Food Network (Canadian TV channel)


Food Network, formerly called Food Network Canada, is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the American cable network of the same name. It airs programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry. The Canadian version of Food Network is a joint venture between Corus Entertainment and the American network's parent company Television Food Network, G.P..

History

The American Food Network was available in Canada since 1997 and became one of the more popular foreign cable channels available in Canada. This prompted the creation of a Canadian version which would then be able to access ad revenue through commercials under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations. Corus Entertainment and Alliance Atlantis launched the channel on October 9, 2000.
The licence for Food Network Canada was approved by the CRTC in early 2000. The channel was launched in October of that year; on the day of the launch, the American service was removed from the list of foreign channels eligible to be broadcast in Canada.
On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media bought Alliance Atlantis and gained AAC's interest in Food Network.
On October 27, 2010, ownership changed again as Shaw Communications gained control of Food Network as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media. On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced the sale of its 22.58% ownership interest in Food Network to Shaw Media, in exchange for Shaw's 49% stake in ABC Spark. The sale closed in April 2013.
On April 1, 2016, Shaw Media was subsumed into Corus as part of a corporate reorganization, which made it the majority owner once more.

Food Network HD

On October 5, 2011, Shaw Media launched Food Network HD, a 1080i high definition simulcast of the standard definition feed. It is available through all major TV providers.