Historia is a Canadian

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 ...

owned by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...

. The network broadcasts

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

programming related to

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and historical fiction, and is a sister network to the English-language

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

; both channels operate as Canadian licensees of the U.S. network

History

Licensed 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) as Canal Histoire to

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 ...

and Premier Choix Networks (Astral), the channel was launched on January 31, 2000 as Historia. On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between

Canwest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

and

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally. The group, which is based in New York City, was founded in 1986. As of 2019, GS Capital Partners had ...

known as CW Media bought

and gained its interest in Historia. The new company also acquired Historia's English language equivalent, History Television (now

). On October 27, 2010, Shaw Communications completed its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media, giving it control of CW Media's 50% interest in Historia. On March 4, 2013,

announced that it would acquire Astral Media's stakes in Séries+ and Historia, as well as several other properties, under separate transactions with the two companies. The purchase was tied to

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

's pending takeover of Astral Media; an earlier proposal had been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012 due to concerns surrounding its total market share following the merger, but was restructured under the condition that the companies divest certain media properties. In a separate deal, Corus also acquired Shaw's interests in Séries+ and Historia, giving it full ownership. The deals were approved by the CRTC on 20 December 2013 and Corus become the full owner of the channel on 1 January 2014. On October 21, 2014, Corus reached an agreement with

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company o ...

to acquire French-language rights to programming from

, the U.S. counterpart of Historia's English-language sister network. The network was relaunched under History's logo and branding on March 9, 2015, while maintaining the Historia name. On October 17, 2017,

announced its intent to acquire Historia and Séries+ from Corus for $200 million, pending regulatory approval. Corus cited the two channels as not being part of the company's "strategic priorities" at this time; the deal came shortly after an announcement that Corus no longer planned to commission original programs for the two channels. On 28 May 2018, both transactions were blocked by the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

, as a violation of conditions placed on Bell's acquisition of Astral Media, which barred it from re-acquiring any of the properties it divested in the merger for 10 years. As a result, Bell and Corus mutually agreed to shelve the sale.

High-definition feed

On October 30, 2006, Astral Media launched a high definition

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

feed of Historia.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Analog cable television networks in Canada Corus Entertainment networks Television channels and stations established in 2000 2000 establishments in Canada French-language television networks in Canada Television channels and networks about history