Dusk was a

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specialty channel. Dusk broadcast programming consisting of films, television dramas, and reality TV, and documentary-style television series from the thriller, suspense and supernatural genres. Dusk went on the air on September 7, 2001, as Scream (stylized as SCREAM), under the ownership of

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, Onta ...

and

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 ...

as a Category 2 service. During its early years, Scream broadcast horror, thriller, and suspense films along with some television series. After the acquisition of Alliance Atlantis by Canwest and Goldman Sachs, the channel was rebranded as Dusk in 2009, shifting more towards suspense and paranormal-themed programming rather than pure horror to appeal to a wider audience. Two years after Canwest was sold to Shaw Media, a sister company of Corus, the channel ended operations in March 2012 and was largely replaced on most providers by

ABC Spark ABC Spark is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was launched on March 26, 2012, replacing the declining channel Dusk. ABC Spark is based on the U.S. subscription channel Freeform (previously ...

History

In November 2000, Corus, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called ''HorrorVision'', which would be devoted primarily to the horror and thriller genres. The channel was launched as ''Scream'' on September 7, 2001, as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment and

. Programming on Scream focused primarily on horror, thriller, suspense films and television series. On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest 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 had ...

known as CW Media, acquired 49% of Scream through its purchase of Alliance Atlantis' broadcasting assets, which were placed in a

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

in August 2007. On September 9, 2009, Scream was re-launched as Dusk, shifting away from horror and "gore" to focus more broadly on paranormal and suspense-driven programming (such as '' Supernatural'' and mainstream film premieres such as '' Along Came a Spider''), to appeal to a broader viewer demographic such as women. On October 27, 2010, ownership changed once again as Shaw Communications gained a 49% stake in Scream as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media. On February 10, 2012, Dusk revealed through an announcement via its

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and

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accounts, that it would be ceasing operations on March 23, 2012. A statement later announced on the channel's website stated the channel was being shuttered for strategic reasons to concentrate on "areas of expertise." Corus later indicated more specifically, through CRTC filings, that Dusk was discontinued to proceed with the launch of

, such that

Shaw Cable 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 ...

and

Shaw Direct Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications company Shaw Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two commu ...

could carry the latter while complying with the CRTC's "3:1 ratio" policy (which limits the proportion of speciality channels carried from companies affiliated with a particular service provider). The last program aired on Dusk was the 1990 film '' Ghost'', which was aired in a 24-hour marathon on March 22. As before the movie was finished, the network either signed off the air by going

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

or changed over to ABC Spark at 6:00 am ET on March 23.

Epilogue

Dusk was Canada's first horror television channel dedicated to the thriller, suspense and horror genres and was one of the most-watched new speciality channels. After Dusk's closure, another attempt to launch a horror-based channel took place five years later when Sylvain Gagné, owner of IO Média inc., launched Frissons TV in September 2017 with its English counterpart, Terror TV to be launched.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusk (Tv Channel) Digital cable television networks in Canada Former Corus Entertainment networks Movie channels in Canada Television channels and stations established in 2001 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012 2001 establishments in Canada 2012 disestablishments in Canada Defunct Canadian television channels