CTV Nature Channel is a Canadian discretionary

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 ...

owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture between

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

and

ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by the Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. Founded by Bill Rasmussen in 1979, it owns and operates local and global cable and ...

, with minority interests owned by

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...

via licensee Discovery Science Canada Company. It broadcasts factual and reality-style series related to science, nature, and history. The network was originally launched on August 15, 2001 as Discovery Civilization Channel, a

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 ...

spin-off from

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 ...

based on the U.S. network of the same name (now

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 ...

), focusing on programming related to history and international culture. On September 27, 2010, the channel relaunched as Discovery Science, becoming a Canadian version of

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

. On January 1, 2025, the channel relaunched as CTV Nature Channel, due to Bell losing the rights to Warner Bros. Discovery factual and lifestyle brands to

Rogers Sports & Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sy ...

(who will primarily distribute Science Channel programming through its streaming and on-demand platforms, foregoing a new specialty channel).

History

CTV Nature Channel was licensed 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 ...

(CRTC) on December 14, 2000 as Discovery Civilization Channel Canada.Decision CRTC 2000-553
CRTC; 2000-12-14 The application was granted to CTV Inc., and was later transferred to its subsidiary, CTV Specialty Television Inc., in which ESPN owns a 20% interest. The channel was originally described in regulatory documents as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service dedicated to bringing the diverse people and cultures of the world to Canadian viewers. The service will be dedicated to exploring and understanding the roots of human development and learning from other cultures and traditions." The channel was launched on August 15, 2001 as Discovery Civilization Channel, with programming devoted to human civilization and history. The channel was intended to be a Canadian version of a U.S. channel of the same name, which was later reformatted and renamed as Discovery Times, and later became

(a brand which would later launch in Canada via a rebranding of CourtTV Canada). On June 4, 2010 CTVglobemedia announced that Discovery Civilization Channel would be rebranded as Discovery Science on September 27, 2010, serving as a Canadian version of the U.S. network

. On June 10, 2024,

announced it had reached an agreement with

(WBD) for Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands beginning in January 2025, which were subsequently confirmed to include Discovery Science. This led to a lawsuit by Bell, which claimed the move would violate previous

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

s with WBD; the matter was settled out of court in October. Rogers announced that Science Channel content would move to its on-demand and streaming platforms including

Citytv+ Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-o ...

, rather than a new linear channel. Discovery Science 2017 Logo

On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced the channel would rebrand as CTV Nature Channel on January 1, 2025. CTV Nature will take over much of Discovery's previous mandate within the Bell Media portfolio as it transitions to a general entertainment format under the

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 ...

brand, repurposing certain Canadian factual series previously commissioned by Bell, as well as other content related to science, nature, and history from third-party distributors.

HD feed

On June 17, 2011 Bell Media announced that it would launch Discovery Science HD, a high definition (HD) simulcast of the

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a similar resolution to the ...

feed, by the end of 2011. The channel was launched on December 15, 2011 on Bell Fibe TV and on September 11, 2012 on Telus Optik TV.

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

began using it on August 8, 2018.

International distribution

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

– distributed on Flow Cable systems. *

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

– distributed on Cable Bahamas systems. *

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

– distributed on Flow Cable systems. *

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

– distributed on NET systems. *

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

– distributed on VTR Digital Cable systems.VTR Digital Cable channel lineup
/ref> *

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

– distributed on Cablevision

References

External links

* {{ESPN Television channels and stations established in 2001 Specialty television channels in Canada Bell Media networks

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

English-language television stations in Canada 2001 establishments in Canada