History (Canadian TV channel)

History was launched on October 17, 1997, as History Television under the ownership of Alliance Atlantis. Through various ownership changes, the channel adopted its current name in 2012, with the History branding used under a licensing agreement with A+E Networks.


The channel operates two time-shifted feeds: East (Eastern Time) and West (Pacific Time). The West Coast feed was launched on September 1, 2006.

History[edit]

Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on September 4, 1996, as The History and Entertainment Network, the channel was originally owned by Alliance Atlantis Communications and launched as History Television on October 17, 1997.


On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media bought Alliance Atlantis and gained AAC's interest in History Television. On October 8, 2009, Canwest launched a high definition simulcast of History Television.^[1] History Television HD initially only had one national feed operating from the Eastern Time Zone. It is available through all major TV providers in Canada.


On October 27, 2010, ownership changed again as Shaw Communications gained control of History Television as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media.^[2][3] On May 30, 2012, Shaw Media announced that History Television would be rebranded as a Canadian version of U.S. cable channel History on August 12, 2012, through a wider licensing agreement with A+E Networks. Fellow Shaw network, The Cave, was also rebranded as a Canadian version of spin-off network H2.^[4][5]


On April 1, 2016, History and its sister channel H2 were sold to Corus Entertainment.


An HD feed for the network in western Canada was launched on September 18, 2019.


In January 2022, the network converted its imaging to the current American logo introduced in the fall of 2021, and like the American network, it uses "History" and "The History Channel" interchangeably.