MEGA Cosmos is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

exempt Category B

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targete ...

owned by Odyssey Television Network. It features Greek content with different commercials and scheduling compared to the original channel MEGA Channel, which is the largest private TV channel in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. MEGA Cosmos broadcasts programming primarily from the library of the homonymous pan-hellenic channel. Programming includes news, television dramas, game shows and more.

History

Prior developments

Odyssey Television Network owned most of the rights to MEGA Channel programming in Canada from 2001 to 2003; this programming aired on the then-named Odyssey II channel. The agreement expired in 2003; subsequently, the channel was then renamed ERT Sat (now known as ERT World) as Odyssey reached an agreement with the parent Greek public broadcaster. In 2007, Ethnic Channels Group licensed the MEGA Cosmos brand and programming from MEGA Cosmos' parent owners in Greece. The channel launched on Rogers Cable on 15 October.

Current channel

On 12 August 2011, Greek National Television Network (Canada) Inc., a subsidiary of Odyssey Television Network, was granted approval from the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(CRTC) to launch a television channel called ''OTN 3'', described as "a national, general interest, third-language, ethnic speciality Category B service devoted to the Greek-speaking community in Canada." In June 2012, Odyssey Television Network acquired the MEGA Cosmos rights and subsequently launched its own version of the channel on 28 June 2012, using the OTN 3 licence. The Ethnic Channels Group version of MEGA Cosmos ceased broadcasting the same day; its license was revoked by the CRTC in October 2012. On September 14, 2018, the CRTC approved Odyssey Television Network's request to convert MEGA Cosmos (OTN3) from a licensed Category B speciality service to an exempted third language service. In October 2022, MEGA Cosmos re-launched in Canada, becoming available via

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service a ...

, Bell Fibe TV and Rogers Cable.

Notable shows

A list of notable shows that air on MEGA Cosmos, as of October 2022: *
MEGA Gegonota(Facts)
' – nightly newscast *
Koinonia Ora Mega
' – morning show, airs Monday – Friday *
Mega Kalimera
' – infotainment show, airs Monday – Friday *
I Gi Tis Elias
' – drama, airs Monday - Friday *
Mayro Rodo
' – drama, airs Saturday & Sunday *
Eleni
' – lifestyle / talk show, airs weekday afternoons *
Live News
' – famous afternoon news magazine with Nikos Evaggelatos *
The Chase
'– afternoon game show with Maria Mpekatorou

References

External links

MEGA Cosmos Canada

MEGA Cosmos
Specialty television channels in Canada Multicultural and ethnic television in Canada Television channels and stations established in 2012 Greek-Canadian culture Greek-language television stations Canada–Greece relations {{Canada-tv-station-stub