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BBC Earth (formerly named Rush HD and radX) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
discretionary service
A discretionary service is a Canadian specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A ...
channel owned by
Blue Ant Media
Blue Ant Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcasting and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by Michael MacMillan and formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Glassbox Television. Its name was chosen in referenc ...
. The brand and much of its programming is licensed from
BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
, a subsidiary of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that wholly owns the
BBC Earth
BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster.
BBC Earth commercia ...
brand. The channel broadcasts factual programming related to natural history and wildlife.
History
In April 2006, John Panikkar (co-founder of the channel's original owner,
High Fidelity HDTV
High Fidelity HDTV was a Canadian licensed television broadcaster specializing in HD content. The company was founded in 2003 by co-founders John Panikkar and Ken Murphy, both of whom have been involved in the Canadian broadcasting industry for m ...
), was granted a licence by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) to launch ''AHD'' (for ''Adrenaline HD''), described as "a national, English-language Category 2 high definition (HD) specialty programming undertaking... that would focus on the impact of high definition imagery on high-octane, limit-defying human activity and adventure that tests individual personal limits, both physical and mental."
The channel launched on September 5, 2006 as Rush HD, with its name, and much of its programming, licensed from
Rainbow Media
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York.
AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC Cen ...
, the owners of the
Voom HD Networks
Voom HD Networks is a suite of 25 original high-definition television channels owned by AMC Networks. The channels were produced in Crystal Clear Hi-Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and were the largest suite of HD channels in t ...
, owners of the original Rush HD-branded channel in the United States.
Like its American counterpart, Rush HD originally broadcast programming largely focused on
high adventure
''High Adventure'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, released in September 1982. It is best known for its top 40 pop singles " Heart to Heart", " Heartlight" and " Don't Fight It"; the latter was co-writte ...
and
extreme sports
Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...
such as
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
,
windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
,
bungee jumping
Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
, and
cliff diving. Over a year after the American version shut down, Rush rebranded as radX on August 23, 2010. With the rebrand, programming was expanded to include a broader range of action-related programming such as feature films, outdoor lifestyle, travel, reality television, and other programming aimed primarily at men.
On December 21, 2011, radX's parent company, High Fidelity HDTV, announced that it had entered into an agreement to be purchased outright by Blue Ant Media, majority owners of
Glassbox Television
Glassbox Television was an independent Canadian broadcasting and media company specializing in the operation of multi-platform broadcast and video-on-demand (VOD) channels, content production, and digital publishing.
The company was formed in 2001 ...
and minority owners of Quarto Communications. While initially purchasing 29.9% of the company, the remaining 70.1% was purchased after it was approved by the CRTC.
In December 2016, Blue Ant Media announced that it had reached an agreement with
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
to rebrand radX as BBC Earth in January 2017,
later confirmed officially as January 23, 2017.
BBC EARTH UNVEILS PROGRAMMING LINE-UP FOR CANADIAN LAUNCH ON JANUARY 24
Blue Ant Media press release 01 10 17 Blue Ant Media has had a history of partnerships with the BBC, while its CEO Michael MacMillan
Michael I. M. MacMillan (born 1957) is the CEO of Blue Ant Media, a privately held Canadian media company that creates and distributes engaging content in categories that span lifestyle, travel, music and entertainment. The company owns specialt ...
assisted in launching the BBC Canada
BBC Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that mostly broadcast television series originally produced by the BBC, the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom. The channel was owned by Corus Entertainment (80% & manag ...
channel whilst working for Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...
. BBC Worldwide North America president Ann Sarnoff
Ann Marie Sarnoff (née Misiaszek; born c. 1961) is an American television executive. She became the chairwoman and CEO of Warner Bros. in the summer of 2019. Sarnoff was the first woman to hold the position at the company.
Early life and educat ...
remarked that Blue Ant Media had a strong interest in factual programming, and that the timing of the launch would coincide with the then-upcoming North American premiere of ''Planet Earth II
''Planet Earth II'' is a 2016 British nature documentary series produced by the BBC as a sequel to ''Planet Earth'', which was broadcast in 2006. The series is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough with the main theme music composed ...
''.
References
External links
BBC Earth website
{{BBC Television
Blue Ant Media channels
Television channels and stations established in 2006
Digital cable television networks in Canada
English-language television stations in Canada
International BBC television channels