YTV (TV channel)


YTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its programming consists of original live action and animated television series, movies, and third party programming from the U.S. kids channels Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, as well as other distributors. YTV operates two time shifted feeds, running on both Eastern and Pacific Time Zone schedules. It is available in over 11 million Canadian households as of 2013.
The "YTV" moniker was originally thought by some viewers to be an abbreviation for "Youth Television"; however, the channel's website has denied this, despite the fact that the network originally branded itself as a youth network at launch.

History

The channel was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1987. Launched on September 1, 1988, at 7:00 p.m. EST with a preview special by John Candy, YTV was the successor to two prior special programming services operated by various Ontario cable companies beginning in the late 1970s. The two largest shareholders in YTV were two cable companies, Rogers Cable and CUC Broadcasting, which was later acquired by Shaw Communications. By 1995, through various acquisitions and trades, Shaw had secured full control of YTV; it was spun off as part of Corus Entertainment in 1999. The channel continues to be owned by YTV Canada, now wholly owned by Corus Entertainment under its Corus Kids division.
In 1998, YTV began to use a Nickelodeon-style "gross-out" factor in its branding, with much less slime, and began using the slogan "Keep It Weird". Over the years, YTV used a number of different on-air logos, featuring the same arrangement of white letters on various bizarre and imaginative creatures. The logo used on production credits features this arrangement on a red screen of a stylized purple television set.
Two Corus specialty channel applications for YTV extensions, YTV POW!, an internationally sourced kids' action, adventure and superhero genre, and YTV OneWorld, targeting children from age 6 to 17 with travel, humour, games, and STEM were approved on September 18, 2008. The YTV Oneworld license was used to launch Nickelodeon Canada.
In the fall of 2005, a new post-6:00 p.m. advertising style was developed for older audiences, which used a much simpler logo and sleeker packaging with reduced gross-out tactics. In the spring of 2006, the simple logo first appeared on YTV's promos and even appeared on credits of newer original programming. In 2007, this look was adopted for the entire channel. In September 2009, the logo was changed slightly: it featured new colours, and the background was simplified. Variations to the bumpers were reduced. Instead, there are large, opaque digital on-screen graphics telling viewers which programs are coming next, and promotions of the programs. In September 2012, the logo was changed aesthetically.
In 2013, after Corus Entertainment completed their acquisition of the TELETOON Canada Inc. networks, YTV began airing reruns of select Teletoon programming, including original and acquired series. In turn, some programs that aired on YTV were moved to Teletoon.
On October 6, 2014, the channel underwent a brand refresh, with new graphics and bumps created by Eloisa Iturbe Studio. In addition, the channel updated its logo by having it face upwards to the left instead of directly to the audience.

Programs of note

British sitcoms

In its early years, YTV filled its schedule with obscure acquired programs. British sitcoms were used to fill prime time slots, and remained on the channel's late night schedule for well over a decade, including the North American premiere of Red Dwarf and the improv TV series Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Programs such as Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, and Yes Minister were broadcast in late night time slots, and aired free of time and content edits. However, in 2003 when YTV began marketing its late night hours towards older youth viewers, it decided to remove the remaining shows from the schedule.

''Power Rangers''

In 1993, YTV obtained the Canadian broadcast rights to the action-adventure series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which aired weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings on the channel, trailing the American broadcast by several months. However, complaints were sent to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council about the violent content, and YTV was pressured to remove the series from its lineup. Although not a member of the CBSC board, YTV complied and pulled the series before the end of its first season.
Even though commercials for Power Rangers toys and videos were shown on YTV, Fox became the primary broadcaster of the series in Canada. Through its program distribution agreement with Nickelodeon U.S., the Power Rangers franchise began airing on YTV's sister channel Nickelodeon Canada with the debut of Power Rangers Samurai; that series later began airing on YTV on May 7, 2011, effectively bringing the franchise back to the channel that had previously barred it.
In fall 2014, following both Corus Entertainment's full acquisition of the TELETOON Canada Inc. networks and YTV's addition of select Teletoon programming, the Power Rangers franchise moved to Teletoon.

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''

In 1997, YTV premiered the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer one week before it began airing concurrently in the United States on The WB.
YTV's broadcast continued even after Buffy the Vampire Slayer moved to UPN in the United States, not only making the U.S. broadcast more widely available in Canada, but also gradually leading to a notable increase in violent and sexual content. For its entire run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired before the Canadian watershed of 9:00 p.m. EST. The only exception was the season six episode "Seeing Red", which premiered at 9:00 p.m. EST in 2002 due to extreme content.

''Farscape''

In 1999, YTV broadcast the North American debut of the TV series Farscape, but in 2000 it did not acquire the rights to the second season; as a result it skipped the cliffhanger finale in the first season.

