Action (formerly known as Showcase Action) was a Canadian English language

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 targeted ...

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, Ont ...

. The channel was established as a spin-off of

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

focused on

action genre Action fiction is a literary genre that focuses on stories that involve high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of sub-genres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror and intrigue ("cloak ...

films and television series. Following a rebrand in 2009, the channel would eventually shift to general-interest, male-targeting programming. The channel was first launched on September 7, 2001; it was shut down on April 1, 2019, at midnight ET and was replaced by

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

History

In November 2000, Showcase Television Inc., a division of

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 ...

, 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 broadcast ...

(CRTC) to launch a television channel called ''Action Television'', described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service devoted to action movies and series primarily driven by a fast-paced fictional plot featuring car chases, explosions, special effects, or martial arts." The channel launched on September 7, 2001, as Showcase Action, a spin-off of another Alliance Atlantis television channel,

. Showcase Action's slogan, on-air and in advertising, was "Get Some." 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 ...

known as CW Media, acquired control of Showcase Action through its purchase of Alliance Atlantis' broadcasting assets, which were placed in a trust in August 2007. The channel was renamed Action on August 31, 2009. On October 27, 2010, ownership changed once again as

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

gained control of Action as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media. In 2011, Action would begin airing two original programs, ''

The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour ''The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour'' is a Canadian television comedy series, which aired during the 2011 television season on Action (Canadian TV channel), Action. Described by its producers as "''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' after it got sma ...

'' and '' Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will'', both of which were cancelled after one season. By this time, Action's programming would begin to diverge from its format as the overall worldwide action series market shifted to streaming, and incorporate

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, re ...

shows acquired from U.S. network

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that ...

. Another original series, ''

But I'm Chris Jericho! ''But I'm Chris Jericho!'' is a Canadian comedy web series, which premiered in 2013. The series stars former professional wrestler Chris Jericho as a fictionalized version of himself, trying to establish a career as an actor after retiring from wres ...

'', starring Canadian-born

professional wrestler 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 ...

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

, premiered as a

webseries A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

in 2013 on Action's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel. ''But I'm Chris Jericho'' would later be acquired and renewed for a second season by

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

's digital outlet CBC Comedy. On May 1, 2015, an HD feed of Action was launched. During this time, the channel was made available as a free preview. On April 1, 2016, Action's parent company Shaw Media was sold to

. On March 4, 2019, it was announced that Corus would launch a Canadian version of

on April 1, 2019, replacing Action under its license, and marking the first time that the brand has been used for a 24-hour channel. The channel launched with a two-month free preview on linear television, and an on-demand free preview to the end of 2019.

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

and

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

concurrently dropped their respective adult programming blocks (Adult Swim and

Teletoon at Night Teletoon at Night (stylized as TELEToON AT NiGHT and formerly known as Teletoon's Adult Block, The Detour On Teletoon and Teletoon Detour) was a Canadian English language late night programming block that aired on Teletoon, which is owned by Te ...

) to accommodate the new channel.First Ever 24-Hour Adult Swim Channel Coming to Canada This Spring
Newswire 2019-03-04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Action (TV channel) Television channels and stations established in 2001 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2019 2001 establishments in Canada 2019 disestablishments in Canada Former Corus Entertainment networks Defunct Canadian television channels English-language television stations in Canada Men's interest channels