View source for BBC Canada

{{Short description|Former Canadian television channel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name           = BBC Canada
| logo           = BBC Canada logo.svg
| logo_size      = 250px
| logo_alt       =
| launch_date    = {{Start date|df=yes|2001|9|7}}, 23 years ago
| closed_date    = {{End date|df=yes|2020|12|31}}, 4 years ago
| replaced_by    = [[BBC First (Canadian TV channel)]]
| owner          = [[Corus Entertainment]] (80%, managing partner)<br />[[BBC Studios]] (20%)<br />(Jasper Broadcasting Inc.)
| picture_format = [[1080i]] [[HDTV]]<br />(downscaled to [[letterboxed]] [[480i]] for the [[SDTV]] feed)
| country        = Canada
| language       = English
| area           = Nationwide
| headquarters   = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]
| website        = 
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'''BBC Canada''' was a Canadian English language [[specialty channel]] that mostly broadcast television series originally produced by the [[BBC]], the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom. The channel was owned by [[Corus Entertainment]] (80% & managing partner) and [[BBC Studios]] (20%).

==History==
[[Alliance Atlantis]] (AAC) was granted a [[broadcast licence]] for a [[Category 2 speciality service]] covering "entertainment, drama and documentary programming". BBC Canada, by the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) in November 2000.<ref name="bbccan-licence" /> Alliance also received licenses for channels including [[National Geographic (Canadian TV channel)|National Geographic]], [[IFC (Canadian TV channel)|IFC]], and The Health Network, launched as [[FYI (Canadian TV channel)|Discovery Health]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dixon |first1=Guy |title=Alliance Atlantis reels in Salter Street Films: Deal for Halifax production firm expands stable of specialty channels and programs |work=The Globe and Mail |date=13 February 2001 |location=Toronto ON |page=B1}}</ref> The [[television channel|channel]] was launched on 7 September 2001 as a [[joint venture]] between AAC and BBC Worldwide.

To promote the launch of BBC Canada's 2007 fall season, a 16-page British-style tabloid insert called the ''BBC Telly'' was published in the ''[[Toronto Star]]''. Toronto-based Pilot PMR created the campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediaincanada.com/2007/09/17/bbcmag-20070917/|title=BBC Telly hits Toronto streets with tabloid-style promo » Media in Canada|work=mediaincanada.com|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-date=12 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512224526/http://mediaincanada.com/2007/09/17/bbcmag-20070917/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 28 January 2008, a [[joint venture]] between [[Canwest]] and [[Goldman Sachs Capital Partners]] known as CW Media bought Alliance Atlantis and gained AAC's interest in BBC Canada. On 27 October 2010, the channel's ownership changed once again as [[Shaw Communications]] gained control of BBC Canada as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media.<ref>[http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/article.jsp?content=b4951353 Shaw Communications closes purchase of Canwest TV assets, rebrands as Shaw Media]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2010/r101022.htm CRTC approves Shaw’s purchase of the Canwest Global television properties] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220233335/http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2010/r101022.htm |date=20 December 2013 }}</ref>

On 13 May 2011, BBC Canada was separated from the now-defunct children's channel [[BBC Kids]] due to its ownership changing hands to [[Knowledge Network]].

On 1 April 2016, Shaw Media was sold to [[Corus Entertainment]]. BBC Canada also earned several sister networks to go with the existing ones.

In a notice to subscribers posted in early November 2020, Corus sister company [[Shaw Direct]] indicated that the channel would be shutting down on 31 December 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shawdirect.ca/english/support/article/12745/|title=December 31 <nowiki>|</nowiki> BBC Canada cease broadcasting|publisher=[[Shaw Direct]]|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109200259/https://www.shawdirect.ca/english/support/article/12745/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2021, [[Blue Ant Media]], a company owned by former Alliance Atlantis executive [[Michael MacMillan]] which already owns [[BBC Earth (Canadian TV channel)|the Canadian version of BBC Earth]], announced that its [[BBC First (Canadian TV channel)|HIFI]] channel would be rebranded as a [[BBC First (Canadian TV channel)|Canadian version]] of the BBC's international entertainment channel brand [[BBC First]] on March 16. Several programs that had been carried by BBC Canada prior to its closure, including ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'' and ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]'', were picked up by BBC First.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/bbc-first-canada-launch-top-gear-graham-norton-the-office-1234909279/|title=BBC Studios, Blue Ant Media Team to Launch BBC First Channel in Canada (EXCLUSIVE)|first=Naman|last=Ramachandran|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=March 3, 2021|accessdate=March 3, 2021|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513060648/https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/bbc-first-canada-launch-top-gear-graham-norton-the-office-1234909279/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Programming==
{{Main|List of programs broadcast by BBC Canada}}
While BBC Canada was part-owned by the BBC, not all of the BBC's programmes aired on BBC Canada. In general, while BBC Worldwide and its affiliated operations have a "first look" at the corporation's output, this right only applies so long as BBC Worldwide pays no less than what the BBC Commercial Agency, which is at [[arm's length]], judges to be a particular property's value.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmcumeds/24/2406.htm|title=Report on BBC Commercial Operations|author=Culture, Media and Sport Committee|author-link=Culture, Media and Sport Committee|date=25 March 2009|access-date=13 May 2013|archive-date=8 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708130741/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmcumeds/24/2406.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, while BBC Canada served a similar purpose to the [[BBC America]] channel available in the United States, there are also significant differences between the programming rights owned by the two channels.