Anime

YTV hosted the North American broadcast premiere of Sailor Moon in August 1995. The final 17 episodes of Sailor Moon R were dubbed specifically for the Canadian market. TV series such as Dragon Ball and Pokémon were broadcast on the channel as well. In 2000, YTV broadcast Gundam Wing, airing an edited version of the series at 11:30 p.m. EST on weeknights.
In 2004 the anime block, Bionix, was created. It aired Friday nights and included various anime, such as Inuyasha, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and '.
On September 29, 2006, YTV announced that it had applied to the CRTC for permission to launch a Category 2 English language specialty channel called The Anime Channel'. The proposal included minimum 85% animated and related programming and maximum 15% information-based programming, targeted at adults over the age of 18. A meeting with the CRTC was held on November 14, 2006. On January 30, 2007, CRTC approved the application for the licence to run until August 31, 2013. The licence allowed the channel to allocate not less than 65% of the broadcast year to anime programs, not more than 35% of the broadcast year to anime-related programs, not less than 85% of the broadcast year to programming from categories 7, 7 and 7, with no more than 15% of the broadcast year dedicated to information-based programs. Corus Entertainment failed to launch this channel within the required 36-month period and did not apply for an extension.
Between the end of "Limbo" and the beginning of "Bionix", YTV launched the Anime Master forum. The Anime Master character is portrayed as a red-suited masked ninja, dubbed in the voice of YTV's robotic mascot, Snit, and has made a few guest appearances in The Zone and Vortex'' segments. Live action hosts have also done interviews in Anime North, most of the guests being voice actors for popular animated shows on the channel. The interviews were shown in the live action segments between programmes. On July 19, 2008, Bionix was moved from Friday night to Saturday night, where it aired from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. In September 2009, YTV moved the Bionix block to Sunday nights, where it aired from 12:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. EST. On February 7, 2010, the Bionix block was discontinued.
On September 2, 2014, following both Corus Entertainment's full acquisition of the TELETOON Canada Inc. networks and YTV's addition of select Teletoon programming, the channel's remaining anime programming was removed, and no anime titles have aired on YTV since.

Programming

YTV's schedule primarily features both children and teen-oriented programming, with target audiences ranging from children to young adults. At the upper end of this range are repeats of dramas such as Smallville. It aired a significant number of British sitcoms during late nights, such as My Family, but these have been dropped. It was the first channel to air the first completely computer-animated series ReBoot, and it broadcast the North American premiere of Sailor Moon. While some of its shows are targeted at a younger audience, others are intended for older teenagers, with some of the shows dealing with mature content and adult themes.
While it produces or commissions a substantial portion of its programming, YTV also acquires and airs most of the original series broadcast by the similar American services Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, which was not available in Canada until Corus launched domestic versions of the channels on November 2, 2009 for Nickelodeon and July 4, 2012 for Cartoon Network.

Programming blocks

Current programming blocks

Prior to the mid-1990s, YTV called their program jockeys "PJs" in the same vein as disc jockey or video jockey. Current hosts of these segments have since dropped the moniker as of the mid-1990s.

Current program jockeys

The Zone and The Zone Weekend are co-hosted by Spencer Litzinger and Tyra Sweet.

Past program jockeys

Current

YTV HD

On January 11, 2011, Corus Entertainment launched a high-definition feed called "YTV HD", which simulcasts the East Coast standard definition feed. The channel broadcasts in the 1080i picture format and is available through all major service providers.

YTV On Demand

YTV On Demand is a VOD service of YTV. It offers episodes of various TV series aired on YTV.

Treehouse

Treehouse is a Category A cable and satellite specialty channel which airs programming targeted to preschoolers. It launched on November 1, 1997. The channel's name is taken from YTV's now-defunct children's programming block, The Treehouse. Treehouse is carried nationwide throughout Canada and it broadcasts its programming without commercial interruption.

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is a Category B cable and satellite specialty channel that was launched on November 2, 2009, and is based on the U.S. cable channel Nickelodeon. Like its counterparts in the U.S. and elsewhere, Nickelodeon airs programs aimed at children, including both live action series and animation.

Former

Vortex on Demand

In July 2005, Corus Entertainment partnered up with Comcast Corporation to launch a cable video-on-demand service called "Vortex on Demand" in the United States. The deal consisted of 393 30 minute animation TV series from the Nelvana library; it aired programs such as Cadillacs & Dinosaurs and Medabots. The service was discontinued in mid-2007.

Bionix On Demand

In 2008, Corus Entertainment began offering a video-on-demand service called "Bionix On Demand" to Canadian cable providers. Rogers Cable and Shaw Cable were the only providers to offer the service. The service offered older and newer anime programs that did not air on YTV itself. The video-on-demand service was previously titled "YTV Anime On Demand". Bionix On Demand was discontinued on December 17, 2009, and was replaced by YTV On Demand.

YTV GO

YTV GO was a TV Everywhere mobile app available on the App Store and Google Play Store. It was available at no extra charge to all subscribed customers of Access Communications, Bell TV, Cogeco, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Telus, and VMedia. It offered episodes of various programming from YTV. The app operated between September 2015 and May 1, 2019.

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