Teletoon Retro

Teletoon Retro
Final logo 2013-2015
Launched October 1, 2007 (2007-10-01)
Closed September 1, 2015 (2015-09-01)
Owned by Corus Entertainment
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Slogan Forever Fun
Country Canada
Language English
Broadcast area National
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario
Replaced by Disney Channel and Cartoon Network
Sister channel(s)

Teletoon Retro was a Canadian English language Category B specialty television channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was based on the former Teletoon programming block Teletoon Retro and was dedicated to primarily broadcasting animated series that had premiered on television at least 10 years prior to their airing on Teletoon Retro, however, its CRTC licence allowed as much as 10% of its programming to be live action;[1] as such, it also aired several live-action series, such as Batman, Fraggle Rock, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers[2]

Along with its French language sister station, Télétoon Rétro, combined, both were available in over 9 million Canadian households as of 2013, having the most subscribers among the digital Canadian specialty channels.[3]

History

Teletoon Retro initially started as a programming block on Teletoon. On November 24, 2000, Teletoon Canada (at the time, an equal joint venture between Corus Entertainment and Astral Media) was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch Teletoon Retro, a category 2 digital specialty channel that would "present classic cartoons from Canada and around the world, including animated movies, specials, series and shorts which commenced production at least ten (10) years prior to their exhibition by the licensee."[1] The channel did not commence operation and the licence expired.

The Teletoon Retro logo used from October 1, 2007 to February 4, 2013.

Plans to launch the channel arose again in 2005, when on October 25, Teletoon Canada was given approval again to launch Teletoon Retro, this time as a singular English channel with no French language feed.[4] The channel was launched at 6:00 PM EST on October 1, 2007 with its first program being The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show. To coincide with the channel's launch, Teletoon briefly relaunched the Retro programming block.[5] A French language counterpart, titled Télétoon Rétro, which had been given approval to be launched at the same time as Teletoon Retro, was launched on September 4, 2008.[6]

On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced that it would acquire Astral Media's 50% ownership interest in Teletoon. The purchase was in relation to Bell Media's pending takeover of Astral, which had earlier been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012, but was restructured to allow the sale of certain Astral Media properties in order to allow the purchase to clear regulatory hurdles.[7] Corus' purchase was cleared by the Competition Bureau two weeks later on March 18.[8] On December 20, 2013, the CRTC approved Corus' full ownership of Teletoon Canada.[9][10] and it was purchased by Corus on January 1, 2014.[11]

On March 1, 2014, a high definition simulcast of Teletoon Retro was launched. It was only available on Cogeco and Bell Fibe TV.

In August 2015, Teletoon Retro's website announced that the channel would be shut down effective September 1, 2015; to coincide with the launch of the Canadian version of Disney Channel, the French Télétoon Rétro rebranded as a French version of Disney Channel the same day. Teletoon Retro's CRTC licence was retained by Corus; effective the same day, the intellectual property and programming of Cartoon Network was transferred to Teletoon Retro's licence in order to give it wider distribution, particularly on Rogers Cable and Shaw Direct.[12][13][14][15][16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Decision CRTC 2000-697; CRTC; 2000-12-14
  2. ↑ "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02. Archived from the original on 2016-05-16.
  3. ↑ "TELETOON Canada Inc. | TELETOON Retro Now Nine Million Subscribers Strong". Newswire.ca. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2005-511; CRTC; 2005-10-25
  5. ↑ "TELETOON Launches New Digital Channel "TELETOON Retro"". September 4, 2007.
  6. ↑ Teletoon Retro launches for francophones; Media In Canada; 2008-06-12
  7. ↑ BCE to sell assets to Corus as part of Astral deal, The Globe and Mail (via Reuters and The Canadian Press), March 4, 2013.
  8. ↑ The Canadian Press (uncredited staff) (March 18, 2013). "Competition Bureau clears Corus acquisition of Astral assets". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  9. ↑ Vessing, Etan (December 20, 2013). "Corus/Teletoon Deal Approved by CRTC". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Press Release - Corus Entertainment Receives CRTC Approval on TELETOON Canada Inc., Historia and Séries+ Acquisitions". Corusent.com. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Press Release - Corus Entertainment Completes Purchase of Historia, Séries+ and TELETOON Canada Inc". Corusent.com. January 1, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2015-451". CRTC. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Corus ownership chart" (PDF). CRTC. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Pay and Specialty - Cartoon Network (formerly TELETOON Retro (English)), CRTC Financial Summaries, 06-23-16
  15. ↑ O'Brien, Greg (11 August 2015). "Corus to shutter Teletoon Retro in favour of Cartoon Network". CARTT. Retrieved 11 August 2015. (subscription required)
  16. ↑ "Corus Entertainment's Cartoon Network Expands Distribution to Over 5 Million Subscribers" (Press release). Toronto: Corus Entertainment. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
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