Canadian HD Specialty Channels (Post #19)

[TVJunkie5]

To keep up with the ever changing world of HDTV, I thought I would put together a list of all the Canadian specialty channels currently in HD and ones that are possibly coming soon.

CANADA


AVAILABLE

APTN HD S
CBC Newsworld HD S
Discovery HD Canada
Encore Avenue HD
Equator HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
HBO Canada HD
HBO Canada HD West
Leafs TV HD S
Movie Central HD
Mpix HD
National Geographic Channel Canada HD S
Oasis HD HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
Raptors NBA TV HD S
Rogers Sportsnet East HD S
Rogers Sportsnet Ontario HD S
Rogers Sportsnet Pacific HD S
Rogers Sportsnet West HD S
Rush HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
Showcase HD S
Super Channel HD 1
Super Channel HD 2
The Score HD S
The Movie Network HD
Treasure HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
TSN HD
TSN2 HD

FRENCH

ArTV HD
Canal D HD S
Canal Vie HD S
Evasion HD S
Historia HD S
Mystere HD
RDI HD
RDS HD
Séries+ HD S
Super Écran HD S
TV5 HD S
VOX HD
VRAK.TV HD S
Ztélé HD S


YET TO LAUNCH

AOV Jalapeño Heat HD (Adult)
BNN HD
Baseball TV HD
Bold TV HD
Book Television HD
Bravo! HD
CP24 HD
Discovery Channel Canada HD
Game TV HD
Comedy Network HD
Court TV Canada HD
CTV News Channel HD
Documentary Channel HD
eScapes
Family HD
Fashion Television Channel HD
Food Network Canada HD
GolTV Canada HD
Green Channel HD
Green Planet HDTV
Grown Up Living HD
HGTV Canada HD
History Television HD
MovieTime HD
MTV Canada HD
MTV2 Canada HD
MuchMusic HD
MuchMore HD
OLN HD
Planet Green HDTV
Scream HD
Slice HD
Space HD
Star! HD
Teletoon HD
Travel + Escape HD
WFN HD
Wild TV HD

FRENCH

LCN HD
MusiquePlus HD
MusiMax HD
RIS HD
Télétoon HD

HIGH FIDELITY HDTV

BabyHD
Clash HD
Crafts & Hobbies HD
Centre Stage HD
Eureka! HD
Senior’s Life HD
Aqua HD
Women’s Sports HD
Gameworld HD
Horror HD

S- Simulcast

[TVJunkie5]

Anyone else notice that there seem to be more French specialties that are launching HD versions than English specialties?! There are another two channels- TV5 HD & Evasion HD launching in June yet as my list above shows there are many English ones that have yet to launch- what gives??

There are several popular specialties that should have already launched, I don't understand the reason for this as these are not entirely new channels they are simply high definition simulcasts of the SD channel. The programming is pretty much the same and has to be as per CRTC regulations. The following channels should have already launched IMO and hopefully they will soon:

Comedy Network HD
Family HD
Food Network Canada HD
HGTV Canada HD
Scream HD
Space HD

[cablecanada07]

To keep up with the ever changing world of HDTV, I thought I would put together a list of all the Canadian specialty channels currently in HD and ones that are possibly coming soon.

CANADA


AVAILABLE

APTN HD S
CBC Newsworld HD S
Discovery HD Canada
Encore Avenue HD
Equator HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
HBO Canada HD
HBO Canada HD West
Leafs TV HD S
Movie Central HD
Mpix HD
National Geographic Channel Canada HD S
Oasis HD HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
Raptors NBA TV HD S
Rogers Sportsnet East HD S
Rogers Sportsnet Ontario HD S
Rogers Sportsnet Pacific HD S
Rogers Sportsnet West HD S
Rush HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
Showcase HD S
Super Channel HD 1
Super Channel HD 2
The Score HD S
The Movie Network HD
Treasure HD Canada HIGH FIDELITY HDTV
TSN HD
TSN2 HD

FRENCH

ArTV HD
Canal D HD S
Canal Vie HD S
Historia HD S
Mystere HD
RDI HD
RDS HD
Séries+ HD S
Super Écran HD S
VOX HD
VRAK.TV HD S
Ztélé HD S


