GolTV was a Canadian English language Category B

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 ...

. GolTV was exclusively dedicated to association football (soccer), with live and recorded sporting events from around the world, and news programs. GolTV was owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE).

History

In August 2005,

Insight Sports Insight Sports Ltd. is a sports media and entertainment company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company is owned in part by Larry Tanenbaum, part owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Properties Insight Sports operates Aquila Product ...

(on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated) was granted a television broadcasting licence 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) for ''The Soccer Net'', described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty programming undertaking devoted to soccer and soccer enthusiasts. The programming will focus on instruction from beginner to advanced play and on amateur and professional soccer games. All of the programming will be devoted to soccer or soccer-related subjects." The channel was launched on November 1, 2005 as GolTV. At some point, GOL TV USA, a division of Tenfield, purchased a minority interest in the channel. On November 7, 2007, GolTV provided live broadband coverage of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s friendly home game against

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

and the Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy over the internet on a pay-per-view basis. On January 23, 2009, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owners of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

franchise Toronto FC (along with other major sports teams in the city), announced they would acquire Insight Sports' interest in GolTV. The deal was approved by the CRTC on June 2, 2009. In 2015, MLSE reported to the CRTC that it had bought out GOL TV USA's stake in the channel. On July 6, 2015, in a notice to revoke the license of GolTV Canada posted on the CRTC website, it was revealed that the channel would be ceasing operations on August 31, 2015. According to the timetable shown on their website, GolTV Canada would cease broadcasting on August 31, 2015 after it finished airing the whole third season of a Toronto FC documentary "All For One" starting at 9:30pm (Eastern Time), while their website would redirect to the Toronto FC's website.

Programming

GolTV Canada featured live and taped events from the following leagues and competitions: * Brazil: Campeonato Brasileiro,

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

* Canada / USA:

(including team-specific coverage of Toronto FC) * Germany: Bundesliga * Mexico: Liga de Ascenso (2nd division) * France: Coupe de France (final only), Trophée des Champions * Spain: Copa del Rey (final only),

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

GolTV broadcast international matches, including friendlies and qualifiers, including: * CONCACAF: Women's Pre-Olympic Tournament *

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

: South American Youth Championship *

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

: Selected matches for World Cup Qualifiers are broadcast live or delayed

Other programs

* Bundesliga Magazine * Canadian Football Weekly * Foot Brazil * Football Today * GolTV News * Hallo Bundesliga * Liga BBVA * MLS Weekly * Off The Pitch * Oh My Gol!

Past programming

GolTV previously aired coverage of Spain's La Liga. Since mid-2012, the Canadian broadcast rights to that league have been owned by the upstart

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

-owned channel

beIN Sport beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...

High definition

GolTV announced on December 5, 2011 that it would launch HD programming in partnership with the RealSports and Xbox 360. HD programming will be available via a free app for the Xbox 360 with a monthly subscription fee. GolTV officially launched its HD service on television systems in November 2012 with EastLink. GolTV Canada HD was also available on Ch.428 on Rogers.

References