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Television channel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Investigation Discovery is a Canadian discretionary service owned by Bell Media. Based of the U.S. cable network of the same name, the channel focuses on true crime programming, including original productions and imports from its U.S. counterpart.
Investigation Discovery logo, used since 2021 | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | 299 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | CHUM Limited (2001–2007) CTVglobemedia (2007–2011) BCE Inc.[a] (2011–present) |
| Parent | Learning and Skills Television of Alberta Ltd. (2001–2020) Bell Media Television (Bell Media) (2020–present) |
| Sister channels | CTV 2 Alberta CLT (2001–2010) Animal Planet Canal D Discovery Discovery Science Discovery Velocity Investigation |
| History | |
| Launched | September 7, 2001 |
| Replaced | Court TV (U.S. feed) |
| Former names | Court TV Canada (2001–2010) |
| Links | |
| Website | Investigation Discovery |
The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 as a Canadian version of Court TV, by Learning and Skills Television of Alberta Ltd., which was then owned by CHUM Limited, although the U.S. Court TV channel became available in Canada through cable and satellite providers as a foreign channel approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1997. CHUM was acquired by CTVglobemedia in 2007. Two years after its U.S. counterpart was relaunched as TruTV, Court TV was relaunched as Investigation Discovery on August 30, 2010, as part of a licensing arrangement between CTVglobemedia and Discovery Communications.
In October 2024, it was announced that the channel will relaunch as a Canadian version of the similarly-formatted Oxygen on January 1, 2025, as part of a licensing agreement with NBCUniversal. The ID brand will be concurrently relaunched as a new specialty channel under Rogers Sports & Media ownership, as part of an agreement between Rogers Communications and Warner Bros. Discovery.
In November 2000, Learning and Skills Television of Alberta, a company majority owned by CHUM Limited (60%) and owners of Access, was granted permission by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called "The Law & Order Channel", described as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service that will feature entertainment programming about police, law, the courts, emergency and medical response teams, disaster and relief operations featuring people and organizations that uphold law and order in our society."[1]
The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 as Court TV Canada.[2] The channel replaced the U.S. Court TV service, which was available on many television service providers throughout Canada as an eligible foreign service from 1997.
On February 15, 2005, CHUM completed the purchase of the remaining interest in LSTA, bringing its ownership to 100%.[2] A year later, in July 2006, Bell Globemedia (later renamed CTVglobemedia) announced that it would purchase CHUM for an estimated CAD$1.7 billion, included in the sale was LSTA and its interest in CourtTV Canada.[3] The sale and was approved by the CRTC in June 2007,[4] and the transaction was completed on June 22, 2007. In 2008, LSTA (then known as Access Media Group) was wound up into CTV Limited (the renamed CHUM Limited).[5]
The original CourtTV was relaunched as TruTV in 2008, though the Canadian version continued to use the CourtTV branding. On August 30, 2010, CTV announced a new licensing agreement with Discovery Communications, under which Court TV Canada would be rebranded as a Canadian version of Discovery's true crime brand Investigation Discovery.[6] It is the only Discovery-branded channel operated by Bell Media that neither Discovery, nor ESPN Inc. (via CTV Specialty Television, Inc.), holds an ownership stake in.
On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada (a minority shareholder in CTVglobemedia) announced that it planned to acquire 100% interest in CTVglobemedia for a total debt and equity transaction cost of CAD$3.2 billion.[7] The deal was approved by the CRTC on March 7, 2011,[8] and was finalized on April 1 of that year, on which CTVglobemedia was rebranded Bell Media.[9]
On June 17, 2011, Bell Media announced plans to launch a high definition simulcast feed of Investigation Discovery, titled Investigation Discovery HD, by the end of the year.[10] The HD feed was launched on December 15, 2011 on Bell Fibe TV and later on Telus Optik TV; The HD feed later began to be carried on Bell Satellite TV on December 13, 2012, then Bell Aliant and NorthernTel in the mid-2010s.[11] The HD feed was added to Shaw Direct's lineup on October 16, 2018. It is yet to be launched on Shaw Cable and some smaller providers.
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On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced it would relaunch Investigation Discovery as a Canadian version of Oxygen on January 1, 2025, as part of an agreement with NBCUniversal that will also see Discovery relaunched under NBCU's USA Network brand. The relaunched channel will maintain a similar format, featuring programming from its U.S. parent network, and Canadian productions carried over from Investigation Discovery.[12]
The agreement came following Bell Media's loss of rights to Warner Bros. Discovery-owned factual television brands to Rogers Media, which was announced in June 2024 and takes effect in January 2025.[13] Rogers will concurrently launch a new Investigation Discovery network under its ownership.[14] USA and Oxygen will mark Bell's second and third active channel partnerships with NBCUniversal, following the relaunch of Star! as E! in 2010; Comcast and Bell Media's predecessors were also co-owners of OLN from 1997 to 2008.[15]
The channel primarily airs true crime programming sourced from its U.S. parent network. It has also commissioned several Canadian productions, such as Fear Thy Neighbor (a co-production with French-language sister network Investigation and the U.S. Investigation Discovery) and Forensic Factor.[12]
Under the former incarnation as Court TV Canada, this channel also aired crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news coverage of prominent criminal cases. This format is continued to be maintained after its relaunch as Investigation Discovery in 2010 and the retirement of the genre protection rules by the CRTC in 2015 while its U.S. counterpart which was rebranded as TruTV which has since then shifted towards comedy and sports programming throughout the late 2010s; Court TV would be revived as a over the air channel by Scripps Networks in 2019.
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