Category B services

Class of Canadian cable TV channel not required to be on all cable systems

This article is about a former classification system of Canadian cable TV. For the modern classification, see Discretionary service.

A Category B service is the former term for a Canadian discretionary specialty television channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, may be carried by all subscription television providers. Such services were called Category 2 until September 1, 2011.[1]

Unlike Category A services, Category B services are not protected as to format. They are licensed to broadcast within defined formats which are not provided by or overly close to an existing protected channel, but their formats are not protected themselves and need not protect other Category B services. Also unlike Category A services, a Category B service does not have guaranteed cable carriage rights, but must directly negotiate carriage with cable distributors. Category B services encompass both pay television and specialty channels.

In December 2012, the CRTC exempted from formal licensing services with less than 200,000 subscribers that would otherwise meet the definition of a Category B service, and services which air 90% of their programming in a language other than English, French, or languages of aboriginal peoples in Canada.[2]

Henceforth,[when?] most Canadian specialty channels (except for national news and mainstream sports channels, which are classified as Category C services) will be licensed as Category B services.[3]

## Category B specialty services[edit]

The following is a list of currently launched and officially licensed Category B services in Canada:

### English[edit]

* ABC Spark
* Adult Swim
* Animal Planet
* ATN Cricket Plus
* ATN DD Sports
* A.Side TV
* BBC Earth
* Boomerang
* Cooking Channel
* Commonwealth Broadcasting Network
* Daystar Television Canada
* DejaView
* Discovery Science
* Discovery Velocity
* Disney Channel
* Disney XD
* DIY Network
* Dorcel TV Canada
* ESPN Classic
* EuroWorld Sport
* Fight Network
* FX
* Game+
* GameTV
* Global News: BC 1
* HIFI
* Hollywood Suite
* Hollywood Suite 70s Movies
* Hollywood Suite 80s Movies
* Hollywood Suite 90s Movies
* Hollywood Suite 00s Movies
* HPItv
* HPItv Canada
* HPItv International
* HPItv Odds
* HPItv West
* Investigation Discovery
* Leafs Nation Network
* Lifetime
* Love Nature
* Makeful
* MovieTime
* Nat Geo Wild
* National Geographic
* NBA TV Canada
* Nickelodeon
* Penthouse TV
* Playmen TV
* Red Hot TV
* Rewind
* Salt + Light Television
* Silver Screen Classics
* Smithsonian Channel
* Sportsman Channel
* Sportsnet World
* Stingray Country
* Stingray Juicebox
* Stingray Loud
* Stingray Naturescape
* Stingray Retro
* Stingray Vibe
* The Rural Channel
* Water Television Network
* Wild TV
* WildBrainTV

### French[edit]

* Avis de Recherche
* Casa
* Dorcel TV Canada
* Frissons TV
* Ici Explora
* Investigation
* MOI ET CIE
* Prise 2
* Télémagino
* Yoopa
* Zeste

### Multicultural[edit]

* Aaj Tak
* ATN SAB TV
* ATN Times Now
* ATN Zoom
* FPTV
* Filmy
* Mediaset Italia
* Mediaset TGCOM 24
* New Tang Dynasty Television
* SSTV
* Univision Canada
* Zee Bollywood
* Zee Cinema
* Zee TV Canada

## Category B pay services[edit]

### French[edit]

* Cinépop

## Exempted Category B services[edit]

[4]

### English[edit]

* AOV Adult Movie Channel
* beIN Sports Canada
* Exxxtasy TV
* FEVA TV
* Maleflixxx Television
* REV TV Canada
* Stingray Country
* Stingray Now 4K
* The Cult Movie Network
* Toon-A-Vision
* Vertical TV
* XITE 4K
* XXX Action Clips Channel

### French[edit]

* PalmarèsADISQ par Stingray
* Stingray Hits!

