A discretionary service is a Canadian specialty channel which, as defined 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 broadcasti ...

, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A, category B, category C (instead split into the categories of "mainstream sports" and "national news"), and

premium Premium may refer to: Marketing * Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products * Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketin ...

classifications. Discretionary services may air programming from any of the CRTC's defined categories, although no more than 10% of programming per month may be devoted to live

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

. Discretionary services may be authorized to offer multiplex channels.

Background

As part of "Let's Talk TV", a CRTC initiative to reform Canada's broadcasting industry, the Commission announced in 2015 that it would phase out its previous "genre protection" rules, which forbade services with Category B licenses from directly competing with those with Category A licenses (which carried more stringent obligations on their owners, and must be offered by all television providers). The Commission felt that these restrictions were "no longer needed to ensure programming diversity between services", as " heylimited programming services to offering certain types of programming and precluded other services from offering that programming." As part of these changes, the CRTC began transitioning all pay and specialty services to standardized conditions of license. In November 2016, per a request by DHX Media, the previous premium television designation (which was designed for

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

services such as The Movie Network, and restricted the carriage of commercial advertising, but could offer multiple feeds consistent with their scope of service) was also removed, merging them into the discretionary services category and allowing them to, if they choose, transition to advertising-supported formats. The standard conditions of license were thus amended to allow discretionary services to offer multiplex channels if approved as a condition of license.

List of licensed discretionary services

Former Category A services

English

* AMI-tv * BookTelevision * BNN * CMT * Cottage Life * CP24 * Crime + Investigation * CPAC (English feed) * CTV Comedy Channel * CTV Drama Channel * CTV Life Channel * CTV Sci-Fi Channel * Discovery * Documentary Channel * DTour * E! * Fashion Television * FYI * Food Network Canada * HGTV Canada *

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

* History2 * IFC * MTV * MTV2 *

Much Much may refer to: *Much (TV channel), a cable network in Canada and its domestic and international spin-offs *Much TV, a satellite cable channel in Taiwan * ''Much'' (album), a 2001 album by Ten Shekel Shirt * Much the Miller's Son, one of Robin ...

* OLN *

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* OWN Canada * OutTV * Showcase *

Slice Slice may refer to: *Cutting Food and beverage *A portion of bread, pizza, cake, or meat that is cut flat and thin: :*Sliced bread :*Pizza by the slice, a fast food dish *Slice (drink), a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks In Australia and New ...

Sportsnet 360 Sportsnet 360 (SN360) is a Canadian discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The channel was launched in 1994 as the licence-exempt service Sportscope, which featured a display of sports news and scores. In 1997, the network was ...

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

* The Weather Network * T+E * Treehouse * VisionTV * W Network * YTV

French

* addikTV * Canal D * Canal Vie * CPAC (French feed) * Elle Fictions * Évasion * Historia * Ici ARTV *

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

MétéoMédia MétéoMédia is a Canadian French-language weather information specialty channel and web site owned by Pelmorex. MétéoMédia primarily serves viewers in Quebec, although some cable TV systems in Ontario and New Brunswick carry the channel as we ...

* RDS Info * Séries+ * Télétoon * TV5 ** Unis * Vrak * Z

Third-language

ATN Channel ATN Channel is a Canadian Category A specialty channel, owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It is the flagship channel of the Asian Television Network and features programming from &TV as well as Canadian content in several South Asian lan ...

* Fairchild TV *

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

* Talentvision * Telelatino

Former Category B services

English

* ABC Spark *

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

* Animal Planet * ATN Cricket Plus * ATN DD Sports * A.Side TV * BBC Canada * BBC Earth * Cartoon Network *

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcas ...

CBN CBN, or cbn, may refer to: Broadcasting organizations * Radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland: ** CBN (AM), CBC Radio One ** CBN-FM, CBC Music * Chronicle Broadcasting Network, the predecessor of ABS-CBN * CBN (Australian TV station), a TV s ...

* Cosmopolitan TV * Daystar Television Canada * DejaView * Discovery Science *

Discovery Velocity Discovery Velocity is a Canadian Category B specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of CTV Specialty Television Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a Canadian version of the U.S. channel formerly of the same nam ...

