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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Corus Entertainment (Showcase Television Inc.) (branding licensed fromWarner Bros. Discovery) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | September 7, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-09-07) |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | www |
Adult Swim is aCanadianEnglish languagediscretionaryspecialty channel owned byCorus Entertainment. The channel primarily airsanimated and live-actioncomedies targeting a teenage andyoung adult audience. Its branding islicensed from theAdult Swimprogramming block broadcast byCartoon Network in the United States; it is the first full-time television channel to use the "Adult Swim" brand.
The channel was originally launched in 2001 asShowcase Action (later known as simplyAction), adigital cable spin-off ofShowcase focused onaction series andfilms. The channel was re-launched under its current branding on April 1, 2019; it subsumed the Adult Swim block that had aired on the Canadian version of Cartoon Network (now known asBoomerang), and theTeletoon at Night block that had aired onTeletoon (now Cartoon Network).
In November 2000,Alliance Atlantis was granted approval by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a newcategory 2 specialty service named "Action Television", which would be devoted to entertainment programming in theaction genre.[1] The channel launched on September 7, 2001, asShowcase Action, a spin-off of its analog specialty channelShowcase.[2]
On January 18, 2008, Alliance Atlantis's broadcasting assets were acquired by CW Media, a joint venture betweenCanwest andGoldman Sachs Capital Partners.[3][4][5] The channel was renamedAction on August 31, 2009.[6] On October 27, 2010, the channel was acquired byShaw Media as part of its acquisition of Canwest.[7][8] By 2011, Action had begun todiverge from its original format, shifting more towards general entertainment and reality shows targeting male audiences.
On May 1, 2015, a high definition feed of Action was launched.[9] In 2016, Shaw Media was acquired by its sister companyCorus Entertainment.[10]
Historically, many ofAdult Swim's original productions were aired in Canada byTeletoon, as part of its relationship with parent channelCartoon Network. The programming was aired under its similarly-formatted late-night blockTeletoon at Night (formerly The Detour).[11][12] On July 4, 2012, Teletoon launched aCanadian version of Cartoon Network as a sister channel. Much like its American counterpart, the channel would also offer a version of Adult Swim.[12]
From March 2016 through November 2018,Time Warner had also operated an Adult Swim subscriptionvideo on demand service forAndroid andiOS devices viaAdult Swim Games,[13] which streamed some of Adult Swim's original programming in Canada. New episodes were added to the app following their U.S. airings,[14][15] Originally,Rick and Morty andRobot Chicken premieres were only added after they aired in Canada. Beginning with itsthird season, new episodes ofRick and Morty were added the next day after their U.S. premiere. In 2017, new episodes fromSamurai Jack'sfifth season were added two days after they premiered on Adult Swim'sToonami block.[13]
On March 4, 2019, it was announced that Action would be relaunched as a standalone Adult Swim channel on April 1, 2019, marking the first time that the brand would be used for a 24-hour channel.[12] Both the Teletoon at Night and Adult Swim blocks on Teletoon and Cartoon Network were discontinued as part of the channel's launch.[12] The network would launch with a two-month free preview, while full episodes of the channel's programming were made free to watch on-demand until January 2020.[16][12] Shows announced for the channel's launch includedRick and Morty,Robot Chicken,Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories,The Eric Andre Show, andLazor Wulf, the latter of which was announced to premiere day-and-date with the U.S service.[16]
During Corus Entertainment's 2022 upfronts presentation, the company announced its first two original commissions for the Adult Swim channel;Psi Cops, andRed Ketchup (co-commissioned withTélétoon la nuit).[17][18][19]
The channel primarily airs original productions from Adult Swim in the U.S, includingadult animation series and live-action comedies. The channel does not offer aToonami block, but it has airedanime series co-produced or commissioned by Adult Swim for the block, such asBlade Runner: Black Lotus andHousing Complex C.[20] The channel has also acquired original animated series from the siblingHBO Max streaming service (such asHarley Quinn), and off-network reruns ofanimated sitcoms.[20]
Most of the channel's domestic, first-run programs are English dubs of series commissioned by the French-languageTélétoon's late-night block,Télétoon la nuit (includingThe Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi,Doomsday Brothers, andRed Ketchup). In order to fulfillCanadian content requirements, the channel also carries reruns of library content (including original series that had been produced for the Teletoon at Night, Télétoon la nuit, and Canadian Adult Swim blocks), and until December 23, 2024 airedmade-for-TV films on Monday mornings (a holdover from Action).
As Showcase Action, the channel initially aired programming within theaction genre. By 2011, Action had begun todrift towards airing general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including acquiringreality shows from the U.S. networkTruTV (such asImpractical Jokers). In 2011, Action would begin airing two original comedy programs,The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour andKenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will, both of which were cancelled after one season.[21] Another original series,But I'm Chris Jericho!, starring Canadian-bornprofessional wrestlerChris Jericho, premiered as awebseries in 2013 on Action'sYouTube channel, and was later acquired for a second season byCBC Television's digital outlet CBC Comedy.[22]
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