W Network (often shortened to W) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

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 ...

owned by

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, Ont ...

. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was established in 1995 as the Women's Television Network (WTN), which had a focus on women's lifestyle programming. The channel was eventually acquired by Corus in 2001 and relaunched under its current branding in 2002. As part of the relaunch, W's programming shifted to a mix of both entertainment and lifestyle programming. By 2017, W had moved its lifestyle programming to its sister networks, focusing exclusively on entertainment programming. The channel is available in two time shifted feeds, East (operating from the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a smal ...

) and West (operating from the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

History

In June 1994, Linda Rankin, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, (later incorporated as Lifestyle Television (1994) Limited, principally owned by Moffat Communications) 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 broadcast ...

(CRTC) to operate a channel called ''Lifestyle Television'', described as offering "information and entertainment programming of particular interest to women." The channel subsequently launched on January 1, 1995 as Women's Television Network (WTN).Has WTN gone too soft? (Does anyone really mind?)
'' Herizons'' 1997-03-22 Like Moffat's other cable television operations, WTN was headquartered in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. Linda Rankin served as the president of the network from its launch. Programming on the network was originally largely focused on lifestyle programming that many had suggested was "feminist" in nature. Such programming included female takes on traditionally male-dominated activities such as fishing and mechanics, with ''Natural Angler'' and ''Car Care'', respectively. While other programs, such as ''Go Girl!'', took a comedic approach at parodying typical female-targeted talk shows that discussed subjects such as beauty, fashion, etc.Taddeo, Julie Anne, and Ken Dvorak. ''The Tube Has Spoken: Reality TV & History''. University Press of Kentucky. Print Other programs included films, current affairs, and occasionally sports. The channel suffered from low ratings in the beginning. Of the slew of new channels launched on January 1, WTN was initially the lowest rated channel on average. Linda Rankin later resigned in August 1995 citing "differences in management philosophy". In December 2000,

Shaw Communications 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 ...

announced it intended to purchase Moffat. The deal was later closed in early 2001. Shaw announced in March 2001 that it would sell WTN to

, a company that it spun off in 1999, for $205 million

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

(Shaw had primarily acquired Moffat for its cable television systems). Once Corus took ownership of the channel, it moved operations from Winnipeg to Toronto in mid-January 2002, laying off 50 employees in the process. Subsequently, Corus relaunched the network as W on April 15, 2002 with a more entertainment-oriented mix of recent dramas and movies. On the same date, Corus launched the west coast feed. In 2009, Corus Entertainment acquired SexTV: The Channel from CTVglobemedia, and relaunched the channel as W Movies — a spin-off of W Network focusing on films aimed towards women, on March 1, 2010. On December 12, 2016, W Movies renamed and relaunched as a Canadian version of the Cooking Channel. On August 2, 2011, the channel launched its HD feed, a simulcast of W Network's standard-definition Eastern-time feed. The HD feed was added to Bell Satellite TV satellite and Bell Fibe TV channel lineups on March 23, 2012. It was also available on Eastlink, Optik TV, Shaw Direct, SaskTel, Rogers Cable, Cogeco, and Access Communications. On October 1, 2013, an HD feed for the Western-time channel was launched on Shaw Cable, then on Shaw Direct on September 18, 2019. Since the 2017–18 season, W Network has re-oriented its programming towards scripted television series and movies. The majority of its lifestyle programming, including the '' Property Brothers'' franchise, was moved to

HGTV Canada HGTV is a Canadian English-language Category A cable and satellite specialty channel owned as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment (which serves as managing partner and owns 80.24% majority control through licensee HGTV Canada, Inc.) and ...

, as well as Corus' other women and lifestyle networks. On October 25, 2018, Corus announced a content deal with Crown Media Holdings, giving W Network exclusive Canadian rights to original movies and series produced for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. W Network will broadcast branded blocks of Hallmark Channel content, including local versions of Hallmark Channel's seasonal programming events. The partnership officially launched on November 1, 2018 with the '' Countdown to Christmas'' event.

Syndicated Programming

*'' A Million Little Things'' * ''Chesapeke Shores'' *''

Days of our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' *'' Days of our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas'' *'' Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem'' *'' Fraiser'' *''

Five Bedrooms ''Five Bedrooms'' is an Australian comedy-drama television series, which first screened on Network 10. The eight part series premiered on 15 May 2019, at 8:40 pm. In the United States, the series started streaming on Peacock on April 15, ...

'' *''

The Girl from Plainville ''The Girl from Plainville'' is an American true crime drama miniseries created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus. The series stars Elle Fanning, Chloë Sevigny, and Colton Ryan. It premiered on Hulu on March 29, 2022. A portion of the series ...

'' *'' Girls5eva'' *''

The Good Fight ''The Good Fight'' is an American legal drama produced for CBS's streaming service CBS All Access (later Paramount+). It is the platform's first original scripted series. The series, created by Robert King, Michelle King, and Phil Alden Robinso ...

'' *'' Good Witch'' *'' I Am…'' *'' Katy Keene'' * ''Law and Order: Speical Victims Unit'' *''

Mom ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

'' * NCIS: Los Angeles, ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' *''The Love Club'' *''

One of Us is Lying ''One of Us Is Lying'' is a young adult, mystery/suspense novel by American author Karen M. McManus. The book is her debut novel, originally published in the US by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on 30 May 2017. The book ...

'' *'' Outlander'' *'' Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin'' *''Project Halo in Support of Sick Kids'' *'' Sex with Sue'' *'' This Way Up'' *'' Vampire Academy'' *'' Walker: Independence'' *'' Will and Grace''

Upcoming Syndicated Programming

*'' The Best Man: The Final Chapters (March 16)'' *'' The Way Home (January 22)''

Original Programming

W Network primarily broadcasts a mix of television dramas and films, including programming acquired from Hallmark Channel, most of which is filmed in Canada. W previously produced and aired unscripted reality shows and lifestyle programming; it was well known for originating the '' Love It or List It'' and '' Property Brothers'' franchises seen on HGTV in the United States. These programs ultimately moved to

and Corus' other lifestyle networks following W's shift to scripted programming acquisitions.

Original series

References

External links

*
W Network media
{{Authority control Analog cable television networks in Canada Corus Entertainment networks 1995 establishments in Canada Television channels and stations established in 1995 Women's interest channels English-language television stations in Canada