Adult Swim (Canadian TV channel) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Adult Swim

Logo used since 2012
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	Corus Entertainment (branding licensed from Warner Bros. Discovery)
Parent	Showcase Television Inc.
Sister channels	Télétoon Cartoon Network Boomerang
History
Launched	September 7, 2001; 22 years ago (2001-09-07)
Availability
Streaming media
StackTV	Over-the-top TV

Adult Swim is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Showcase Television, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily airs animated and live-action comedies targeting a teenage and young adult audience.

The channel was originally launched in 2001 as Showcase Action (later Action), a digital cable spin-off of Showcase focused on action series and films. The channel was re-launched as Adult Swim on April 1, 2019; its branding is licensed from the Adult Swim programming block broadcast by Warner Bros. Discovery's Cartoon Network. The channel was spun off from the Adult Swim block that aired on the Canadian version of Cartoon Network (marking the first time the brand has been used for a full-time channel), and the Teletoon at Night block that had aired on its parent channel Teletoon.

History

As Showcase Action/Action (2001–2019)

Showcase Action logo used until 2009

In November 2000, Alliance Atlantis was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a new category 2 specialty service named "Action Television", which would be devoted to entertainment programming in the action genre. The channel launched on September 7, 2001, as Showcase Action, a spin-off of its analog specialty channel Showcase.

On January 18, 2008, Alliance Atlantis's broadcasting assets were acquired by CW Media, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. The channel was renamed Action on August 31, 2009. On October 27, 2010, the channel was acquired by Shaw Media as part of its acquisition of Canwest.

By 2011, Action had begun to diverge from its original format, increasingly acquiring reality shows from the U.S. network TruTV. In 2011, Action would begin airing one original comedy program, Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will, which was cancelled after one season. Another original series, But I'm Chris Jericho!, starring Canadian-born professional wrestler Chris Jericho, premiered as a webseries in 2013 on Action's YouTube channel, and was later acquired for a second season by CBC Television's digital outlet CBC Comedy.

On May 1, 2015, a high definition feed of Action was launched. In 2016, Shaw Media was acquired by its sister company Corus Entertainment.

As Adult Swim (2019–present)

Much like its U.S counterpart, Corus had previously operated Adult Swim as a block on the Canadian version of Cartoon Network, which launched on July 4, 2012. Its sibling channel Teletoon had also carried the similarly-positioned Teletoon at Night block, which also acquired programming from Adult Swim. From March 2016 through November 2018, Time Warner had also operated an Adult Swim subscription video on demand service for Android and iOS devices via Adult Swim Games, which streamed some of Adult Swim's original programming in Canada. New episodes were added to the app following their U.S. airings, Originally, Rick and Morty and Robot Chicken premieres were only added after they aired in Canada. Beginning with its third season, new episodes of Rick and Morty were added the next day after their U.S. premiere. In 2017, new episodes from Samurai Jack's fifth season were added two days after they premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block.

On March 4, 2019, Corus announced that Action would be relaunched as Adult Swim on April 1, 2019, marking the first time that the brand would be used for a 24-hour channel. Both the Teletoon at Night and the Adult Swim blocks were discontinued as part of the channel's launch. 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. Shows announced for the channel's launch included Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories, The Eric Andre Show, and Lazor Wulf, the latter of which was announced to premiere day-and-date with the U.S service.

Programming

Adult Swim primarily airs animated and live-action comedy programming, including original productions from the U.S. block, acquisitions from its sister streaming service Max (such as Harley Quinn), and off-network reruns of animated sitcoms.

Most of the channel's domestic first-run programs are English dubs of series commissioned by the French-language Télétoon's late-night block Télétoon la nuit, including The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi and Doomsday Brothers. During Corus Entertainment's 2022 upfronts presentation, Adult Swim announced the upcoming original series Psi Cops, and an animated adaptation of the Québécois comic book Red Ketchup (co-commissioned with Télétoon).

Unlike its U.S. counterpart, the channel does not offer a Toonami block, although it has picked up anime co-commissioned by Adult Swim/Toonami (such as Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Housing Complex C). In order to fulfill Canadian content requirements, the channel also carries reruns of Canadian-produced library content (including original series that had been produced for the previous Adult Swim and Teletoon at Night blocks), and airs made-for-TV films on weekday mornings (a holdover from Action).

Current programming

Upcoming programming

• Rick and Morty: The Anime (Fall 2023)
• Uzumaki (2023)

Former programming

As a channel

As a programming block

See also

• Télétoon la nuit