DTour (styled as DTOUR) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

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

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

. The channel was originally established by

Canwest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

in 1997 as Prime, a cable companion to

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

with a general entertainment format focusing on classic series and programming acquired from Global and CH. In 2006, the channel was re-branded as TVTropolis, carrying a similar format but with a focus on contemporary sitcoms and dramas from the 1980s and 1990s, as well as pop culture-themed programs. Adopting its current branding in 2013, DTour largely drew its acquired programming from the U.S.-based

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

, while also airing limited general-interest programing. In March 2025, the channel dropped Travel Channel programming and quietly retreated to a focus on contemporary dramas and sitcoms.

History

As Prime and TVTropolis

The channel was launched as Prime on October 17, 1997, under the ownership of

. 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) licensed Prime in 1996 as a specialty television service directed towards men and women 50 years of age and older. However, the channel did not explicitly market itself as a channel for the "

baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

" generation, preferring instead to position itself as a general entertainment channel. Prime's slogan, on-air and in advertising, was "Canada's Entertainment Network". Prime's schedule featured a mix of general interest television programs, including home improvement and design series, along with classic television series. With the launch of sibling channel

DejaView DejaView is a Canadian English language specialty television channel owned by Corus Entertainment. It primarily airs television shows from the 1970s to 2010s. The channel's name is a play on the phrase Deja Vu. History In November 2000, Global ...

in 2001, (showing similar programming to Prime, that being classic television programs from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s), the channel's focus shifted to shows from the late 1980s and beyond. On June 1, 2006, Prime was rebranded as TVTropolis, which initially focused on sitcoms and dramas from the 1980s and 1990s (such as ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' and ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'', branded under the slogan ''Hit TV Lives Here''). Additional series focused on television

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

(such as ''

Inside the Box ''Inside the Box'' is a Canadian television game show that debuted on September 18, 2006, on the cable network DTour, TVtropolis, and was Television syndication, syndicated in the United States by Program Partners in the 2008 television season ...

'' and ''

FANatical ''Fanatical'' is a Canadian half-hour documentary television series produced by Peace Point Entertainment Group and currently airs on TVtropolis and DejaView. FANatical explores the motivations and activities of people involved with the fandom ...

''). Over time, the channel lessened its emphasis on scripted shows and reverted to a general entertainment format; focusing on reality series, game shows (including original series '' Wipeout Canada''), and lifestyle series with little emphasis on pop culture. On October 27, 2010,

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

purchased Canwest after it had entered into creditor bankruptcy protection in late 2009. As a result, Shaw acquired control of Canwest's stake in TVtropolis and rebranded Canwest as

Shaw Media Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice (TV channel), Slice ...

. On January 14, 2013, Shaw announced that it would purchase the remaining interest in TVtropolis from

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

for $59 million, bringing its total to 100%.

As DTour

On June 5, 2013, at its annual upfront, Shaw conspicuously removed any reference to TVtropolis in announcing its fall programming plans, while announcing a "new" lifestyle channel named DTour (stylized as ''DTOUR'').DTOUR - Overview
Shaw Media. Retrieved 2013-08-14. It was later confirmed through a Telus update to subscribers that DTour would be launched as a rebranded TVtropolis on August 26, 2013. The channel initially focused on travel, leisure, and

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

programming, much of which imported from the American cable network

(then-owned by

Scripps Networks Interactive Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) was an American mass media company, which was formed on July 1, 2008, and acquired by and merged into Discovery Communications on March 6, 2018. It was formed in 2008, through the spin-off of the E. ...

, which at the time jointly owned the Canadian versions of

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

and

DIY Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery in partnership with Chip and Joanna Gaines, the founders of lifestyle company Magnolia. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics ...

with Shaw). On April 1, 2016, Shaw Media was sold to

. In March 2025, DTour quietly dropped

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 ...

-owned factual programming and reverted back to a general entertainment format, focusing on contemporary dramas and sitcoms such as '' All American'' (whose first-run episodes moved from sister network Showcase to DTour), ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'', and ''Two and a Half Men''.

Programming

DTour currently airs a mix of dramas and

sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

from the 2010s and late-2000s, including library programs previously aired by

and Showcase. As Prime and TVTropolis, the channel has aired vintage and classic television shows, animated series, reality series, game shows, and other general entertainment programming.

Logos

File:Primetv.svg, Logo as Prime (1997–2006) File:TV Tropolis Logo.svg, First logo as TVtropolis (2006–2013) File:Tvtropolis logo.svg, Second logo as TVtropolis (2011–2013, only used on commercials) File:Dtour Logo.svg, Logo as DTour (2013–present)

References

External links

* {{Corus Entertainment Specialty television channels in Canada Television channels and stations established in 1997 1997 establishments in Canada Corus Entertainment networks English-language television stations in Canada