 | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (2012-present) 480iSDTV (1984-present) |
| Timeshift service | East West |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | TLN Media Group Joseph Vitale (28%) R. Di Battista Investments (24%) I.P. Rosati Holdings (24%) Aldo Di Felice (24%) |
| Sister channels | Goal TV,Mediaset Italia,TGCOM 24,Telebimbi,TeleNiños,Univision Canada |
| History | |
| Launched | October 2, 1984 |
| Links | |
| Website | TLN |
TLN (an abbreviation from its full nameTelelatino) is aCanadian English-languagediscretionaryspecialty channel owned by TLN Media Group. The channel primarily broadcasts lifestyle programming surrounding theSpanish andItalian cultures, including cooking and travel-related programs, as well as coverage of internationalsoccer, and mainstream television series and films.
Launched on October 2, 1984, TLN was originally a consortium of Joseph Vitale,Organización de Telecomunicaciones de Iberoamérica,Canwest, andCHUM Limited. In 1994,Shaw Communications acquired CHUM Limited's stake in the service, and in 1999, Aldo Di Felice acquired Canwest's shares in the service, while Shaw's media assets were spun off to formCorus Entertainment the same year. In 2009, I.P. Rosati Holdings acquired OTI's shares in the service; in 2019, Corus sold its stake in the service to its existing partners and Di Felice.
TLN previously broadcast in a trilingual format, carrying programming in theItalian,Spanish, and English languages (with the latter usually focusing on off-network reruns of entertainment programs starring actors ofItalian orSpanish descent). This format was later phased out with the launch of sister digital cable channels dedicated solely to Italian- and Spanish-language programs; subsequently, TLN relaunched in 2018 with a larger focus on English-language lifestyle programming relating to Italian and Spanish cuisine, culture, and travel.
TLN was licensed by theCRTC on April 2, 1984, to TLN Media Group, at the time owned by Joseph Vitale,Organización de Telecomunicaciones de IberoaméricaCHUM Limited andCanwest, along with that ofMuchMusic (also owned by CHUM Limited); the channel was launched on October 2, 1984, asTelelatino, broadcasting a trilingual format, focusing on Italian, Spanish and English programming.[1]
In 1994,Shaw Communications acquiredCHUM Limited's stake in TLN. In 1999, Aldo Di Felice acquiredCanwest Global Communications' shares in TLN, and the assets of Shaw were spun off to formCorus Entertainment.
On October 23, 2007, TLN launchedTLN en Español, aCategory B Spanish language general entertainment channel. The channel would later be relaunched as Univision Canada in 2014. In 2009,Organización de Telecomunicaciones de Iberoamérica traded its stake in TLN to I.P. Rosati Holdings for $57 million. In 2011, the channel started to refer itself to as TLN on-air.
In 2015, TLN was given a graphical overhaul, introducing an updated wordmark over a red background, and a new lineup with a greater focus on lifestyle Italian and Spanish programming.
In April 2018, the network introduced a new marketing campaign,Colour Your Life, to signal a shift in focus for the channel to include "all lovers of the mainstream cultural lifestyle" in addition to existing viewers, after having phased out its foreign-language programs in favour of more lifestyle programming relevant to Italian and Spanish culture.[2]
Corus Entertainment previously owned a 50.5% majority share in the service; it later sold its interest to its existing partners and Di Felice for $19 million in 2019.[3]
The network primarily airs programming related to Italian and Spanish cultures, including travel and cuisine.[2]
TLN broadcasts a substantial amount ofsoccer programming, airingSerie A matches since 1984. TLN later secured the rights to air all Serie A matches between 2018 and 2021.[4] andUEFA Champions League matches involving Italian andSpanish teams from 2002 to 2009. In 2009, TLN secured the rights to theUEFA Europa League to become the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of this tournament through to 2012.[5]
In 2006, TLN partnered withCBC Sports to sub-license its rights toFIFA tournaments, including the2010 and2014 FIFA World Cup.[6] In 2015, TLN also sub-licensed Spanish-language rights to the2015 Pan American Games in Toronto from CBC, collaborating with the U.S. Spanish rightsholderESPN Deportes.[7][8][9]
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From its inception up until mid-2003, TLN's Italian programming was derived primarily fromRAI, Italy's state owned broadcaster, which made a commitment in 1984 to supply programming to Canada through TLN for as long as TLN was licensed in Canada. A dispute arose in 2003 when the head of RAI's international channel, decided to repudiate RAI's supply obligations as well as its 2001 agreement to launch a 24-hour RAI Canada channel, in favour of challenging Canada's regulatory regime by indicating that it wanted to deliver RAI programming through its own international channel on its own terms without restriction and not through TLN or through any Canadian programming partner.
In 2003, RAI pulled its content from TLN and petitioned theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to allow it to broadcastRAI International in Canada.[10] This effort was backed byRogers Communications, who sponsored RAI's application to get on the CRTC's approved list. After initially being rejected by the CRTC in 2004 in strong terms, RAI International was eventually approved by the CRTC in the spring of 2005 and began broadcasting in June 2005. After RAI International was launched in Canada, TLN began airing programming from Mediaset.
TLN is the flagship television network of the TLN Media Group, a consortium owned by three prominentItalian Canadian families and network president Aldo Di Felice, that is dedicated to multi-ethnic programming. In addition to TLN, the company also owns the following television assets:
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