This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0001081440 Reproduction Date:
Family Channel,[1] branded as Family since 1999, is a Canadian English-language Category A cable and satellite television channel that is owned by DHX Media. Originally positioned as a family-oriented network, by the late 1990s, Family had shifted its focus towards a predominantly youth audience, catering towards children and teenagers between 8 and 14 years of age[2] with mainly children's television series, as well as some theatrically-released and made-for-television movies targeted towards the demographic. The majority of Family's programming is sourced from the United States-based Disney Channel and its sister cable networks Disney Junior and Disney XD, although it has increasingly aired original, Canadian-produced programming.
Although it is licensed as a premium television service, the channel is carried on the basic tiers of most Canadian subscription television providers, and is also carried by Flow Cable in Jamaica[3] and on Cable Bahamas in The Bahamas.[4] Family is headquartered in the Brookfield Place office complex, near the Financial District of Downtown Toronto. It has transmitted from Corus Quay since at least 2014.[5]
As of March 2013, Family Channel is available to approximately 6 million pay television households in Canada;[6] it also has the highest total viewership among Canada's children's television channels.[7] It transmits three feeds: Eastern Time Zone feeds in both standard definition and high definition, and a Pacific Time Zone feed solely in standard definition.
Family Channel was licensed as a pay television service by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on December 1, 1987; it was originally operated as a joint venture between Allarcom Pay Television Limited (which was later acquired by Western International Communications, whose properties are now owned by Shaw Media - through its take over of Canwest Global - and the rest of WIC properties owned by Corus Entertainment) and First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation (the operators of fellow premium service First Choice, now known as The Movie Network, and by then a division of Astral Communications and now apart of Bell Media, with both companies owning a 50% stake in the service.[8]
The network officially launched on September 1, 1988 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time (in Eastern Canada) and Mountain Time (in Western Canada). During its first decade, Family Channel's programming format during this time mirrored that of then fellow premium service The Disney Channel in the United States, which has served as the primary source of Family's imported American programming since its launch. Family's programming lineup consisted mainly of domestic and foreign-imported live-action and animated series (with many of the imported series produced by The Walt Disney Company's television production units – Walt Disney Television, and eventually Touchstone Television, now ABC Studios), feature films from the Walt Disney Pictures library, classic films from other American and Canadian film studios, and specials (mostly concerts, documentaries and animated specials). At the time of its launch, Family Channel had broadcast for 16½ hours each day, from 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time.
Family was originally offered by cable companies as a standalone channel that required an additional monthly subscription fee. In October 1997, most domestic cable and satellite providers started offering the channel as part of a package with that year's wave of new specialty channels. While Family initially continued its "pay" format, including broadcasts of older Disney movies which would be repeated several times a month, it soon changed its programming practices to the point that it now operates as a de facto specialty channel, much like similarly themed channels such as YTV. However, in line with CRTC regulations for premium channels, the channel does not broadcast commercials, and does not interrupt most programs aside from running promotions for its programs and contests underwritten by a sponsor between shows (the latter being the only form of commercial advertising that the network airs).
On October 1, 1999, Family Channel underwent a significant rebranding, introducing a new logo – a lowercase "f" enclosed in a circle – to replace the "paint and sun" design used since the channel's launch. In 2000, Corus Entertainment acquired Western International Communications' stake in the service and subsequently sold it to Astral in 2001. By this point, Family – whose programming had been targeting a broader family audience throughout its schedule, save for some programs targeted mainly at children interspersed within its daytime lineup – began to target a dual audience: kids and teenagers during the daytime, and families at night. Gradually, though, the channel's programming shifted more towards children with feature films being the only family-oriented programming featured on the channel by the mid-2000s.
