X-Treme Sports

X-Treme Sports was a Canadian English language category 2 television channel owned by Canwest Media Inc., a division of Canwest Global Communications. X-Treme Sports aired a variety of programming primarily related to extreme sports.

For the video game, see Xtreme Sports (video game).
X-Treme Sports
X-Treme Sports logo
LaunchedSeptember 7, 2001
ClosedOctober 9, 2008
Owned byCanwest Media Inc. (Canwest)
SloganTV with Attitude
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNational

History

On November 24, 2000 Global Television Network Inc., a subsidiary of Canwest, was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (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."[1]

The channel launched on September 7, 2001 as X-Treme Sports.[2]

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.[3] 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, professional wrestling, and slamball.

The following list is a sampling of series aired during its last year of operation:[4]

References
  1. Decision CRTC 2000-566 CRTC 2000-12-14
  2. Global ready to launch two sports specialty channels ; International soccer, rugby and cricket part of Fox lineup Toronto Star 2001-08-15
  3. X-Treme Sports is Shutting Down Archived May 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Channel Canada 2008-09-06
  4. X-Treme Sports TV schedule - archived Dose.ca
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