A lot has been said about kids’ TV channels in the United States being in a bad state, and not without reason, but one thing that can be said is that so far, aside from Universal Kids, none have stopped broadcasting, at least not in recent years. The same can’t be said for Canada. Last month, Corus Entertainment announced plans to close the Canadian versions of Nickelodeon, Disney XD, Disney Jr., and La chaîne Disney (French language Disney Channel). These channels are set to stop broadcasting this coming Monday, September 1st. This move comes as Corus, which is facing financial problems, is looking to cut costs. Corus will continue to operate YTV, Treehouse TV, Télétoon, and the Canadian versions of Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and the English language Disney Channel.
Additionally, it appears Corus is losing the rights to Nick programming altogether, not just the branded channel. No announcement has been made, but schedules for next month show a lack of Nick programming on YTV and Treehouse, which have aired Nick shows for years. Some shows associated with Nick, such as PAW Patrol, will continue to air, but these shows are owned by different companies and so they’re covered by a separate deal. YTV is scheduled to air the SpongeBob movies Sponge Out of Water and Sponge on the Run the first weekend of September, but these movies are distributed by Paramount Pictures and not Nick themselves and so they’re also covered by a separate deal.
Despite Corus’ troubles, they do have at least one thing going for them even if it’s not likely to actually help them much. WildBrain, owner of Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrain TV and Télémagino and Corus’ only major competitor as far as dedicated kids’ channels go, announced yesterday that they will close their channels after Rogers drops them. This follows failed negotiations between the two companies and Bell having already dropped the channels. Both followed the CRTC ruling that WildBrain was not subjected to undue disadvantage from either provider.
Following Rogers’ decision to drop the channels, WildBrain has decided that their channels are no longer commercially viable. The biggest of these channels is Family, which has been around since 1988 and was once the Canadian home for Disney’s shows. The other channels were also Disney branded channels before WildBrain bought them along with Family and decided not to renew the rights. This news also leaves Télétoon as the country’s only remaining French language kids’ channel. WildBrain previously announced plans to sell a majority stake in their channels to IoM Media Ventures, but this is now off.
Though this leaves Corus without any major competition, they don’t have a total monopoly. Toon-A-Vision, owned by Atlantic Digital Networks, launched in 2018. It’s been picked up by some providers, but it doesn’t appear to be a major player in Canadian TV. Atlantic Digital Networks CEO Adam Mimnaugh said at a CRTC hearing in June that the channel operates at a loss, but he keeps it around because it’s important. He was specifically talking about being able to provide Canadian programming, but it may be important for more than that with Corus being the only other game in town.
There are other networks that air kids programming, but they’re not dedicated networks and some only serve one province. It remains to be seen if these closures will allow Toon-A-Vision to grow, but with it being the only thing keeping Corus from having a monopoly, the idea that it has importance may ring true more now than it did in June.