YET TO LAUNCH

AOV Jalapeño Heat HD (Adult)
BNN HD
Baseball TV HD
Bold TV HD
Book Television HD
Bravo! HD
CP24 HD
Discovery Channel Canada HD
Game TV Canada HD
Comedy Network HD
Court TV Canada HD
CTV News Channel HD
Documentary Channel HD
eScapes
Family HD
Fashion Television Channel HD
Food Network Canada HD
GolTV Canada HD
Green Channel HD
Green Planet HDTV
Grown Up Living HD
HGTV Canada HD
History Television HD
MTV Canada HD
MTV2 Canada HD
MuchMusic HD
MuchMore HD
OLN HD
Planet Green HDTV
Scream HD
Slice HD
Space HD
Star! HD
Teletoon HD
Travel + Escape HD
WFN HD
Wild TV HD

FRENCH

Evasion HD
LCN HD
MusiquePlus HD
MusiMax HD
RIS HD
Télétoon HD
TV5 HD

HIGH FIDELITY HDTV

BabyHD
Clash HD
Crafts & Hobbies HD
Centre Stage HD
Eureka! HD
Senior’s Life HD
Aqua HD
Women’s Sports HD
Gameworld HD
Horror HD

S- Simulcast

is green planet and planet green are the same???

[Randi]

is green planet and planet green are the same???

Ultimate Indie Productions Inc. applied for Green Planet (See Channel Canada article here). They did ask for both SD and HD channels.

As far as I know, Planet Green is a U.S. channel.

[Tripster]

And for comparison .. the US HD channel list ...

• ABC HD
• ABC Family HD
• AMC HD
• A&E HD
• Animal Planet HD
• BET HD
• Big Ten Network HD
• Bio HD
• Bravo HD
• Cartoon Network HD
• CBS HD
• CBS College Sports Network HD
• CMT HD
• CNBC HD
• CNN HD
• Comedy Central HD
• CW HD
• Chiller HD
• The Church Channel HD
• Discovery Channel HD
• Disney Channel HD
• Disney XD HD
• E! HD
• ESPNHD
• ESPN2HD
• ESPNews HD
• ESPNU HD
• Fuel HD
• Food Network HD
• Fox Business HD
• Fox HD
• Fox News HD
• FX HD
• G4HD
• Hallmark Movie Channel HD
• HDNet
• HDNet Movies
• HD Theater
• The History Channel HD
• HGTV HD
• JCTV HD
• Lifetime Movie HD
• Lifetime HD
• MGM HD
• MSNBC HD
• MTV HD
• National Geographic Channel HD
• NBA TV HD
• NBC HD
• NFL Network HD
• NHL Network HD
• Nick HD
• Outdoor Channel HD
• Palladia (formerly MHD)
• PBS HD
• RFD TV HD
• Sci Fi HD
• The Science Channel HD
• Smile of a Child HD
• Smithsonian Channel HD
• Soapnet HD
• SonBeam Channel HD
• SPEED HD
• Spike HD
• Style Network HD
• TBS HD
• Telemundo HD
• Tennis Channel HD
• The Golf Channel HD
• 3ABN HD
• 3ABN Latino HD
• TLC HD
• TNT HD
• Travel Channel HD
• TBN HD
• TBN Enlace USA HD
• Universal HD
• USA HD
• Versus HD
• VH1 HD
• WFN HD
• Wealth TV HD
• WGN America HD
• The Weather Channel HD
• The Worship Network HD

Pretty much every cable network there is now HD. Canada is far behind.

• HBO HD
• Max HD
• Movie Channel HD
• Showtime HD
• Showtime Too HD
• Starz HD
• Starz Comedy HD
• Starz Edge HD
• Starz Kids and Family HD

HBO has their entire suite in HD, as is Cinemax.

• Channel 4 San Diego (San Diego Padres)
• Altitude Sports and Entertainment (Denver)
• Comcast SportsNet HD (Bay Area, Chicago, Mid-Atlantic [Baltimore/Washington], New England, Northwest [Portland], Philadelphia, and West [Sacramento])
• FSN HD
• MSG Network in HDTV (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania)
• NESN HD (New England area)
• YES-HD (New York Yankees)
• SportsNet New York (New York Mets)
• SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland Indians)

[musimax]

Granted, the list only includes the Canadian HD channels, we have access to some US HD channels as well, but yeah I agree, we are behind in launching our own HD channels.

