Shaw Media is the television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 broadcasting

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...

 division of Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...

. Shaw Media owns the Global Television Network

Global Television Network

Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...

, which broadcasts via 11 television stations, as well as various specialty channel

Specialty channel

A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....

s including HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History Television

History Television

History Television is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that presents programming about history and some non-historical programming of military, science and technology interest. It is owned by Shaw Media. Its French language counterpart is Historia.The channel operates two...

.

Despite also being controlled by the Shaw family, Shaw Media does not share any other connections with Corus Entertainment

Corus Entertainment

Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...

, a separate company that was spun-off from Shaw in 1999 and was then known as Shaw Media.

History

Canwest, formerly a major Canadian broadcaster and newspaper publisher owned by the family of Izzy Asper

Izzy Asper

Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper, , Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate, was the founder of the now defunct CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and President Leonard Asper, former director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, as well as Executive Vice President David Asper...

, filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2009. This was widely blamed on the debt incurred when the company acquired the Southam newspaper chain in 2000, and then most of the properties of Alliance Atlantis

Alliance Atlantis

Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...

 in 2007, the latter in partnership with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally....

.

In May 2010, Shaw announced an agreement with Canwest's lenders and with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners to acquire the Canwest broadcasting properties for C$

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

2.0 billion; the deal was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on October 22 of that year, and completed on October 27. Canwest's newspapers and other publishing assets were spun off earlier in 2010 to form Postmedia Network

Postmedia Network

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is a Canadian media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations....

, a new company led by National Post

National Post

The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...

 CEO Paul Godfrey

Paul Godfrey

Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, OOnt is a businessman and former Canadian politician. During his career, Godfrey was a North York alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the Toronto Sun and head of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was instrumental in bringing the Toronto Blue Jays to Toronto and has...

.

The only asset sold off since the formation was BBC Kids

BBC Kids

BBC Kids is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Knowledge Network Corporation and BBC Worldwide. It's a commercial-free channel that airs programming aimed at youth ranging from pre-schoolers to teens.-Overview:...

 to Knowledge Network Corporation on May 12, 2011 after the CRTC approval on April 29, 2011.

Operations

Shaw Media operates 18 specialty channels including, HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History Television

History Television

History Television is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that presents programming about history and some non-historical programming of military, science and technology interest. It is owned by Shaw Media. Its French language counterpart is Historia.The channel operates two...

The Global Television network broadcasts via 11 television stations, reaching:

• BC (CHAN Vancouver)
• Okanagan (CHBC Kelowna)
• Edmonton (CITV)
• Calgary (CICT)
• Lethbridge (CISA)
• Regina (CFRE)
• Saskatoon (CFSK)
• Winnipeg (CKND)
• Thunder Bay (CHFD, affiliate)
• Toronto (CIII)
• Montreal (CKMI)
• Maritimes (CIHF Halifax)