In February 2007, Family began airing short programs from Disney Channel (such as Disney's Really Short Report, Meet the Family and the Movie Surfers behind-the-scenes segments for Disney-produced films), alongside the channel's own interstitials such as music videos ("FamJam"), contest promotions, and movie interviews produced by now-former corporate sister The Movie Network. On July 1, 2007, Family became the last English-language children's network in Canada to switch to a 24-hour broadcast schedule. On January 11, 2011, Family debuted an updated logo and on-air identity to coincide with the launch of its new high-definition feed.[9]
On March 4, 2013, following the Competition Bureau's approval of Bell Media's acquisition of Astral Media, Bell announced that it would sell Family and five other channels (Disney Junior English and French, Disney XD, MusiMax and MusiquePlus), in an attempt to relieve concerns surrounding Bell's total market share in English-language television following the merger (Bell's original proposal, which would have included the networks, was rejected by the Bureau in 2012 as it would have given Bell a 42% share of the English television market).[10] Bell filed a new application for the proposed takeover with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on March 6, 2013;[11] the CRTC approved the merger on June 27, 2013,[12] with Family Channel and the other Astral channels that were put up for sale concurrently being placed in a blind trust held by businessman and former Montreal Canadiens president Pierre Boivin, pending their sale to a third-party.[13]
On November 28, 2013, DHX Media announced that it would acquire Family, the two Disney Junior channels, and Disney XD for $170 million. While the Halifax-based company already distributes and produces a large library of children's television series (particularly through its 2012 purchase of the Cookie Jar Group, which gave it ownership of the program libraries of Cinar and DIC Entertainment), the purchase marks DHX's first foray into broadcasting. DHX has indicated that it would leverage its resources and library to add more original, Canadian-produced programming to Family under its ownership.[7][14][15][16][17]
The acquisition of Family Channel and its sister networks by DHX was approved by the CRTC on July 24, 2014.[18][19] Under DHX ownership, the network is subject to new licensing conditions which require that at least 60% of the Canadian programming broadcast by the network on an annual basis be produced by companies other than DHX.[1] The acquisition was finalized on July 31, 2014, with Family and its sister networks becoming part of a newly formed division of the company known as DHX Television.[20]
On April 16, 2015, it was announced that Corus Entertainment had acquired Canadian rights to Disney Channel's programming library, which will migrate to a new Canadian version of Disney Channel. Corus stated that following the introduction of Disney Channel, it planned to re-launch Disney's other children's television brands in Canada under its own properties; DHX's current programming agreement with Disney will end in January 2016.[21]
As a result of these changes, Disney programming will be phased out of Family Channel's lineup, and DHX concurrently announced that Disney XD and the Disney Junior channels would re-align under the Family brand, re-branding as Family Chrgd, Family Jr., and Télémagino respectively. In addition, DHX announced that it would place a larger emphasis on new and returning original productions. The company reached new output deals with AwesomenessTV and Mattel for programming based off its properties across its networks.[21][22][23][24][25]
On June 9, 2015, it was announced that a new incarnation of Degrassi: The Next Generation, Degrassi: Next Class, would move to Family in 2016. The show is produced by Epitome Pictures, whom DHX had acquired in 2014.[26][27] The X Factor began airing on July 29, 2015.[28]
Family produces its own original programming, in addition to airing many series and original movies from the U.S. cable network Disney Channel, and some third-party programming (such as reruns of the now-defunct Australian series from Network Ten, The Elephant Princess). Though the majority of Family's international programming comes from Disney Channel and Disney Junior, some live-action series from the U.S. channel Nickelodeon have aired on Family Channel in the past (for example, Family held the Canadian rights to now-defunct Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Zoey 101, initially airing in the form of first-run episodes and continuing to air on the channel in reruns until early 2012), this occurred even as YTV strengthened its programming ties with Nickelodeon during the 2000s; Nickelodeon's programming has now largely migrated to YTV (and its sister channel Nickelodeon Canada).
The channel also broadcasts some original programming from Disney Channel's U.S. sister network Disney XD; the network previously aired programs from the network on its regular schedule until April 2012, when Pair of Kings became the last Disney XD series to move exclusively to Family's Canadian sister channel of the same name; Family later launched a block featuring various Disney XD series in 2014.
As it is a premium service, Family does not air traditional commercial advertising, nor does it air commercial breaks during most programs. The network does air promotions in between programs, and in some cases during programs, for its own programming and sponsored contests, along with interstitial segments such as FamJam (which airs teen pop music videos), similar segments sourced from Disney Channel. and prior to its sale to DHX, features on upcoming family films produced by former sister The Movie Network. The network also utilizes an "off-the-clock" schedule for programs airing during the early morning hours, with series airing during that period running in timeslots of 23–27 minutes (usually concurrent with the program's original runtime without commercials or promos included) with limited promotions between them.
