A discretionary service is a Canadian

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 ...

which, as defined by 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 ...

, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A, category B, category C (instead split into the categories of "mainstream sports" and "national news"), and premium classifications. Discretionary services may air programming from any of the CRTC's defined categories, although no more than 10% of programming per month may be devoted to live

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

. Discretionary services may be authorized to offer

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...

channels.

Background

Prior classifications and genre exclusivity

The CRTC previously licensed specialty television services into one of three categories, which determined their regulatory obligations (such as the types of programming they may offer, and whether they are allowed to compete with other specialty television services), and how they may be distributed by television providers—known legally as broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs). Prior to 2015, there were three types of specialty channel licenses * Category A services'':'' a category established in 2011 that encompassed the legacy " analog" specialty and premium television channels licensed prior to the establishment of

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previo ...

and

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

(such as MuchMusic), and "Category 1" digital specialty services. Digital BDUs were required to offer all Category A-licensed channels as part of their services. Category A services were licensed within specific scopes, and subject to "genre protection": no other specialty services were allowed to directly compete with a Category A service. As a consequence, Category A licenses carried more stringent obligations on their owners, such as stricter thresholds for the exhibition of specific types of programming and Canadian content. Major

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

services were designated as "premium" services; these services were prohibited from carrying commercial advertising, but were allowed to operate multiple "multiplex" channels consistent with their nature of service. * Category B services (formerly "Category 2"): digital specialty services that were licensed to carry narrower, niche formats in comparison to Category A-licensed channels. BDUs were not obligated to offer all Category B services, and negotiated with their distributors for carriage. Category B services were allowed to compete between each other, but no Category B service was allowed to directly compete with a Category A service. * Category C services encompassed "competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

and national

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

", which had been given an exemption from the genre protection rules in 2009 that allowed them more flexibility in programming and formats.

Reforms and discontinuation of genre exclusivity rules

As part of "Let's Talk TV", a CRTC initiative to reform Canada's broadcasting industry, the Commission announced in 2015 that it would phase out its previous "genre protection" rules, which forbade services with Category B licenses from directly competing with those with Category A licenses. The Commission felt that these restrictions were "no longer needed to ensure programming diversity between services", as " heylimited programming services to offering certain types of programming and precluded other services from offering that programming." As part of these changes, the CRTC began transitioning all pay and specialty services to standardized conditions of license. In November 2016, per a request by DHX Media (owner of Family Channel—a network that was licensed as a premium service, but had largely been treated as a non-premium specialty service by television providers—the previous premium television designation was also removed, merging them into the discretionary services category and allowing them to, if they choose, transition to advertising-supported formats. The standard conditions of license were thus amended to allow discretionary services to offer multiplex channels if approved as a condition of license.

List of licensed discretionary services

Former Category A services

Category A services were those which had mandatory distribution by all licensed broadcast distribution undertakings. They consisted of the channels that were licensed before the emergence of digital cable, as well as the narrow tier of digital services which were originally licensed as "Category 1" (must-carry) when digital cable was first introduced.

English former Category A services

* AMI-tv * BNN * Bravo *

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

* CMT * Cottage Life * CP24 (GTA) * Crime + Investigation * CPAC (English feed) * CTV Comedy Channel * CTV Drama Channel *

CTV Life Channel CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home imp ...

* CTV Sci-Fi Channel * Documentary Channel * DTour * E! * Flavour Network * The History Channel * History2 *

Home Network Home Network is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. Home Network broadcasts programs r ...

* Much *

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* OutTV * Showcase * Slice * Sportsnet 360 * The Weather Network * T+E * Treehouse *

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

VisionTV VisionTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Category A services, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is ...

* W Network * YTV

French former Category A services

* addikTV * Canal D * Canal Vie * CPAC (French feed) * Elle Fictions * Évasion * Historia *

Ici ARTV Ici ARTV (stylized as ICI artv) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada). The channel broadcasts the arts and culture including music, dance, theat ...

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

MétéoMédia MétéoMédia is a Canadian French-language weather information specialty channel and web site owned by Pelmorex. MétéoMédia primarily serves viewers in Quebec, although some cable TV systems in Ontario and New Brunswick carry the channel as w ...

