It was launched on October 17, 1997 by a consortium of Western International Communications, Astral Media, Shaw Communications, Cinar and Nelvana. Later on, Astral Media acquired WIC's shares of Teletoon in 2000 while Shaw spun off its media assets to form Corus Entertainment who acquired Nelvana that same year. Corus became the sole owner of Teletoon in 2013 following Bell Media's acquisition of Astral Media. From that point on, Teletoon airs some its selected original programming alongside imported programming from U.S.-based Cartoon Network, a localized version of which Corus had launched the year prior.
Teletoon operates two timeshift feeds running on Eastern and Pacific schedules. Along with its French-language counterpart Télétoon, it is available in over 7.3 million households in Canada as of November 2013.[1]
History
In 1997, Teletoon was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)[2][3] after a related application for a channel to be called "Fun TV" had been denied.[4] The channel was launched on October 17, 1997,[5][6] with the first episode of Caillou called “Caillou Makes Cookies” as a first show/episode to air.[7] At the time, it used the subtitle The Animation Station with It's Unreal! as its slogan, and It's Time To Twist! as its short lived slogan from 1999 to 2000, similar to how The Comedy Network did the slogan Time Well Wasted from 1997 to 2011. The latter slogan has been used during the channel's pre-launch[8] but it would be rarely used again until 1998. In 2000, it would become the channel's only slogan.[9]
On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced that they would buy Astral's stake in Teletoon and take full ownership of the channel. The purchase was in relation to Bell Media's takeover of Astral (which had earlier been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012, but was restructured to allow the sale of certain Astral Media properties in order to allow the purchase to clear regulatory hurdles).[11] Corus's purchase was cleared by the Competition Bureau two weeks later on March 18;[12] on December 20, 2013, the CRTC approved Corus's full ownership of Teletoon[13] and ownership was transferred on January 1, 2014.[14] The channel continues to be owned by Teletoon Canada, now wholly owned by Corus Entertainment under its Corus Kids division.[15][16]
Teletoon's license originally required that 90% of all programs on the channel be animated.[17] Teletoon previously aired preschool-oriented programming, which was day-parted from 4:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.[18]
In 2013, after Astral Media's stake in TELETOON Canada Inc. was purchased by Corus Entertainment, several of Teletoon's original and acquired shows began airing on YTV. In turn, Teletoon began airing anime series that aired on YTV, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, beginning with Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal II, and Pokémon, beginning with XY and reruns of Pokémon: Advanced.[19][20][21]
Since its inception, Teletoon has acquired numerous television series from the U.S.-based Cartoon Network and its late night block, Adult Swim. From September 1, 2015 to Fall 2016, original programming from the American channel was moved over to its Canadian counterpart.[22] Around the same time, several "retro" programs airing on Teletoon Retro, which closed down on the same date, began airing on Teletoon.[23] Teletoon would also premiere new original programming from Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang.
On April 1, 2019, following the relaunch of Action as a full-time Adult Swim channel, Teletoon's adult-oriented programs were moved to Adult Swim; with Teletoon shifting to family-oriented programming.[24]
Original series
At its inception in 1996, the channel had a stated goal of producing 78 half-hours of original content every year, and it has been active in commissioning programming since then.[25] The licence granted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1996 required a gradual increase in the portion of Canadian programming on the schedule by about five percent each year starting from 40% in its first year of operation to 60% by 2002.[17] In 1998, network management decided to focus on renewals instead of new shows—adopting a more cautious strategy than launching a significant number of new series, as it had in the prior year.[26] By 2001, however, the station was noted as possibly being the Canadian channel with the highest spending on original production, having invested in 98 series, including 225 half-hour episodes that fall season.[27]
Years of use
As a bilingual service, Teletoon/Télétoon maintains two separate broadcast feeds, with a single licence for the English and French-language channels. It is one of only two Canadian specialty services with such a licence.[28] At the original licensing hearing before the CRTC, the network's operators had stated that the two channels "would be similar in nature and programmed with a similar attitude towards them. But for the reasons of rights availability, for the reasons of the question of advertising to children in Québec and for the reason of dealing with the differences in the market, there might be variations in the services offered."[17] To this end, the station implemented a requirement that all original programming be delivered in both languages.[29] By 2007, however, this condition had been relaxed to apply "whenever possible",[30] and over the following years some original series were only shown on one of the channels.