Why there is no RIS HD yet, I don't know. RIS is a popular channel, it's making money and it's a sports channel which seems to be demanded channels for HD.

And Space seems like a natural fit for an HD channel. Also History Television; for a channel that is apparently the most popular channel for Canwest and overall one of the most popular channels, it seems like it would be a channel they would want to go HD.

[TVJunkie5]

Pretty much every cable network there is now HD. Canada is far behind.

Technically those are HD simulcasts and not all of the programming aired on these channels is in HD but I see your point.

Why are CDN broadcasters so behind in launching HD- too expensive or they don't care enough about it to make it a priority?!

[Tripster]

Technically those are HD simulcasts and not all of the programming aired on these channels is in HD but I see your point.

Why are CDN broadcasters so behind in launching HD- too expensive or they don't care enough about it to make it a priority?!

I think in the US it is thanks to much more competition between channels, whereas here there are basically 2 corporations owning pretty much everything.

Granted some channels aren't full time HD in the US but many on that list are, I've seen them. History, TNT, USA, MGM HD, etc. are now almost full time HD. SciFi has a lot of HD.

The point being, the content is out there now and it is time the Canadian specialties stepped up to the plate and offered at least the core group in HD. Channels such as Space, History, Animal Planet, etc. should have been offered in HD by now. The Discovery suite stateside has almost all their sub channels in HD, including Science Channel which is one channel I wish we had here since TLC long ago abandoned that genre of programming.

It is probably also a capacity issue since Shaw/Cancom isn't willing to lease too much transponder space to be able to offer all that in HD. A switch to MPEG4 and replacing some SD feeds with HD downres feeds might help some.

I'd really like to see Fox Movies, MGM, Universal and HDNet Movies carried in Canada too. Also AMC HD is now available so since it an approved channel it should be here, along with BET HD, CNN HD, Spike HD, etc.

The BDUs need to get on the ball.

[TVJunkie5]

I say once a channel launches an HD version, the SD version should be discontinued leaving only the HD one. Why do you need to carry two different versions of the same thing- that is why BDU's have no room. Is this a CRTC requirement or if they want can they shut down the SD channel?! I am sure they could down convert the HD channel to SD for the specialties who are still broadcasting on analogue, can't they?!

[Tripster]

I say once a channel launches an HD version, the SD version should be discontinued leaving only the HD one. Why do you need to carry two different versions of the same thing- that is why BDU's have no room. Is this a CRTC requirement or if they want can they shut down the SD channel?! I am sure they could down convert the HD channel to SD for the specialties who are still broadcasting on analogue, can't they?!

Yup they could downres at the head end and feed that into the system for those channels.

For digital just use HD capable boxes that can output in SD formats, most do anyway.

[bigoranget]

I've definately noticed that the French seem to have more variety then English Canada.

VRAK HD -> Family HD hasn't launched yet
Historia HD -> No History Television yet (apparently launching this fall)
Series+ HD -> Showcase HD
Evasion HD -> I think the closest english equivelant would be Travel + Escape (not yet launched)
Z Tele HD -> Space HD hasn't launched yet
Canal Vie HD -> Slice would be the closest, again no HD feed

I have StarChoice as my Canadian service provider and most of the English specialty/pay channels are either movies or sports

Rogers Sportsnet HD East
Rogers Sportsnet HD Ontario
Rogers Sportsnet HD West
Rogers Sportsnet HD Pacific
Big 10 Network HD
The Golf Channel HD
TSN HD
TSN 2 HD
Speed Channel HD
The Movie Network HD
HBO HD East
HBO HD West
Super Channel 1
Super Channel 2
HDNet
A&E HD
Showcase HD
National Geographic HD
Discovery HD
TLC HD

Hopefuly CTV and Canwest will step up to the plate and launch an HD simulcast of their core stations.

[HT Gearhead]

The problem is the BDUs are clogging up bandwidth adding more and more locals. I 'm sure many of you here are as sick as I am of new locals popping up all the time and the BDUs raising prices because of it.
________
Maine medical marijuana dispensary

[TVViewer]

They carry locals because people want their local station, and they currently get local channels for free.

As much as I like HD, It simply doesn't make sense for a broadcaster to launch a HD channel with only a few programs in HD, channels with lots of HD content are getting HD channels launched (History Television HD is coming this fall)

[bigoranget]

TVViewer,

There are LOTS of Canadian stations (both specialty and conventional) that should be HD now.

