Family Channel (Canada) — BrandWiki

Family Channel (Canada)

Overview

Family Channel

launch date	September 1, 1988
closed date	October 23, 2025
picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
owner	Allarcom Pay Television Limited (1988–1999) Corus Entertainment (1999–2001) Astral Media (1988–2013) Bell Media (2013–2014) WildBrain (2014–2025)
parent	WildBrain Television Inc.
country	Canada
headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
language	English
area	Nationwide (previously available in the Bahamas until September 2020, and in Jamaica up until its closure in October 2025)
sister channels	Family Jr. Télémagino WildBrainTV
timeshift service	Family Channel East Family Channel West
website	Family

Family Channel (commonly or simply known as Family) was a Canadian English-language specialty channel. Owned by WildBrain, it primarily broadcast children's television series, teen dramas, films, and general entertainment programming targeting a family audience. Its headquarters were located at Brookfield Place in the Financial District of Toronto.

The channel launched on September 1, 1988, as a premium television service, operating as a joint venture between Allarcom and First Choice Communications—the parent companies of fellow premium services Superchannel and First Choice. After subsequent acquisitions, by 1999 the network had become a joint venture of Corus Entertainment and Astral Media. In 2001, Corus traded its stake in Family to Astral for its stake in The Comedy Network, giving it full ownership. In 2013, Astral was in turn acquired by Bell Media, which would divest Family and its related properties to DHX Media (now WildBrain).

From its launch until 2015, Family maintained an output agreement with the American cable network Disney Channel, making it the Canadian broadcaster of its original series

History

Early history

Family Channel was licensed as a premium 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 and First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation (owners of the premium services Superchannel and First Choice respectively), with both companies owning a 50% stake in the service.[1] The channel's founding president was Susan Rubes, the founder of Young People's Theatre, who used the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival to promote it.[2] 60% of its launch programming was sourced from Disney Channel.[3] Other content included Canadian series (25% of the content) such as The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Backstreet Six. The remaining 15% consisted of classic Hollywood movies and European imports. Broadcasts started on September 1, 1988.[4] Four months after launch, the channel had 200,000 subscribers.[5]

In 1993, Astral Media acquired a controlling stake in First Choice.[6] In October 1999, as part of the split of Western International Communications (which had acquired Allarcom), its stake in Family Channel was sold to Corus Entertainment.[7] In March 2001, in response to concerns from the CRTC over Corus' near-monopoly position in children's specialty channels (accounting for its stakes in YTV, Treehouse, and Teletoon), Corus traded its stake in Family Channel to Astral Media in exchange for its stake in The Comedy Network for $126.9 million, giving them full ownership.[8]

On January 11, 2011, Family launched a high-definition simulcast, and concurrently introduced an updated logo and on-air presentation.[9]

Sale to DHX Media (2013–2014)

In March 2013, following the Competition Bureau's approval of Bell Media's acquisition of Astral Media, Bell announced that it would divest Family and its sister networks, among other assets, in order to reduce the market share it would hold in the English-language television market following the completion of the sale.[10] The CRTC approved the sale on June 27, 2013,[11] with Family Channel and its related networks concurrently placed in a blind trust held by businessman and former Montreal Canadiens president Pierre Boivin, pending their sale to a third-party.[12] As of March 2013, Family Channel was available to approximately six million pay television households in Canada.[13]

On November 28, 2013, DHX Media (now WildBrain) announced that it would acquire Family and its sister networks for $170 million.

Removal of Disney Channel programming rights and programming changes (2015–2025)

On April 16, 2015, it was announced that Corus Entertainment had acquired Canadian rights to Disney Channel's programming library, and that it would launch a Canadian version of Disney Channel on September 1, 2015. DHX's programming agreement with Disney expired in January 2016.[23] As a result of these changes, Disney programming was removed from Family Channel's lineup throughout the remainder of 2015, and its sister Disney Junior and Disney XD-branded networks were rebranded as Family Jr., Télémagino on September 18, and Family Chrgd (now WildBrainTV) on October 9.[24][25] Corus would also launch new Disney Junior and Disney XD

Closure

On December 18, 2024, WildBrain announced that it would sell a two-thirds majority stake of its television operations (including Family Channel) to IoM Media Ventures, a Halifax-based company founded by former WildBrain CEO Dana Landry.[34]

In April 2025, WildBrain stated that it would be renegotiating aspects of the agreement, citing factors such as a decision by Bell Canada to not renew its carriage agreements for WildBrain's channels, pulling them from their lineup on May 20.[35][36][37]

On August 25, 2025, WildBrain announced that it was unable to renew its carriage agreements with Rogers Cable, and announced plans to close all of its specialty channels (including Family) in the near future, stating that the decline of its carriage agreements meant the channels no longer had most of their value and were "no longer commercially viable".[38]

Vrak.TV

Along with Family, Vrak launched on September 1, 1988 as Le Canal Famillie, which started as a French-language version of Family Channel and its competitor network, YTV. In 2001, the channel was renamed to Vrak.TV. On July 5, 2013, due to the acquisition of Astral by Bell Media, Vrak.TV was separated from Family. In 2014, it rebranded as Vrak, while launching a new program block called Vrak2. In 2016, the channel changed its demographic to the 13–35 age group due to the success of its Vrak2 block.

On August 16, 2023, Vrak and Z were removed from Vidéotron, the company that made the original channel it was based on over 40 years earlier, whilst Bell removed Yoopa from all of their TV services a day later. Yoopa shut down on January 11, 2024, and was replaced with a telecast version of its parent company's QUB Radio channel.

Two days later on August 18, 2023, Bell Media announced that the channel would be closing on October 1, 2023, owing to "challenges" in the broadcasting sector, lack of viewers and regulatory affairs deemed "outdated" by Bell Media.[50] On September 25, the CRTC confirmed it had revoked Vrak's licence at the request of Bell Media,[51] with the channel shut down on October 1, 2023.

Family Jr. and Télémagino

On November 30, 2007, Family launched Playhouse Disney Channel, a separate channel featuring programming aimed at a preschool audience, based on Disney's Playhouse Disney brand. Subject to carriage, the multiplex channel was made available at no additional charge to television providers and subscribers who receive its parent network.[52] It was rebranded as Disney Junior on May 6, 2011, following the launch of the brand in the U.S earlier that year.[53] On September 18, 2015, due to Corus Entertainment's acquisition of rights to Disney's children's programming and brands, the channel was rebranded as Family Jr.[54][55]

As Family was licensed as a premium service, it is allowed to operate multiplex channels that carry additional programming consistent with its licensing and nature of service.[56]

WildBrainTV

On June 1, 2011, Family launched a Canadian version of Disney XD under a separate license. It rebranded as "Family Chrgd" on October 9, 2015.[57][58] It was renamed once more to WildBrainTV on March 1, 2022.