* RDS Info * Séries+ * Télétoon * TV5 ** Unis * Z

Third-language former Category A services

* ATN Star Plus * Fairchild TV *

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

* Talentvision * Telelatino

Former Category B services

Category B services were those which had only optional, rather than mandatory, carriage rights on BDUs, and did not have format protection.

English former Category B services

* ABC Spark *

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

* ATN Cricket Plus * ATN DD Sports * BBC Earth * BBC First *

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

CBN CBN, or cbn, may refer to: Broadcasting organizations * Radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland: ** CBN (AM), CBC Radio One ** CBN-FM, CBC Music * Chronicle Broadcasting Network, the predecessor of ABS-CBN * CBN (Australian TV station), a TV ...

* CTV Nature Channel * CTV Speed Channel * CTV Wild Channel * Daystar Television Canada *

DejaView DejaView is a Canadian English language specialty television channel owned by Corus Entertainment. It primarily airs television shows from the 1970s to 2010s. The channel's name is a play on the phrase Deja Vu. History In November 2000, Global ...

* EuroWorld Sport * Fight Network * FNTSY Sports Network * FX * FXX *

GameTV GameTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel. Owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it primarily broadcasts competition-based programming, including game shows and reality com ...

* Global News: BC 1 * Hollywood Suite ** Hollywood Suite 70s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 80s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 90s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 00s Movies * HPItv ** HPItv Canada ** HPItv International ** HPItv Odds ** HPItv West * Lifetime * Love Nature * Makeful * MovieTime *

Nat Geo Wild National Geographic Wild (shortened as Nat Geo Wild and abbreviated NGW) is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27% ...

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

* NBA TV Canada *

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

* Penthouse TV * Playmen TV * Red Hot TV * Rewind * Salt + Light Television * Silver Screen Classics *

Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facil ...

* Sportsnet World * Stingray Naturescape * The Rural Channel * Wild TV * WildBrainTV * World Fishing Network

French former Category B services

* Avis de Recherche * Casa * Frissons TV * Ici Explora * Investigation * Prise 2 * QUB (Formerly Yoopa) * Télémagino * Témoin * Vivid TV Canada * Zeste

Third-language former Category B services

Aaj Tak () is an Indian Hindi-language television news channel owned by the TV Today Network, a part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate India Today Group. History Aaj Tak was first broadcast on DD Metro of Doordarshan (DD) in 1995. It ...

* All TV * ATN Food Food * ATN SAB TV * ATN Sony TV * ATN Times Now * ATN Zoom * Fairchild TV 2 HD * FPTV * Filmy * Mediaset Italia * Mediaset TGCOM 24 * MEGA Cosmos * New Tang Dynasty Television * SSTV * Telebimbi * TeleNiños * Travelxp * Univision Canada * ZEE Bollywood * Zee Cinema *

Zee TV Canada Zee is the phonetic pronunciation of the letter Z in American English ("zed" in Commonwealth English). Zee may also refer to: People *Zee (徐), a Wu Chinese surname, an equivalent of Xu * Anthony Zee (b. 1945), Chinese-American physicist * Ch ...

* Zing

National news and sports discretionary services

English national news and sports discretionary services

= English news discretionary services

= * CBC News Network * CTV News Channel * The News Forum

= English sports discretionary services

= *

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

** Sportsnet East ** Sportsnet Ontario ** Sportsnet Pacific ** Sportsnet West *

Sportsnet One Sportsnet One (SN1 or SN One) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary digital cable and satellite television, satellite specialty channel owned by Rogers Media, Rogers Sports & Media; it operates ...

** Sportsnet Flames ** Sportsnet Oilers ** Sportsnet Vancouver Hockey * TSN ** TSN1 ** TSN2 ** TSN3 ** TSN4 ** TSN5

French national news and sports discretionary services

= French news discretionary services

= * Ici RDI * LCN

= French sports discretionary services

= * RDS ** RDS2 * TVA Sports ** TVA Sports 2

French former exempted services

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

* Disney Jr. *

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

* Stingray Hits!

