Category A services
A Category A service is a Canadian specialty television channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, must be carried by all digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers that have the capability to do so. Also, no rival company may launch a channel with the same programming format.
Category A services are an amalgamation of the former analog pay and specialty services licensed prior to digital television (with the exception of general interest national news and sports specialty services which are designated as Category C services) and the former category 1 digital specialty channels. In a policy decision released on October 30, 2008, the CRTC decided that all Category 1 digital services as well as all analog pay and specialty channels would be renamed Category A services, effective September 1, 2011.[1]
Category A services share a number of similar regulations, such as format protection, mandatory carriage, and higher Canadian content quota levels than Category B services.
The following is a list of all Category A services currently available in Canada:
Category A specialty services
English
Former analog services
- Bravo
- Business News Network
- CMT
- CP24
- CPAC (English feed)
- Discovery Channel
- DTOUR
- E!
- Food Network
- HGTV
- History
- M3
- MTV
- MuchMusic
- OLN
- OWN
- Showcase
- Slice
- Space
- Sportsnet 360
- Teletoon
- The Comedy Network
- The Weather Network
- Treehouse TV
- VisionTV
- W Network
- YTV
Former Category 1 digital services
- BookTelevision
- Cottage Life
- Crime + Investigation
- documentary
- Fashion Television
- Fyi
- G4
- H2
- ichannel
- IFC
- MTV2
- One
- OUTtv
- The Biography Channel
- Travel + Escape
French
Former analog services
- Canal D
- Canal Vie
- CPAC (French feed)
- Évasion
- Historia
- Ici ARTV
- MétéoMédia
- MusiMax
- MusiquePlus
- Séries+
- Télétoon
- TV5 (Two multiplex channels)
- VRAK.TV
- Ztélé
Former Category 1 digital services
Multicultural
Former analog services
Category A pay services
English
Former analog services
- Encore Avenue (Two multiplex channels)
- Encore Avenue 2
- Family (Two multiplex channels)
- Movie Central (Four multiplex channels)
- HBO Canada (West)
- Movie Central 2
- Movie Central 3
- The Movie Network (Five multiplex channels)
- HBO Canada (East)
- MExcess
- MFest
- MFun!
- The Movie Network Encore (Two multiplex channels)
- The Movie Network Encore 2
Former digital services
- Super Channel (Four multiplex channels)
- Super Channel 2
- Super Channel 3
- Super Channel 4
French
Former analog services
- Super Écran (Four multiplex channels)
- Super Écran 2
- Super Écran 3
- Super Écran 4
See also
- List of television stations in Canada by call sign
- List of Canadian television networks (table)
- List of Canadian television channels
- List of Canadian specialty channels
- Category A services
- Category B services
- Category C services
- List of foreign television channels available in Canada
- List of United States stations available in Canada
- Digital television in Canada
- Multichannel television in Canada
- List of Canadian stations available in the United States
- List of television stations in North America by media market