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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | 9 Channel Nine Court,Scarborough, Toronto,Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | 2953285 Canada Inc. (CTV Specialty Television) |
| Sister channels | CTV CTV2 CTV Comedy Channel CTV Drama Channel CTV Life Channel CTV Nature Channel CTV Sci-Fi Channel CTV Wild Channel Oxygen USA Network |
| History | |
| Launched | December 19, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-12-19) |
| Former names | Discovery HD Theatre (2005–2009) Discovery HD (2009–2010) Discovery World HD (2010–2012) Discovery World (2012–2015) Discovery Velocity (2015–2025) |
| Links | |
| Website | CTV Speed Channel |
CTV Speed Channel is a Canadiandiscretionaryspecialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture betweenBell Media andESPN Inc. via licensee 2953285 Canada Inc.[1] It broadcasts factual and reality-style series related to the automotive industry and transportation, as well as occasional livemotorsports events.
This channel was founded on December 19, 2005 asDiscovery HD Theatre (aCanadian spelling of HD Theater) by Bell Globemedia and Discovery Communications. Two years after the U.S. counterpart was rebranded to HD Theater, it was renamed toDiscovery HD in 2009. It did not follow the U.S. counterpart's rebrand to Velocity (nowMotor Trend) in 2011, and instead rebranded asDiscovery World HD in 2010 (shortened to simply Discovery World in 2012). In 2015, the channel rebranded asDiscovery Velocity, shifting primarily to programming related to automobiles and transport.
In January 2025, the channel was rebranded as CTV Speed Channel, due to Bell losing its rights to Warner Bros. Discovery factual brands and related programming toRogers Sports & Media. Rogers does not plan to launch a new linear channel for Motor Trend, with its programming to instead be distributed via digital platforms.
Beginning in August 2003, CTV had operated a channel known as Discovery Channel HD, which served as a high-definition simulcast of the mainDiscovery Channel lineup, where applicable. In August 2005, theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved an application for a new category 2 digital service,Discovery HD Theatre (based on theU.S. channel of the same name), covering many of the same genres as Discovery Channel, but with a separate lineup consisting exclusively of high definition programming.[2] Discovery HD Theatre replaced Discovery Channel HD on December 19, 2005. While maintaining the same format, the channel was renamedDiscovery HD in 2009.
In June 2010, CTVglobemedia announced that it would launch three new Discovery-branded channels in Canada, among them included a re-branding of Discovery HD as Discovery World HD (later renamed Discovery World in 2012) on August 2, 2010, with a new lineup aiming to "showcase a beautiful and brilliant portrait of our world in vivid high definition".[3] Discovery Channel relaunched its HD simulcast in June 2011.[4]
In January 2015, Bell Media announced that Discovery World would be re-branded as Discovery Velocity on February 12, 2015. It was a Canadian version of the U.S. channelVelocity—which was the current format of the network's original U.S. counterpart. With the re-branding, the network increased its focus on automotive-oriented series, although selected non-automotive programs from Discovery World were carried over.[5]
On June 10, 2024,Rogers Sports & Media announced it had reached an agreement withWarner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands beginning in January 2025, which were subsequently confirmed to include Discovery Velocity / Motor Trend.[6][7] This led to a lawsuit by Bell, which claimed the move would violate previousnon-compete clauses with WBD; the matter was settled out of court in October.[8][9] Rogers announced that Motor Trend content would move to its on-demand and streaming platforms includingCitytv+, rather than a new linear channel.[10] Prior to relaunch, in December 2024,Hearst Communications acquiredMotor Trend Group and most its assets includingMotor Trend from Warner Bros. Discovery including the channel's content.[11]
On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced the channel would rebrand as CTV Speed Channel on January 1, 2025, and would continue to feature programming "for automotive and thrill-seeking enthusiasts".[12] Since the rebranding, the channel has sublicensed content from sister networkTSN, including rights to selectedNASCAR events as overflow for TSN andUSA Network (particularly theCraftsman Truck Series), as well as rights toMecum Auctions sublicensed fromESPN (which itself replaced Motor Trend as broadcaster of the events in 2025 under a new contract).
At some point after the rebranding, WBD divested its stakes in the channel, making a sole owner.[13]
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Owners:Walt Disney Company (80%);Hearst Communications (20%) | |||||||||||||||||||