| Investigation Discovery | |
| Picture Format: | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Owner: | Bell Media |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Area: | Nationwide |
| Headquarters: | Toronto, Ontario |
| Former Names: | Court TV Canada (2001–2010) |
| Sister Channels: | Animal Planet Canal D Discovery Discovery Science Discovery Velocity Investigation |
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.
Originally launching as a Canadian version of Court TV, it was relaunched on August 30, 2010 under its current branding as part of a licensing arrangement with 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.
On February 15, 2005, CHUM completed the purchase of the remaining interest in LSTA, bringing its ownership to 100%. 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.
On June 10, 2024, Rogers Sports & Media announced it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands beginning in January 2025. Although not mentioned in Rogers' press release, multiple media outlets, including Rogers-owned CityNews, reported that the affected brands include Discovery Channel and spinoffs such as Investigation Discovery, the existing Canadian versions of which were managed by Bell.[12] [13]
Bell subsequently said in a statement that it would "assert [its] rights", citing protections it had previously negotiated against the launch of direct competitor channels.[14] On June 19, Bell filed for an injunction which, according to Rogers, would—if granted—prevent the latter from operating any linear TV channels under the brands previously operated by Bell for the first two years of its contract.[15]
The channel primarily airs true crime programming sourced from its U.S. parent network, including Fear Thy Neighbor (a co-production with the U.S. Investigation Discovery and French-language sister network Canal D), Homicide Hunter, and On the Case with Paula Zahn.