Action (Canadian TV channel)

Action (formerly known as Showcase Action) was a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was established as a spin-off of Showcase focused on action genre films and television series. Following a rebrand in 2009, the channel would eventually shift to general-interest, male-targeting programming.

Action
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerCorus Entertainment
Sister channelsShowcase
History
LaunchedSeptember 7, 2001
ClosedApril 1, 2019
Replaced byAdult Swim
Former namesShowcase Action (2001–2009)

The channel was first launched on September 7, 2001; it was shut down on April 1, 2019, at midnight ET and was replaced by Adult Swim.

History

In November 2000, Showcase Television Inc., a division of Alliance Atlantis, was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called Action Television, described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service devoted to action movies and series primarily driven by a fast-paced fictional plot featuring car chases, explosions, special effects, or martial arts."[1] The channel launched on September 7, 2001, as Showcase Action,[2] a spin-off of another Alliance Atlantis television channel, Showcase. Showcase Action's slogan, on-air and in advertising, was "Get Some."

On January 18, 2008,[3] a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media,[4] acquired control of Showcase Action through its purchase of Alliance Atlantis' broadcasting assets, which were placed in a trust in August 2007.[5] The channel was renamed Action on August 31, 2009.[6] On October 27, 2010, ownership changed once again as Shaw Communications gained control of Action as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media.[7][8]

In 2011, Action would begin airing two original programs, The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour and Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will, both of which were cancelled after one season.[9] By this time, Action's programming would begin to diverge from its format and incorporate reality shows acquired from U.S. network TruTV. Another original series, But I'm Chris Jericho, starring Canadian-born professional wrestler Chris Jericho, premiered as a webseries in 2013 on Action's YouTube channel. But I'm Chris Jericho would later be acquired and renewed for a second season by CBC Television's digital outlet CBC Comedy.[10]

Showcase Action logo used until 2009

On May 1, 2015, an HD feed of Action was launched. During this time, the channel was made available as a free preview.[11]

On April 1, 2016, Action's parent company Shaw Media was sold to Corus Entertainment.

On March 4, 2019, it was announced that Corus would launch a Canadian version of Adult Swim on April 1, 2019, replacing Action under its license, and marking the first time that the brand has been used for a 24-hour channel. The channel launched with a two-month free preview on linear television, and an on-demand free preview to the end of 2019. Cartoon Network and Teletoon concurrently dropped their respective adult programming blocks (Adult Swim and Teletoon at Night) to accommodate the new channel.[12]

References
  1. Decision CRTC 2000-675 CRTC 2000-12-14
  2. CTV, Score Media Challenge New Specialty Channel Applications Archived May 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine The Wire Report 2010-06-03
  3. Canwest Global receives final CRTC approval for acquisition of Alliance Atlantis CNW press release 2008-01-18
  4. Goldman's happy ending at CanWest The Globe and Mail 2010-05-03
  5. CanWest Completes Acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Archived 2012-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Investor Point 2007-08-15
  6. Showcase Action Unveils its Fall 2009 Programming Highlights Archived May 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Channel Canada 2009-07-26
  7. Shaw Communications closes purchase of Canwest TV assets, rebrands as Shaw Media Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
  8. CRTC approves Shaw’s purchase of the Canwest Global television properties Archived 2013-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour and Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will -- Coming to Action This July". Showcase.ca. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011.
  10. Ore, Jonathan (2017). "From TV to wrestling, Chris Jericho is the king of the comeback". CBC News. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  11. http://media.shawmedia.ca/uploadedfiles/shawmedia/content/insidetrack/2015/04_23/action_free_preview.pdf
  12. First Ever 24-Hour Adult Swim Channel Coming to Canada This Spring Newswire 2019-03-04
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