X-Treme Sports was a Canadian

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

category 2

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

owned by Canwest Media Inc., a division of

Canwest Global Communications 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 ...

. X-Treme Sports aired a variety of programming primarily related to

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 ...

History

On November 24, 2000 Global Television Network Inc., a subsidiary of

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 ...

, was granted approval 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 a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service called ''Extreme Sports'', described as ''"featuring the best of "off-beat" sports programming that will give Canadians the opportunity to live vicariously through the ultimate high associated with such extreme pastimes as high altitude sky diving, cliff diving, white water rafting, and mountain climbing."'' The channel launched on September 7, 2001 as X-Treme Sports. In September 2008, amid the mid-2000s financial crisis and a mounting debt load, Canwest announced it would be shuttering X-Treme Sports, with an expected closing date of October 9, 2008. Through its official statement, Canwest cited low growth potential as the reason for its closing of the service, noting funds would be better directed to other channels with greater growth potential. The channel later closed on October 9 as expected.

Programming

Programming on X-Treme Sports primarily focused on extreme sports series, including men's and women's competitions, lifestyle, and reality programs. Series primarily focused on the sports within the firm definition of extreme sports, such as motocross, mountain biking, surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding; however, other forms of extreme, adventure and thrill-seeking sports/activities included

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, and

slamball Slamball is a form of basketball played with four trampolines in front of each net and boards around the court edge. The name SlamBall is the trademark of SlamBall, LLC. While SlamBall is based on basketball, it is a contact sport, with blocks ...

. The following list is a sampling of series aired during its last year of operation:X-Treme Sports TV schedule - archived
Dose.ca * 360 Surfing * Crash Bang Wallop * Crash Stunt Idiots *

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled ''Now or ...

* Fusion TV * IFL Battleground * IFL Fight Night * MMX Treme * Ouch: That Had To Hurt * Ride Guide Bike * World of Wakeboarding * X-Sport

References

Sports television networks in Canada Television channels and stations established in 2001 Defunct Canadian television channels Television channels and stations disestablished in 2008 Former Corus Entertainment networks {{Canada-tv-station-stub