The Life Channel was 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 ...

premium television service featuring programming on lifestyle and health subjects, existing for almost 14 months in the late 1980s. The programming represented some of the earlier efforts of Canada's premium television industry, considering

pay-TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

movie channels had commenced in 1983. It should not be confused with later Canadian cable channels Life Network (now known as

Slice Slice may refer to: *Cutting Food and beverage *A portion of bread, pizza, cake, or meat that is cut flat and thin: :*Sliced bread :*Pizza by the slice, a fast food dish *Slice (drink), a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks In Australia and New ...

) and

CTV Life Channel CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home improvement and real estate, along with scripted dr ...

History

The Life Channel was approved for broadcast by the

CRTC 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 ...

on 14 March 1985 following licensing hearings on 5 February 1985. The company was a partnership between

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Manitoba doctor John Tyson, who became president of the company,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario lawyer Michael G. Rinaldo, who became director and secretary, and broadcast company CUC Limited. On 18 October 1985, The Life Channel began satellite broadcasts to

cable companies This is a list of cable television providers by country. Andorra * Mútua Elèctrica(Cable Mútua), Sant Julià de Lória) Argentina * Cablevisión *DirecTV * * *Gigared *Telered Australia *Foxtel *Fetch TV Austria *BKF *LIWEST *Salzburg AG ...

on a

basis. The initial broadcasts were available free to cable subscribers as a preview until 1 November 1985. Subscription cost was $5.95 per month, but included free with the other Canadian pay-TV channels at the time, at a cost of $19.95. Notable programming included

Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fami ...

's ''Good Sex!'' programme which was imported from the American

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

network. Domestic programming included a talk show hosted by

Shirley Solomon Shirley Solomon (born 1947) is a Canadian television talk show host. Career She hosted ''The Shirley Show'', a daily afternoon talk show on CTV from September 1989 – 1995. Later in its run, it was syndicated to several major-market American ...

and a medical information show, ''Doctor On Call'', hosted by John Tyson. As of September 1986, the service attracted relatively small subscriber base of 380,000 compared to 892,000 for

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

, 848,000 for

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

. The Life Channel had increased the wholesale price it charges cable companies from 15 of 55 cents per subscriber, a move which resulted in some cable systems cancelling the service. Faced with financial problems which included a $4 million debt, The Life Channel ceased broadcasts after 30 November 1986. Its licence was revoked by the

on 1 February 1988.CRTC Decision 88-67
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References

Defunct television networks in Canada Television channels and stations established in 1985 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1986 1985 establishments in Canada {{Canada-tv-station-stub