Crime & Investigation (stylized as Crime + Investigation) is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. It is a licensed version of A&E Networks' U.S. channel of the same name, and airs true crime programming from the libraries of A&E, and off-network reruns of police procedural and crime dramas from the libraries of Global and Showcase, with the latter a departure from most C+I-branded networks throughout the world.
 | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Corus Entertainment (Mystery Partnership)[a] |
| Sister channels | History History2 Lifetime Showcase Adult Swim DejaView MovieTime ABC Spark W Network CMT |
| History | |
| Launched | September 7, 2001 |
| Former names | Mystery (2001-2007) Mystery TV (2007-2014) |
| Links | |
| Website | Crime + Investigation Canada |
The network was originally launched on September 7, 2001 as Mystery under a joint partnership between Canwest, Rogers Media and Groupe TVA, that is devoted to police drama to thrillers, suspense and reality programming. Through mulitiple ownership changes over the years, this channel was relaunched to its current name in 2014.
History
editThe channel was licensed as 13th Street by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on November 24, 2000, to Canwest (45.05%), Groupe TVA (45.05%) and Rogers Communications (9.9%). Before the channel's launch, both Canwest and Groupe TVA acquired Rogers' shares in the service equally. The channel was described as "a national English-language Category 1 specialty television service devoted to mystery and suspense programming. The service will nurture and encourage short form Canadian mysteries. It will provide a wide assortment of genre-specific programs including movies, television series, short films and documentaries that will focus exclusively on the delivery of entertaining programming on suspense, espionage and classic mysteries."[1]
The channel was launched as Mystery on September 7, 2001. TVA, Canwest and Rogers also owned the same shares of its French counterpart, Mystère, which would become wholly owned by TVA before launch. The channel was rebranded as Mystery TV in 2007, though the channel was still referred to as "Mystery" on-air.
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On October 27, 2010, Shaw Communications completed its acquisition of Canwest, giving it control of Canwest's 50% interest in Mystery TV.[2] On December 22, 2011, Groupe TVA announced its intentions to sell its share of Mystery TV and The Cave to Shaw Communications, giving Shaw full control of these two channels.[3] The deal was approved by the CRTC on April 25, 2012.[4]
In June 2014, Shaw Media announced that Mystery TV, along with sister network Twist TV, would be rebranded as Canadian versions of Crime & Investigation and FYI, respectively, under a licensing agreement with A&E Networks.[5] They were the fourth and fifth networks to be rebranded after History Television, Showcase Diva and The Cave were rebranded as Canadian versions of History, Lifetime and H2 respectively in 2012.[6] It launched on November 3, 2014.[7][8]
Notes
edit- ^ branding licensed from A&E Networks
References
edit- ^ Decision CRTC 2000-449 CRTC 2000-12-14
- ^ Shaw Communications closes purchase of Canwest TV assets, rebrands as Shaw Media [dead link]
- ^ TVA selling two specialty channels to Shaw Media; financial terms not disclosed Archived July 20, 2012, at archive.today
- ^ Decision CRTC 2012-238 CRTC 2012-04-25
- ^ Shaw Media announces fall lineup, pushes new dramas on Global
- ^ "Shaw Media and A&E to Launch Two New Specialty Channels". Broadcaster Magazine. May 30, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
- ^ "SHAW MEDIA LAUNCHES TWO DYNAMIC NEW CHANNELS TO CANADA'S LEADING LINEUP OF SPECIALTY BRANDS". June 4, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
- ^ "Shaw Media's Mystery TV Rebrands to Crime + Investigation". October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2014.