### Ethnic[edit]

* Abu Dhabi TV
* Al-Nahar TV
* Al-Nahar Drama
* Al Resalah
* All TV
* All TV K
* ATN Aastha TV
* ATN ARY Digital
* ATN B4U Movies
* ATN B4U Music
* ATN Bangla
* ATN Brit Asia TV
* ATN Colors Bangla
* ATN Colors Marathi
* ATN DD Bharati
* ATN DD Urdu
* ATN Food Food
* ATN Gujarati
* ATN IBC Tamil
* ATN Jaya TV
* ATN Movies
* ATN MTV India
* ATN News 18
* ATN PM One
* ATN Punjabi
* ATN Punjabi 5
* ATN Punjabi News
* ATN Punjabi Plus
* ATN Rishtey
* ATN Sikh Channel
* ATN Sony Aath
* ATN Sony Max
* ATN Sony Mix
* ATN Sony TV
* ATN SVBC
* ATN Tamil Plus
* ATN Urdu
* BBC Arabic
* Big Magic International
* Canada Chinese TV
* Canada National TV
* CCCTV
* Chakde TV
* Channel Punjabi
* Channel Y
* CTC International
* Dream 2
* ERT World
* Fairchild TV 2 HD
* FTV
* First National
* Greek Music Channel
* German Kino Plus
* Halla Bol! Kids TV
* HRT Sat
* Hum TV
* Iran TV Network
* KHL-TV
* LS Times TV
* MEGA Cosmos
* Melody Aflam
* Melody Drama
* Melody Hits
* Momo Kids
* Montreal Greek TV
* NGTV
* Nova World
* OSN Ya Hala International
* Prime Asia TV
* ProSiebenSat.1 Welt
* PTC Punjabi
* Rawal TV
* RBTI Canada
* Rotana Aflam
* Rotana Cinema
* Rotana Classic
* Rotana Clip
* Rotana Drama
* Rotana Khalijiah
* Rotana Mousica
* RTL Living
* RTS Sat
* RTVi
* SBTN
* Schlager TV
* TET
* Tamil One
* Tamil Vision
* Telebimbi
* TeleNiños
* The Israeli Network
* Travelxp
* TVCentr International
* TVP Info
* TV Rain
* Vanakkam TV
* Win HD Caribbean
* WOWtv
* Zee 24 Taas
* Zee Bangla
* Zee Marathi
* Zee Punjabi
* Zee Salaam
* Zee Talkies
* Zee Tamil
* Zing

## Defunct Category B services[edit]

* Action
* ATN NDTV 24x7
* BBC Canada
* BBC Kids
* Bloomberg TV Canada
* bpm:tv
* Bollywood Times
* CityNews Channel
* Comedy Gold
* CoolTV
* Cosmopolitan TV
* Discovery Kids
* Dusk
* The Ecology Channel
* Edge TV
* Fine Living
* Fox Sports World Canada
* Global Reality Channel
* GolTV
* Gusto TV (Knight Enterprises)[note 1]
* HSTN
* IDNR-TV
* Leonardo World
* MEGA Cosmos (Ethnic Channels Group)[note 2]
* Mehndi TV
* MSNBC Canada
* Niagara News TV
* Nuevo Mundo Television
* Persian Vision
* The Pet Network
* RTVi+
* Sundance Channel
* Talentvision 2 HD
* Teletoon Retro
* Télétoon Rétro
* Tonis
* TVOne Canada
* UTV Movies
* Video Italia
* X-Treme Sports

## See also[edit]

* List of television stations in Canada by call sign
* List of Canadian television networks (table)
* List of Canadian television channels
* List of Canadian specialty channels
* Category A services
* Category C services
* List of foreign television channels available in Canada
* List of United States stations available in Canada
* Digital television in Canada
* Multichannel television in Canada
* List of Canadian stations available in the United States
* List of television stations in North America by media market

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Gusto's intellectual property was sold to Bell Media in 2016. The original channel ceased operations on September 1, 2016, and was concurrently replaced by a version operating under a Category A license formerly used by M3.
2. ^ After acquiring rights to its programming, Odyssey Television Network launched a separate channel under the same name)

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-100: Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services". CRTC. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
2. ^ "Broadcasting Order CRTC 2012-689: New exemption order respecting certain programming undertakings that would otherwise be eligible to be operated as Category B services, and amendments to the Exemption order respecting certain third-language television undertakings". CRTC. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
3. ^ Government of Canada, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (25 October 2010). "ARCHIVED - Standard conditions of licence, expectations and encouragements for Category B pay and specialty services". crtc.gc.ca.
4. ^ "List of Exempt Category B and Exempt Third-Language Services". 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016.

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