The following channels have access to lots of HD content

A-Channel (All of their stations are still SD only)
CTV (only HD in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary)
Global (only HD in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto)
Food Network
HGTV
Slice
Space
Comedy Network
History Television
YTV
MTV
Bravo!
Scream
Movietime

The list goes on. There is absolutely no excuse for Canadian broadcasters to be dragging their feet on HD anymore. Why is it that almost all of the french stations have an HD equivelant yet in English Canada there hasn't been any new Canadian HD specialty channels in almost 3 years?

Outside of Sports and Movies, there is only 3 HD Canadian specialty channels (okay 7 if you count HiFi HDTV).

This is exactly why I have a DirecTV subscription. It's absolutely insane to pay nearly $100 CAD for package that barely can give you 20 HD specialty channels. My DirecTV sub is approx 80 CAD/momth and I get 50+ HD specialty channels.

[TVViewer]

Okay I will give you Space, and maybe The Comedy Network, but most of the programming airing on HGTV, Food Network, and Slice is NOT produced in HD, I know that is changing (especially now since HGTV U.S. and Food Network U.S. are starting to produce more programming for their HD channels) but if these channels were to launch anytime soon they simply would not have many HD programs, what's the point of having a HD channel with only a few shows in HD? The same can be said for YTV, MTV, and Bravo!.

Canwest just recently got approved to launch MovieTime HD, and as I have said History Television HD will be on the air VERY soon.

Considering going HD is very expensive and the fact that conventional stations are losing money, I think it's pretty good we have HD OTA stations in the cities we do right now.

It's also important to point how the demand for HD programming in Canada is actually much smaller compared to the U.S.,a 2008 survey said that even though about 30% of Canadians have an HDTV, only about 13% actually access HD channels. I even know people that have HD channels who keep "forgetting" to tune into the HD channels and end up watching the SD channels.

Eventually most Canadians will have HD and demand HD and we will see more HD Canadain programming produced and HD channels launching, but right now the demand for it is not as high as some people think. I guess people don't know what they are actually missing.

[numba1killa]

If Comedy Network were to air in HD only three shows would be in HD. The Daily Show is up-converted to HD same as Colbert ( according to Wikipedia.org) and then Tosh.0 is in HD and newer episodes of South Park are in HD. Now if Comedy Central only air those shows in HD and then there own programing what would we do? only like 4 shows in HD? theres no point! unlike A&E HD air EVERYTHING in HD even commericals....

[TVJunkie5]

As much as I like HD, It simply doesn't make sense for a broadcaster to launch a HD channel with only a few programs in HD,

I have to agree, there just isn't enough content out their right now to justify launching HD channels left right and centre. The only channels IMO that should be in HD are Movie and Sports networks and they are already in HD. Those are the two types of programming that are well suited for high definition- the big screen, superior picture quality, etc. Why would you care to watch say a series or reality show in HD?! That is why broadcasters have launched HD versions of the movie and sports channels first, the rest are way down on the priority list because there isn't a lot of demand for them and more importantly most of the programming on the specialties is still in SD

As far as new channels I would say Space should launch since many of the programs it airs are available in HD and I would also like to see Hifi HDTV launch Center Stage HD, a music channel. I think music (especially live performances) is another type of programming that lends itself well to HD and I think this channel would do well.

[InMontreal]

Series+ HD -> Showcase HD
Z Tele HD -> Space HD hasn't launched yet

Séries+ is more like a station that grabs a variety of TV shows from the US, Germany, France, UK, and off course Canada, dubbed in french, add a few original series made in Québec, it gives a good result.

On the other hand, Showcase HAD some high class series from cable channels in a standard channel format, and high class movies. It was like, show me something original and entertaining. Nowadays it's a reruns channel just like other CanWest channels with added few movies because they can air in HD, but repeated 2 or 3 times in the same day just like MovieTime formula, and to make things worse, there's also reality shows. In my opinion, Séries+ has nothing to be compared with Showcase.

Z Tele has some sci-fi programming, but also Discovery Channel programming (How it's made, How do they do it, MythBusters) and also their original programming.

Canal D (unmentionned) is like a mix of documentary, national geographic, discovery, biographies, Just For Laugh shows, Cops videos, forensics, and they used to air classic cult tv shows until Prise 2 launched.

