Teletoon (Canadian TV Channel) - History

History

Licensed in 1996 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the channel was launched on October 17, 1997 with the first episode of Caillou. It was owned by a consortium made up of various other Canadian specialty services and producers; The Family Channel Inc. acting as managing partner at 53.3% (Astral Media & WIC), YTV Canada Inc. at 26.7% (Shaw Communications), along with Cinar and Nelvana with 10% each. Through various acquisitions over the years, ownership resulted in Astral Media and Corus Entertainment each owning a 50% stake in the service.

When Teletoon launched in 1997, it showed more mature fare as the day progressed, with a strong commitment to air diverse and international programming, and the ability to air a great majority of material uncut. A typical broadcast day started with preschool content at 7:00 a.m. EST and ended with adult content after midnight, airing more adult cartoons such as Duckman and various Anime (although they are no longer aired on the channel).

In its second year, Teletoon was supposed to air the cult favourite series, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, and had the show referenced in many promotional materials. However, despite being printed in television listings for weeks, the show was never actually aired on the station. In 2004 the station began airing a spin-off, The Brak Show. Space Ghost finally began airing in the fall of 2006.

In 2000, Teletoon started airing bumpers with its first mascot, Teletina. These bumpers were made by Spin Productions in Toronto. Several more bumpers using CGI animation premiered on the channel in 2002. The bumpers were removed in 2007 due to the re-branding of Teletoon.

On February 5, 2007, Teletoon's network layout and its website were dramatically changed, The Detour's website was moved to teletoon.com, and the aesthetic appearance of both the normal block and The Detour changed.

Teletoon was involved in controversy when, on December 8, 2007, the station aired Team America: World Police with viewer advisories that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council considered to not adequately describe the sexual content and violence within the film.

Teletoon's production schedule has seasons of 26–28 episodes, and postpones the production of the succeeding season between a year: if a series premieres during the 2008–2009 season it will air another set of episodes during the 2010–2011 skipping an entire season between.

On September 6, 2011, Teletoon's network layout changed to reflect one of their owners Astral Media's 50th Anniversary and to reflect introduction of the Digital television in Canada. Teletoon Retro and Teletoon at Night were not affected in network layouts.