In addition to carrying original series and movies sourced from Disney Channel, Family also commissions its own original programming. Past and present original programs include:
The channel also airs films, which air without commercial or promotional interruption, typically on weekends (with one to two films each on Friday and Saturday evenings, and an additional movie during the early afternoon hours each Saturday and Sunday). Films aired in these timeslots consist of either made-for-TV films produced by Disney Channel or older theatrically released feature films (from studios such as Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group). As it is licensed as a premium service, all films aired on Family are given parental advisories by either the Canadian motion picture rating system or the Canadian TV Classification System (ratings from the latter system are also applied to series that air on the channel) that are shown prior to the start of the feature. Films aired on Family consist of G, PG and some 14A-rated movies; no films with rated 14+ and above for non-theatrically released films or 18A and above for theatrically released films are broadcast on the channel.
While it broadcasts original movies produced by Disney Channel, up until 2010, Family Channel had not produced or distributed its own original made-for-television films. Family commissioned its first original movie, Vacation with Derek, a movie based on the popular original series Life with Derek, which premiered on the channel in June 2010. In addition, Family Channel has also been involved in one other made-for-TV film co-production, the 2010 film 16 Wishes, which was co-produced in association with Disney Channel and Marvista Entertainment. "Special edition" airings of some of the network's movies (mainly higher-profile original movies from Disney Channel) are also sometimes aired, including sing-along versions of music-based films (featuring on-screen lyrics for viewers to sing along with the film's songs) and "What's What" editions (styled similarly to Pop-Up Video, featuring behind-the-scenes trivia that is overlaid onto the film being broadcast, such as Vacation with Derek).[38]
Family Jr. is a multiplex service of Family Channel that features programs aimed at a preschool audience. It originally launched on November 30, 2007 as the Playhouse Disney Channel,[41] and was re-launched as Disney Junior on May 6, 2011, following the launch of the brand in the United States earlier that year.[42] On September 18, 2015, due to Corus Entertainment's acquisition of rights to Disney's children's programming and brands, the channel was re-branded as Family Jr.[43][44]
Because Family is licensed as a premium service, which allows for the addition of multiplex channels that are consistent with the programming requirements designated by the network's licence, no additional licence was required to launch the service. Existing subscribers of Family are automatically eligible to receive Family Jr. free of charge, subject to carriage by their television service provider; however, it is not available on a standalone basis. The use of Family's existing licence also allows the service to compete with the preschooler-targeted specialty channel, Treehouse TV, despite the format protection guidelines for specialty channels enforced by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. This is so, because Family's nature of service is to broadcast programming targeted toward "youth to age 17," in which case, a preschool audience would qualify.[45]
A French-language version of the channel, now known as Télémagino, was launched on July 5, 2010 as Playhouse Disney Télé; it also changed its name to Disney Junior on May 6, 2011 to coincide with the rebranding of the English channel. Unlike the English-language Family Jr., Télémagino operates under a separate Category B license.
Family Chrgd (pronounced "charged", stylized Family CHRGD) is a Category 2 digital cable and satellite television channel as a spin-off of Family Channel that features programs aimed towards males aged 6–14. It originally launched on June 1, 2011 as Disney XD.[46] Its future lineup will feature new seasons of its original slate, in addition to new shows produced by DHX subsidiaries and other studios (such as the aforementioned Fangbone!), as well as new program supply agreements with Mattel.[44] The re-branding took effect on October 9, 2015.[47] Unlike Family Channel, an English-language version of the channel, Family Jr. and a French-language version of the channel, Télémagino, Family Chrgd operates as an advertiser-supported service.
'Vacation With Derek' will be ... in a pop-up version, that means you will get to see all of the behind the scenes facts and trivia from filming.
Canada, Cookie Jar Group, Astral Media, Degrassi (franchise), FilmFair
Disney Channel, Disney XD, Nickelodeon, Playhouse Disney, American Broadcasting Company
Canada, DHX Media, Disney XD, Disney Channel, Teletoon
Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, American Broadcasting Company, Mtv, Disney XD
Disney Channel, Canada, Portugal, Germany, United Kingdom
Télétoon, Teletoon Retro, Corus Entertainment, Johnny Test, Cartoon Network (Canada)