This meant that much of the BBC's output (and, for that matter, BBC America's original programming) aired on other Canadian channels which have either co-produced the programmes or simply bid more for the Canadian broadcast rights. Conversely, many of the British series that did air on the channel are not sourced from the BBC, with some having originally been produced by or aired on other British channels, such as the privately owned [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] or the independent public-service broadcaster [[Channel 4]].

Despite its British focus, BBC Canada was licensed as a Canadian channel and was not exempt from the CRTC's broadcasting regulations that required it to carry a quota of [[Canadian content]]. This meant that in addition to British programmes, it also broadcast a number of Canadian series, which according to the channel's licence were required to "explore or [be] informed by Canada's relationship to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth".<ref name="bbccan-licence">[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2000/DB2000-484.htm Decision CRTC 2000-484] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107041800/http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2000/DB2000-484.htm |date=7 November 2015 }}, CRTC, 24 November 2000</ref> Canadian programmes that aired on the channel included repeats of ''[[Disaster DIY]]'' and ''[[Holmes Inspection]]''. In the early 2010s, the channel began airing American series featuring British personalities, such as the American version of the [[Gordon Ramsay]] programme ''[[Kitchen Nightmares]]'' (it has also in the past carried the British parent series ''[[Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares]]''), and repeat airings of the American dramas ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and ''[[Elementary (TV series)|Elementary]]'' (each of which has a British actor in the lead role).

Many of the channel's programmes, whether British, American or Canadian, were shared with other Corus Entertainment channels such as the [[Global Television Network]], [[Showcase (Canadian TV channel)|Showcase]], [[HGTV (Canadian TV channel)|HGTV Canada]] and [[Food Network (Canada)|Food Network Canada]].

BBC Canada did not ordinarily carry [[BBC News]] programming, as the [[BBC World News]] channel is also widely available in Canada, and BBC News also has a long-standing content-sharing agreement with the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]. On the rare occasions that BBC Canada did carry news coverage, coverage may have been produced by Corus-owned [[Global News]] instead of the BBC, such as with the [[wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shawmediatv.ca/press/read/?1456|title=SHAW MEDIA CELEBRATES THE YEAR'S MOST TALKED-ABOUT WEDDING WITH LIVE, ON-THE-GROUND REPORTING AND HOTLY ANTICIPATED PREMIERES|author=Shaw Media|author-link=Shaw Media|date=29 March 2011|access-date=14 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919062032/https://www.corusent.com/media-centre/brands/|archive-date=19 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==BBC Canada HD==
In October 2016, Corus Entertainment launched BBC Canada HD, a [[1080i]] [[high-definition television|high definition]] simulcast of the [[standard-definition television|standard definition]] feed.  The HD feed was only available on [[Telus TV|Telus Optik TV]] and [[Shaw Direct]]. The HD simulcast was shut down on 31 December 2020.

==Related properties==
Apart from the television channel, BBC Worldwide directly operates a BBC Canada Shop website which sells merchandise related to [[British television series]] such as ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', ''[[Little Britain (TV series)|Little Britain]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

==See also==
* [[BBC]]
* Other BBC-associated television channels available in Canada:
** [[BBC News Arabic]] - news service in Arabic operated under licence by Ethnic Channels Group 
** [[BBC Earth (Canadian TV channel)|BBC Earth]] – factual programming channel operated under licence by [[Blue Ant Media]]
** [[BBC Kids]] – now-defunct children's channel majority-owned by [[Knowledge Network]]
** [[BBC World News]] – distributed directly as a permitted foreign channel
** [[BritBox]] – cross-genre British TV streaming service jointly owned by BBC Studios, [[ITV plc]] and [[AMC Networks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.bbccanada.com}}-''{{Dead link|date=July 2022}}'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20210224181609/http://bbccanada.com/ archived website]
*[http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/specialty/bbc-canada BBC Canada] - [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]

{{Corus Entertainment}}
{{BBC Television}}
{{Public broadcasting in Canada}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Canada}}
[[Category:Defunct specialty television channels in Canada]]
[[Category:International BBC television channels]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 2001]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020]]
[[Category:Former Corus Entertainment networks]]
[[Category:English-language television stations in Canada]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:2020 disestablishments in Canada]]
[[Category:BBC Worldwide]]
[[Category:Defunct BBC television channels]]