Specialty channel

2007Cable televisionstation inTsukuba,Ibaraki Pref.,Japan

Aspecialty channel(also known in the United States as acable channelorcable network) can be acommercial broadcastingornon-commercialtelevision channelwhich consists oftelevision programmingfocused on a singlegenre,subject or targetedtelevision marketat a specificdemographic.

History

The number of specialty channels greatly increased during the 1990s and 2000s with the increase ofbroadcast bandwidthandtelevision's transition to digital,while the previously common model of countries having just a few (national) TV stations addressing all interest groups and demographics became increasingly outmoded, as it already had been for some time in several countries. About 65% of today's satellite channels are specialty channels.

Types of specialty services may include, but by no means are limited to:

• Adult channels
• Children's interest channels
• Documentary channels
• Entertainment channels
• Men's interest channels
• Movie channels
• Music channels
• News channels
• Public affairs (broadcasting)
• Public, educational, and government access
• Quiz channels
• Shopping channels
• Sports channels
• Religious broadcasting
• Women's interest channels

(These categories are provided for convenience and do not necessarily represent industry-accepted or otherwise legally binding names or categories for these types of services.)

Some specialty channels may not befree-to-airor may not be available through conventionalbroadcast or terrestrial television,and are only distributed viamultichannel televisionservices such ascableorsatellite television.In the United States, such networks are colloquially referred to ascable channelsorcable networks(regardless of distribution method), with the most widely distributed referred to as "basic cable" networks (as opposed to those in higher service tiers, orpremiumservices).In the U.S., specialty channels also operate as broadcast television networks designed to be carried ondigital subchannelsof terrestrial stations (which proliferated following thetransition from analog broadcasting), which usually focus on library programming catering to specific themes, genres, or demographics.

Canadian specialty channels

See also:Multichannel television in CanadaandList of Canadian specialty channels

The term "specialty channel" has been used most frequently inCanada,having been used as a marketing term by the cable industry for various simultaneous launches of new channels throughout the 1990s. TheCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission(CRTC) term for such a channel isspecialtyservice(or even more explicitly "specialty television programming undertaking" ), referring to virtually any non-premium televisionservice which is not carried over the airwaves or otherwise deemed exempt by the CRTC. They are primarily carried, therefore, oncable televisionandsatellite television.

The CRTC previously enforced strict regulations on the types of programming that may be carried by specialty services, employing minimums and restrictions across specific genres on a per-licence basis, and a category system granting exclusive rights to specific categories of channels. These restrictions were imposed to discourage networks fromdeviating from the programming format which they were licensed to broadcast.Under a deregulation scheme, the CRTC has since replaced these with streamlined, standard terms for most specialty channels (discretionary services), whose only major restrictions are on the broadcast of live sports programming. Contrarily, a service licensed as a mainstream sports network is restricted in their carriage of non-sport programming.

See also

• Generalist channel