YTV (TV Channel) - History

History

Launched on September 1, 1988, YTV was the successor to two prior special programming services operated by various Ontario cable companies beginning in the late 1970s. The two largest shareholders in YTV were two cable companies, Rogers Cable and a company known as CUC Broadcasting, which was later acquired by Shaw Communications. By 1995, through various acquisitions and trades, Shaw had secured full control of YTV; it was spun off as part of Corus Entertainment in 1999.

In 1998, YTV began to use a Nickelodeon-style "gross-out" factor in its branding, with much less slime, with its slogan being "Keep It Weird". Over the years, YTV used a number of different on-air logos, featuring the same arrangement of white letters on various bizarre and imaginative creatures. The logo used on production credits, and thus presumably the "official" logo, features this arrangement on a red screen of a stylized purple television set. The channel's advertisements often focus on promoting the brand through crude humour.

In the fall of 2005, a new post-6:00 p.m. advertising style was developed for older audiences, which used a much simpler logo and much sleeker packaging with barely any gross-out tactics. In the spring of 2006, the simple logo first appeared on YTV's promos and even appeared on credits of YTV's newer original programming. In 2007, this look was adapted for the entire station.

In September 2009, the logo was changed slightly: it featured new colours, and the background was simplified. There aren't as many variations to the bumpers as before. Now there are many large, opaque digital on-screen graphics telling viewers which programs are coming next, and promotions of the programs.