In June 2001, CHUM Limited was given approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launch a national category 2 specialty channel known as "The Drive-In Channel", with programming described as being centred on "Drive-In B movies and series, as well as occasional magazine-style shows focusing on the genre". The channel was launched only three months later, on September 7, 2001 at 9:00 p.m. EST under the name "Drive-In Classics", which focused on showing primarily films from the B movie genre, focusing on films popular at the drive-in theatres in the 1950s to 1970s, and a number of television series including The Hilarious House of Frightenstein and . Programming on Drive-In Classics were organized into themes including: Martial Arts Mondays - fight-themed movies, Western Wednesdays - Western movies, Steamy Windshields - teenage-themed movies, Horror Marathon - horror films and Salem's Lot, various films picked by host Rob Salem, which was ended on August 30, 2009. In July 2006, Bell Globemedia announced that it would purchase CHUM for an estimated $1.7 billionCAD, included in the sale was Drive-In Classics. The sale was approved by the CRTC in June 2007, with the transaction completed on June 22, 2007. On July 14, 2009, CTVglobemedia announced the sale of Drive-In Classics and to Corus Entertainment for $40 million CAD. Before the sale was approved, Corus announced in late September that they planned to rebrand the channel, but did not give any specific details regarding the rebranding. The sale was approved by the CRTC on November 19.
As Sundance Channel
On December 8, Corus announced that Drive-In Classics would be rebranded as a Canadian version of Sundance Channel on March 1, 2010 under an agreement with the American channel's owner, AMC Networks, which would not own any stake in the Canadian channel. The channel was rebranded on March 1, 2010 as planned, focusing its programming on independent films, documentaries, scripted drams and comedies, and musical performances. In February 2018, a notice was posted on Sundance Channel's website that the channel was closed on March 1, 2018. Shortly after this, the channel space that was created by Drive-In Classics in 2001 simply ceased to exist. The CRTC revoked the channel's broadcast license on March 27, 2018.
Programming
Includes former programming as of December 2014. Acquired from SundanceTV
Telus has announced on their website that they will carry the HD feed of Sundance Channel. Shaw Direct and Bell TV never launched it in time due to the channel's closure.