* DIY Network * ESPN Classic * EuroWorld Sport *

Family CHRGD WildBrainTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by WildBrain. WildBrainTV broadcasts live-action and animated children's programming aimed towards audiences ages 6–15. The channel first launched on June 1, 2011, under the ...

* Fight Network * FNTSY Sports Network * FX * FXX * GameTV * Global News: BC 1 * HIFI *

Hollywood Suite Hollywood Suite is a group of four Canadian specialty channels, each either majority-owned or wholly owned by Hollywood Suite Inc., a privately held broadcasting company based in Toronto, Ontario. The four channels are primarily devoted to classi ...

** Hollywood Suite 70s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 80s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 90s Movies ** Hollywood Suite 00s Movies *

HPItv HPItv (Horseplayer Interactive Television) is a Canadian English language Category B specialty network owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group. HPItv broadcasts thoroughbred, standardbred, and harness racing events and related programming. Channe ...

** HPItv Canada ** HPItv International ** HPItv Odds ** HPItv West * IDNR-TV *

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 owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...

* Leafs Nation Network *

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

* Love Nature * Makeful * MovieTime * Nat Geo Wild * National Geographic * NBA TV Canada *

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

* Penthouse TV * Playmen TV * Red Hot TV *

Rewind Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

* Salt + Light Television *

Silver Screen Classics Silver Screen Classics is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Channel Zero Inc. Silver Screen Classics broadcasts films primarily from the 1930s to the 1960s; including feature films, silent films, serials, shorts, an ...

* Smithsonian Channel * Sportsnet World * Stingray Ambiance * Sundance Channel * TBS * The Rural Channel * Vivid TV Canada * Wild TV * World Fishing Network

French

Avis de Recherche Avis de Recherche (AdR) is a Canadian French language Category B specialty channel devoted to crime prevention. Despite AdR's Category B licence, it was formerly a must-carry channel in the province of Quebec on digital basic cable. Programmi ...

* Casa *

Frissons TV Frissons TV is a Canadian French language commercial-free Category B television channel owned by IO Média. Frissons TV broadcasts programming focusing on the horror genre. Programming primarily includes classic and modern films, along with scrip ...

* Ici Explora *

Investigation Investigation or Investigations may refer to: Law enforcement * Investigation, the work of a detective * Investigation, the work of a private investigator * Criminal investigation, the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the guilt ...

* MOI&cie * Prise 2 * Télémagino * Vivid TV Canada * Yoopa * Zeste

Third-language

* Aaj Tak * All TV * ATN Food Food * ATN SAB TV *

ATN Sony TV ATN Sony TV is a Canadian exempt Category B Hindi language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It broadcasts programming from SET Asia as well as Canadian content. ATN Sony TV is a general interest family entertainment chan ...

ATN Times Now ATN Times Now is a Canadian Category B English language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It broadcasts programming from Times Now Times Now is an English news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. ...

* ATN Zoom * Fairchild TV 2 HD * FPTV * Filmy * Mediaset Italia * Mediaset TGCOM 24 * MEGA Cosmos * New Tang Dynasty Television * SSTV * Telebimbi * TeleNiños * Travelxp * Univision Canada * ZEE Bollywood * Zee Cinema * Zee TV Canada * Zing

National news and sports discretionary services

English

= News

= * CBC News Network * CTV News Channel * The News Forum

= Sports

= * Sportsnet ** Sportsnet East ** Sportsnet Ontario ** Sportsnet Pacific ** Sportsnet West * Sportsnet One ** Sportsnet Flames ** Sportsnet Oilers ** Sportsnet Vancouver Hockey *

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

** TSN1 ** TSN2 ** TSN3 ** TSN4 ** TSN5

French

=News

= * Ici RDI * LCN

=Sports

= * RDS ** RDS2 * TVA Sports ** TVA Sports 2

Former exempted services

* Disney Channel *

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven ...

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

Stingray Hits! Stingray Hits is a Canadian French language music television channel owned by Stingray Group. The channel broadcasts music videos from pop, pop-rock, and dance hits primarily from current day's artists, along with past artists. The channel broadca ...

Former premium services

Crave __NOTOC__ Crave or Craving may refer to: Entertainment and media Companies and services * Crave (streaming service), a Canadian video-on-demand streaming service * Crave (TV network), a Canadian linear pay TV service operated in conjunction with ...

