TLN is a CanadianEnglish-languagespecialty channel owned by TLN Media Group, a consortium owned by three prominent Italian Canadian families and network president Aldo Di Felice. The channel primarily broadcasts lifestyle programming surrounding the Hispanic and Italian cultures, including cooking and travel-related programs, as well as coverage of international soccer, and mainstream television series and films. TLN previously broadcast in a trilingual format, carrying programming in the Italian, Spanish, and English languages. This trilingual format was later phased out with the launch of sister digital cable channels dedicated solely to Italian- and Spanish-language programs.
History
On October 23, 2007, TLN launched TLN en Español, a Category BSpanish languagegeneral entertainment channel. On June 5, 2012, TLN launched a high definition simulcast of its Eastern feed. In April 2018, the network introduced a new marketing campaign, Colour Your Life, to signal a shift in focus for the channel to include "all lovers of the mainstream cultural lifestyle" in addition to existing viewers, after having phased out its foreign-language programs in favour of more lifestyle programming relevant to Italian and Spanish culture. Corus Entertainment previously owned a 50.5% majority share in Telelatino Network; in 2019, it sold its interest to TLN's existing partners and Di Felice for $19 million.
Programming
The network primarily airs programming related to Italian and Spanish cultures, including travel and cuisine. TLN broadcasts a substantial amount of soccer programming, airing Serie A matches since 1984. After some years without Serie A broadcast, TLN secured the rights to air all matches between 2018 and 2021. and UEFA Champions League matches involving Italian and Spanish teams from 2002 to 2009. In 2009, TLN secured the rights to the UEFA Europa League to become the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of this tournament through to 2012. TLN has also broadcast the last three editions of the Copa América, FIFA World Cup, and UEFA European Football Championship. In 2006, TLN partnered with CBC Sports to sub-license rights to FIFA tournaments, including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, as the CBC was recently awarded the broadcast rights to various FIFA tournaments. Additionally, the TLN networks also hold the exclusive Canadian rights to Mexican Primera Division soccer, including games broadcast over the Univision networks in the U.S. In late 2015, TLN began showing games played by the Canadian national team for both 2018 World Cup qualification cycle and 2016 Olympic Qualifying tournament.
From its inception up until mid-2003, TLN's Italian programming was derived primarily from RAI, Italy's state owned broadcaster, which made a commitment in 1984 to supply programming to Canada through TLN for as long as TLN was licensed in Canada. A dispute arose in 2003 when the head of RAI's international channel, decided to repudiate RAI's supply obligations as well as its 2001 agreement to launch a 24-hour RAI Canada channel, in favour of challenging Canada's regulatory regime by indicating that it wanted to deliver RAI programming through its own international channel on its own terms without restriction and not through TLN or through any Canadian programming partner. Later in the same year, RAI pulled its content from TLN and petitioned the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to allow it to broadcast RAI International in Canada. This effort was backed by Rogers Communications, who sponsored RAI's application to get on the CRTC's approved list. After initially being rejected by the CRTC in 2004 in strong terms, RAI International was eventually approved by the CRTC in the spring of 2005 and began broadcasting in June 2005. After RAI International was launched in Canada, TLN began airing programming from Mediaset.