When Astral launched 7 channels in HD at the same time on october 30, 2006, it was like ready or not here we come. If I remember correctly, one of the HD channel had like 40% of HD programming while another had 70%. With respect for their audience, they try as much as they can to acquire HD programming, and made sure their in-home shows and promos are in HD.

[CDN Viewer]

The following is a list of all Canadian specialty channels that are available in HD:

CANADA


AVAILABLE IN HD

A.Side TV Action ABC Spark AMItv Animal Planet Canada BBC Canada BBC Earth Canada beIN Sports Canada Bloomberg TV Canada BNN Bravo Cartoon Network Canada CBC News Network CMT Canada Comedy Network Cooking Channel Canada Cosmopolitan TV Cottage Life TV CP24 Crime + Investigation Canada CTV News Channel Dejaview Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Science Canada Discovery Velocity Canada Disney Channel Canada Disney Jr. Canada Disney XD Canada DIY Network Canada Documentary Channel DTour E! Canada Family Family CHRGD Family Jr. FEVA TV Fight Network FNTSY Sports Network Food Network Canada FX Canada FXX Canada FYI Canada G4 Canada Game TV Global News: BC 1 Gusto TV H2 Canada HBO Canada HBO 2 Canada HGTV Canada HIFI History Canada Hollywood Suite 70s Movies Hollywood Suite 80s Movies Hollywood Suite 90s Movies Hollywood Suite 00s Movies IFC Canada Investigation Discovery Canada Leafs Nation Network

Lifetime Canada Love Nature Makeful MavTV Canada MovieTime MTV Canada Much NBA TV Canada Nat Geo Wild Canada National Geographic Canada Nickelodeon Canada OLN One OutTV OWN Canada Rewind Salt + Light Television Showcase Slice Smithsonian Channel Canada Space Sportsnet 360 Sportsnet One Sportsnet East Sportsnet Ontario Sportsnet Pacific Sportsnet West Sportsnet World Stingray Hits Stingray Juicebox Stingray Loud Stingray Retro Super Channel 1 Super Channel 2 Super Channel 3 Super Channel 4 Teletoon The Rural Channel The Shopping Channel TMN 1 TMN 2 TMN 3 TMN 4 TMN Encore 1 TMN Encore 2 The Weather Network T+E Treehouse TSN1 TSN2 TSN3 TSN4 TSN5 VisionTV W Network World Fishing Network Wild TV YTV

FRENCH

addikTV AMI-télé Canal D Canal Vie CASA Cinépop Disney La Chaine Évasion Frissons TV Historia Ici ArTV Ici Explora Ici RDI Investigation LCN Max MeteoMedia MOI&cie MusiquePlus Prise 2

RDS RDS2 RDS Info Séries+ Stingray Palmares ADISQ Super Écran 1 Super Écran 2 Super Écran 3 Super Écran 4 Télémagino Télétoon TV5 TVA Sports TVA Sports 2 TVA Sports 3 Unis Vrak Yoopa Z Zeste

ETHNIC

All TV (Korean)
APTN (Aboriginal)
ATN Channel (Hindi)
ATN SET Asia (Hindi)
Fairchild TV 2 HD (Cantonese)
KHL TV HD (Russian)
LS Times (Chinese)
Prime Asia TV (Punjabi)
Tamil Vision (Tamil)
TET (Tamil)
TLN (Italian / Spanish)
Univision Canada (Spanish)
Vanakkam (Tamil)
WINHD Caribbean (Caribbean)
Wowtv (Chinese)
Zee TV Canada (Hindi)

ADULT

Hustler TV Canada
Skinemax
Vivid TV Canada (English)
Vivid TV Canada (French)


NOT AVAILABLE IN HD

BBC Kids Book Television Comedy Gold Cult Movie Network Daystar TV Canada ESPN Classic Canada EuroWorld Sport

Fashion Television HPItv MTV2 Canada Silver Screen Classics Stingray Vibe Vertical TV Vintage TV

ETHNIC

Fairchild TV
FPTV
Mediaset Italia Canada
Mediaset TGCOM24 Canada
Odyssey
Talentvision

ADULT

Exxxtasy TV
Penthouse TV
Red Hot TV

[timkraan]

is it just me, or are most of the "yet to launch" channels owned by CTV?