(Four multiplex channels) ** HBO Canada (East) *

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

(Two multiplex channels, now mostly former analogue cable services) ** Family Jr. * Super Channel (Four multiplex channels) ** Super Channel Fuse ** Super Channel Heart & Home ** Super Channel Vault ** Ginx TV Canada *

Super Écran Super Écran is a Canadian premium television network owned by Bell Media. It airs a mix of commercial-free films and television series. Films are primarily sourced from the United States and Canada, while the television series mostly consist of ...

* Starz (Two multiplex channels)

Exempted discretionary services

Services with less than 200,000 subscribers that would otherwise meet the definition of a discretionary service, and services which air 90% of their programming in a "third language (a language other than English,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, or those of Canadian aboriginal peoples), are exempted from formal licensing by the CRTC. They must still comply with standard conditions of license published by the CRTC, maintain a file with the Commission, and, if this is the basis of their exemption, pursue an application for licensing if they exceed 200,000 subscribers.

English

* AOV Adult Movie Channel * beIN Sports Canada *

The Cult Movie Network The Cult Movie Network is a Canadian-based English language online video-on-demand service consisting of programming devoted to cult films from a variety of genres, primarily horror, but also including fantasy, comedy, and action, among others. The ...

* Exxxtasy TV *

FEVA TV FEVA TV (acronym for ''First Entertainment Voice of Africa'') is a Canadian English language exempt Category B specialty channel owned by Wells Multimedia Entertainment Inc. FEVA TV broadcasts general entertainment programming aimed at those who ...

* Maleflixxx Television *

MAVTV Canada REV TV Canada is a Canadian English language exempt Category B specialty channel owned by REV Sports Entertainment Inc. The channel broadcasts programs related to motorsports and other automotive shows. History In May 2015, Anthem Sports & Enter ...

Stingray Country Stingray Country is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Stingray Digital. The channel broadcasts music videos relating to country music. History The channel launched on May 13, 2019 on Roku; later launching on Jan ...

* Stingray Juicebox *

Stingray Loud Stingray Loud is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Stingray Digital. The channel broadcasts music videos relating to rock, modern rock, alternative, punk, and heavy metal. History In November 2000, CHUM Limi ...

Stingray Retro Stingray Retro is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by the Stingray Group. The channel broadcasts music videos mainly from the 1970s to the early 2010s, with some music videos from the 1960s being played occasion ...

Stingray Now 4K Stingray Now 4K is a Canadian English language Category B television channel owned by Stingray Digital. The channel broadcasts music videos in 4K resolution (ultra-high-definition television) from various genres including pop, dance, hip-hop, in ...

* Stingray Vibe *

Toon-A-Vision Toon-A-Vision is a Canadian English language discretionary service television channel owned by Atlantic Digital Networks. The channel broadcasts in high definition and airs animated programming aimed at youth ranging from preschoolers to teenage ...

Vertical TV Vertical TV is a Canadian English language exempted Category B specialty channel that broadcasts religious programming dedicated to the Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic re ...

* Vintage TV * XXX Action Clips Channel

Third-language

* Abu Dhabi TV * Al-Nahar TV * Al-Nahar Drama * Al Resalah * All TV K *

ATN Aastha TV ATN Aastha is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). ATN Aastha broadcasts religious and spiritual programming in Hindi, Gujarati, and English, focusing mainly on the teachings and principles of Hinduism. Progr ...

ATN Alpha ETC Punjabi ATN Alpha ETC Punjabi (or simply ATN Punjabi) is a Canadian Punjabi-language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network. It broadcasts programming from India and Canadian content in the form of movies, news, dramas, comedies, and talk sh ...

ATN ARY Digital ATN Urdu is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It is a Urdu-language general entertainment network, airing programming that appeals to the entire family including comedies, serials, talk shows, music, relig ...

* ATN B4U Movies * ATN B4U Music * ATN Bangla * ATN Brit Asia TV * ATN Colors Bangla * ATN Colors Marathi * ATN DD Bharati * ATN DD Urdu *

ATN Gujarati ATN Gujarati is a Canadian exempt Category B Gujarati language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). ATN Gujarati broadcasts programming focused on family entertainment and culture. Programming includes talk shows, current a ...

