| Trio | |
| Closed Date: | |
| Picture Format: | 480i (SDTV) |
| Owner: | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (1994–2000) Power Corporation of Canada (1994–2000) USA Network/NBC Universal (2000–2006) |
| Country: | United States |
| Area: | National |
| Replaced By: | Sleuth |
| Sister Channels: | Newsworld International |
Trio (stylized as TR!O) was an American cable and satellite television network.
Trio went on the air in 1994, then originally owned and operated jointly by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Power Broadcasting Inc. (a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada) along with 24-hour international news channel Newsworld International. The channel served as a venue for airing the CBC's arts, culture and entertainment programming in the U.S. It was sold to USA Networks in 2000,[1] and was subsequently transferred to Vivendi Universal and later NBC Universal.
With the slogan, "pop, culture, TV", Trio programming under Vivendi/NBC Universal ownership focused on television as a cultural tool and art form.
In January 2005, Trio was dropped from DirecTV, eliminating about two-thirds of the homes that could receive the network. On November 21, 2005, NBC Universal announced that the Trio brand would be transferred to a broadband Internet TV initiative under the Bravotv.com banner on January 1, 2006. Cable and satellite providers still carrying Trio were offered a new NBC Universal cable network instead, called Sleuth, which was renamed Cloo in 2011 and continued on until its sudden closure on February 1, 2017.
This was the umbrella title under which Trio aired repeats of series that had very short lives on mainstream broadcast television, yet were still considered to be programming that "broke the mold" of what was normally expected from the "Big Three" networks. Series that appeared under the Brilliant But Cancelled umbrella included:
Brilliant But Cancelled was later used by Universal as a title for a series of DVDs that feature samples of short-lived series. Two of these have been released so far—one of these a sampler of short-lived crime drama series; another was selected episodes of EZ Streets.
Special airing of shows that flopped.
(The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer was supposed to air, but was pulled due to the controversial nature of the program, which played for laughs the relationship between a black nobleman and President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War).
08:00 AM – The Raccoons
08:30 AM – Once Upon a Hamster
09:00 AM – Mr. Dressup
09:30 AM – The Littlest Hobo
10:00 AM – The Raccoons
10:30 AM – Once Upon a Hamster
11:00 AM – Mr. Dressup
11:30 AM – The Littlest Hobo
12:00 PM – Taste of Life
12:30 PM – Canadian Gardener
01:00 PM – Blue Heelers
02:00 PM – North of 60
03:00 PM – Street Legal
04:00 PM – Murdoch Mysteries
05:00 PM – Northwood
05:30 PM – (Monday; Max Glick)05:30 PM – (Tuesday; Mysterious Island)05:30 PM – (Wednesday; Dog House)05:30 PM – (Thursday; Madison)05:30 PM – (Friday; Deepwater Black)
06:00 PM – (Saturday; Degrassi)
06:30 PM – (Saturday; Street Cents)
06:00 PM – SCTV
06:30 PM – Fashion File
07:00 PM – (Monday; Coltrane in the Cadillac)07:00 PM – (Tuesday; The Fifth Estate)07:00 PM – (Wednesday; Flightpath)07:00 PM – (Thursday; Frost's Century)07:00 PM – (Friday; Undercurrents
07:30 PM – (Friday; MediaTelevision)
08:00 PM – Black Harbour08:30 PM – North of 60
08:00 PM – Street Legal08:30 PM – Mercury
08:00 PM – Noah's Ark08:30 PM – Murdoch Mysteries
08:00 PM – London's Burning08:30 PM – Traders
08:00 PM – Counterstrike08:30 PM – McCallum