Notable programming blocks
Original blocks – Initially, Teletoon's programming was divided into dayparted blocks, each featuring a different style of animation. Each blocks were represented as planets:[31] Morning Planet for Preschoolers (claymation animation; 5:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. EST), Afternoon Planet for Kids (2D cel animation; 3:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.), Evening Planet for Family (collage animation; 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. EST) and Night Planet for Adult (papier-mâché animation; 9:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. EST). The bumpers were made by Cuppa Coffee Studios. This branding would be discontinued in August 1998.[32]
Teletoon Unleashed! – launched in 2000, Teletoon Unleashed! was an adult-oriented block of the channel; it co-existed with The Detour on Teletoon until the block merged with it in 2004. It was known for airing every show with an 18+ rating to attract an adult audience, regardless of whether the program actually contained adults-only material or not. It was discontinued in 2004 due to lack of new content, since 90% of the material were shows with a limited amount of episodes, leading to frequent rerun. It was also found that The Detour on Teletoon and Unleashed! attracted a similar mixed audience of teens and adults, hence the amalgamation.
Teletoon Retro – Teletoon Retro was the branding and block for classic animated programming. It was later spun into a digital channel, which also featured several live-action series. The channel launched on October 1, 2007, and closed on September 1, 2015. Two years later, Companies Committed to Kids shuttered.
Can't Miss Thursdays – A block for first-run programming premieres that aired on Thursday nights. The block later featured live-action, hosted segments.[33]
Superfan Fridays – A block showcasing comic book-related and action-oriented animated series.[34]
Branding history
From 1998 to 1999, Teletoon was airing bumpers with its first mascot, "Teletina".[35][36] These bumpers were made by Spin Productions in Toronto. Several more bumpers using CGI animation made by Guru Studio[37] subsequently premiered on the channel. An updated look for the channel was unveiled, along with a new logo,[38] for a partial rebranding in 2005.[39]
Related services
On November 24, 2000, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved multiple applications from Teletoon Canada Inc. to launch six Category 2 television channels named Teletoon Action, Teletoon Adult, Teletoon Art, Teletoon Multi, Teletoon Pop and Teletoon Retro.[40] None of the channels launched and their broadcast licenses expired on November 24, 2004.[41] The Teletoon Retro concept would later be revived under a different license.
On November 4, 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved an application from Teletoon to launch Teletoon Kapow!, a Category Bdigital cable and satellite channel devoted "programming from international markets, featuring the latest trends in non-violent action, adventure, superheroes, comedy and interactivity."[42] On February 2, 2012, Teletoon announced that it would launch a local Cartoon Network channel in Canada.[43] It debuted using the Teletoon Kapow! license on July 4, 2012.[44]
As of September 1, 2015, Cartoon Network operates under the broadcast license originally granted for Teletoon Retro.[45] Corus then had the Teletoon Kapow! license revoked on October 2, 2015.[46]
Launched in September 2002 as "The Detour on Teletoon", the block is an amalgamation of it and "Teletoon Unleashed", an adult programming block. Its French counterpart, Télétoon la nuit, airs on the Francophone Télétoon channel. In September 2009, the block was relaunched under its current name with an overhaul of its appearance.
In March 2019, with the pending launch of the Adult Swim channel on April 1, 2019, it was announced that the block would be discontinued.[48]
Some of the assets listed above are majority-owned, wholly-owned, by Corus Entertainment, or are under license. Refer to full asset list for detailed information.