* ATN IBC Tamil * ATN Jaya TV *

ATN Movies ATN Movies is a Canadian Category B Hindi language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). ATN Movies is a Bollywood film channel with a focus on family-oriented films. It airs blockbusters, modern classics and contemporary ci ...

* ATN MTV India * ATN News 18 * ATN PM One * ATN Punjabi 5 * ATN Punjabi News * ATN Punjabi Plus * ATN Rishtey * ATN Sikh Channel *

ATN Sony Aath ATN Sony Aath is a Canadian exempt Category B Bengali language specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It broadcasts programming from Sony Aath Sony AATH is an Indian Bengali-language general entertainment pay television ...

* ATN Sony Max * ATN Sony Mix * ATN Star Jalsha *

ATN SVBC ATN SVBC is a Canadian exempt Category B Telugu specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). It is the first Telugu channel in Canada and is currently available via Bell Fibe TV and Rogers Cable. ATN SVBC is a devotional Bhakti chan ...

* ATN Tamil Plus *

ATN Urdu ATN Urdu is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Asian Television Network Asian Television Network (ATN) is a publicly traded Canadian broadcasting company, with 54 television channels in 9 languages, serving the South Asian cultural c ...

* BBC Arabic * Big Magic International * Canada Chinese TV * Canada National TV *

CCCTV CCCTV is a Canadian Chinese-language specialty channel broadcasts programming in Cantonese and Mandarin and airs content from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the ju ...

Chakde TV Chakde TV is a Canadian exempt Category B Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is ...

* Channel 9 Canada *

Channel Punjabi Channel Punjabi is a Canadian exempt Category B Punjabi language specialty channel owned by Channel Punjabi Television Inc. Channel Punjabi broadcasts a variety of programming including news, music series, talk shows, religious programs, and sitc ...

* Channel Y * CTC International * Detskiy * Dream 2 * ERT World * Fairchild Television * FTV * First National * Greek Music Channel * Halla Bol! * HRT Sat * Hum TV * Iran TV Network * KHL-TV * LS Times TV * Melody Aflam *

Melody Drama Melody Drama ( ar, ميلودي دراما) was a Canadian exempt Category B Arabic language specialty channel and was owned by Ethnic Channels Group. It broadcast programming from Melody Drama as well as local Canadian content. Background Melod ...

Melody Hits Melody Hits ( ar, ميلودي هيتس) was a Canadian exempt Category B Arabic language specialty channel owned by Ethnic Channels Group. It broadcast programming from Melody Hits in addition to local Canadian content. Background The Canadi ...

* Momo Kids * Montreal Greek TV * NGTV * Nova World * OSN Ya Hala International * Prime Asia TV *

ProSiebenSat.1 Welt ProSiebenSat1 Welt (styled as P7S1 Welt as of January 2020) is a German-language television channel developed for North American audiences. The channel offers old and current programming selections from the commercial German television channels S ...

* PTC Punjabi * Rawal TV * RBTI Canada * Rotana Aflam * Rotana Cinema * Rotana Classic * Rotana Clip * Rotana Khalijiah * Rotana Masriya * Rotana Mousica * RTL Living * RTS Sat * RTVi * Russian Illuzion * SBTN * Schlager TV *

TET Tet or TET may refer to: Vietnam *Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year, Lunar new year *Tet Offensive, a military campaign during the Vietnam War that began in 1968 **Tet 1969 Geography *Têt (river) in Roussillon, France *Tét, ...

* Tamil One * Tamil Vision * The Israeli Network
Toronto 360 TV
* TVCentr International * TVP Info * TV Rain * Vanakkam TV * Win HD Caribbean * WOWtv * Zee 24 Taas * Zee Bangla * Zee Marathi * Zee Punjabi * Zee Salaam * Zee Talkies * Zee Tamil

References

{{reflist

Background

List of licensed discretionary services

Former Category A services

English

French

Third-language

Former Category B services

English

French

Third-language

National news and sports discretionary services

English

= News

= Sports

French

=News

=Sports

Former exempted services

Former premium services

Exempted discretionary services

English

Third-language

References

See also