Canadian French television channel
Television channel
SeriesPlus
(formerly
Series+
) is a
Canadian
French language
specialty channel
devoted to
French-language
scripted comedy and
dramatic programming
. The channel is owned by
Corus Entertainment
.
History
[
edit
]
On May 11, 1999,
Alliance Atlantis Communications
(AAC) and Premier Choix Networks (a division of
Astral Media
) were granted approval by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) to launch a French-language subscription network called
Canal Fiction
, described as a "service devoted to drama."
[1]
The channel was launched on January 31, 2000, as
Series+
at 6pm
EST
.
[2]
On October 30, 2006, Series+ launched a
high definition
simulcast.
[3]
On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between
Canwest
and
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners
known as CW Media purchased AAC and gained AAC's interest in Series+.
On October 27, 2010,
Shaw Communications
completed its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media, giving it control of CW Media's 50% interest in Series+.
[4]
[5]
On March 4, 2013,
Corus Entertainment
announced that it would acquire Astral Media's stakes in Series+ and
Historia
, as well as several other properties, under separate transactions with the two companies. The purchase was tied to
Bell Media
's pending takeover of Astral Media; an earlier proposal had been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012 due to concerns surrounding its total market share following the merger, but was restructured under the condition that the companies divest certain media properties.
[6]
In a separate deal, Corus also acquired Shaw's interests in Series+ and Historia, giving it full ownership.
[7]
The deals were approved by the CRTC on 20 December 2013
[8]
and Corus officially become the full owner of the channel on 1 January 2014.
[9]
On October 17, 2017,
Bell Media
announced its intent to acquire Series+ and
Historia
from Corus for $200 million, pending regulatory approval. Corus cited the two channels as not being part of the company's "strategic priorities" at this time; the deal came shortly after an announcement that Corus no longer planned to commission original programs for the two channels.
[10]
On 28 May 2018, both transactions were blocked by the
Competition Bureau
, as it violated a condition of the Astral Media purchase which bars Bell from re-acquiring any of the properties it divested for 10 years.
[11]
As a result, Bell and Corus mutually agreed to shelve the sale.
[12]
On January 6, 2020, the channel underwent a rebranding, which also began to stylize its name as "SeriesPlus"
.
References
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]
External links
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]