channel listing on September 21, 2017.
Logos
[edit | edit source]-
2008-2020
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2020–2025
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2025–present
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Animal Planet Launch Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Bell Globemedia press release September 6, 2001
- ^ Animal Planet Debuts A New Look and Striking New Programming During National Freeview this July Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine CTVglobemedia press release June 5, 2008
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ CRTC approves BCE's purchase of CTVglobemedia
- ^ Bell completes acquisition of CTV, launches Bell Media business unit Archived April 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine CNW April 1, 2011
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Discovery Channel and Bell Media Factual Networks Announce Fall 2011 "Must See" Highlights Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine CNW June 17, 2011
- ^ Animal Planet HD, Investigation Discovery HD and Discovery Science HD Launch Today Bell Media press release December 15, 2011
External links
[edit | edit source]
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