French premium services

* Crave (Four multiplex channels) ** HBO Canada (East and west) * Super Channel (Four multiplex channels) ** Super Channel Fuse ** Super Channel Heart & Home ** Super Channel Vault ** Ginx TV Canada * Super Écran (Four Multiplex Channels) * Starz (Two multiplex channels)

Former premium services

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(Two multiplex channels, now mostly former analogue cable services) ** Family Jr.

Exempted discretionary services

Services with less than 200,000 subscribers that would otherwise meet the definition of a discretionary service, and services which air 90% of their programming in a "third language (a language other than English, French, or those of Canadian aboriginal peoples), are exempted from formal licensing by the CRTC. They must still comply with standard conditions of license published by the CRTC, maintain a file with the Commission, and, if this is the basis of their exemption, begin to pursue an application for licensing if they exceed 200,000 subscribers.

English

ABS-CBN News Channel The ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News and Curre ...

(ANC) * AOV Adult Movie Channel * beIN Sports Canada * The Cult Movie Network *

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

* Exxxtasy TV * FEVA TV *

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

Magnolia Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery in partnership with Chip Gaines, Chip and Joanna Gaines, the founders of lifestyle company Magnolia. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related ...

* Maleflixxx Television * MAVTV Canada * Stingray Country * Stingray Juicebox * Stingray Loud * Stingray Retro * Stingray Now 4K * Stingray Vibe * Toon-A-Vision * Vertical TV * Vintage TV * XXX Action Clips Channel

Third-language

* Abu Dhabi TV * AksyonTV International * Al-Nahar TV * Al-Nahar Drama * Al Resalah * All TV K * ATN Aastha TV * ATN Alpha ETC Punjabi * ATN ARY Digital * ATN B4U Movies * ATN B4U Music * ATN Bangla * ATN Brit Asia TV * ATN Colors Bangla * ATN Colors Marathi * ATN DD Bharati * ATN DD Urdu * ATN Gujarati * ATN IBC Tamil * ATN Jaya TV * ATN Movies * ATN MTV India * ATN News 18 * ATN PM One * ATN Punjabi 5 * ATN Punjabi News * ATN Punjabi Plus * ATN Rishtey * ATN Sikh Channel * ATN Sony Aath * ATN Sony Max * ATN Sony Mix * ATN Star Jalsha * ATN SVBC * ATN Tamil Plus * ATN Urdu * BBC Arabic * Big Magic International * Canada Chinese TV * Canada National TV * CCCTV * Chakde TV * Channel 9 Canada * Channel Punjabi * Channel Y * Cinema One Global * CTC International * Detskiy * Dream 2 * ERT World * Fairchild TV 2 * FTV * First National * GMA Life TV * GMA News TV * GMA Pinoy TV * Greek Music Channel * Halla Bol! * HRT Sat *

Hum TV Hum TV HD is a 24-hour Urdu general entertainment TV channel based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Sultana Siddiqui and Duraid Qureshi. It is owned by Hum Network Limited and traded on the Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Net ...

* Iran TV Network * Kapatid Channel * KHL-TV * LS Times TV * Melody Aflam * Melody Drama * Melody Hits * Momo Kids * Montreal Greek TV * NGTV * Nova World * OSN Ya Hala International * Prime Asia TV * ProSiebenSat.1 Welt * PTC Punjabi * Rawal TV * RBTI Canada * Rotana Aflam * Rotana Cinema * Rotana Classic * Rotana Clip * Rotana Khalijiah * Rotana Masriya * Rotana Mousica * RTL Living * RTS Sat * RTVi * Russian Illuzion * SBTN * Schlager TV * TET * Tamil One * Tamil Vision *

The Filipino Channel The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a global subscription television network owned and operated by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. Its programming is composed primarily of imported programs produced and distri ...

(TFC) * The Israeli Network * Toronto 360 TV * TVCentr International * TVP Info * TV Rain * Vanakkam TV * Win HD Caribbean * WOWtv * Zee 24 Taas * Zee Bangla * Zee Marathi * Zee Punjabi * Zee Salaam * Zee Talkies * Zee Tamil

References

{{Reflist 2015 establishments in Canada Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission *1