Vrak.TV

Vrak.TV (or Vrak or Vrak Télévision) is a Canadian television channel owned by Blue Ant Media. It is a revival of the defunct television channel of the same name. The channel is aimed at preschoolers aged 2 - 6, Kids aged 7 - 12, teenagers aged 13-19, and adults aged 21 -50 making it a family channel.
== History ==
Background
TVJQ
The youth channel TVJQ ("Télévision des Jeunes du Québec") went on the air in 1982 and was distributed by a subsidiary of Vidéotron. It was originally available only in the Montreal and Quebec City areas.
In 1986, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted a license to Vidéotron for its TVJQ channel to be carried over by other cable companies elsewhere. This made Vidéotron the first cable company in Canadian history to simultaneously be a producer of television content. However, TVJQ was intended to be temporary until a permanent channel for children would succeed it.
Licensed by the CRTC in 1987, Le Canal Famille was launched on September 1, 1988, as a replacement to TVJQ. Le Canal Famille was created by Premier Choix TVEC which was already partially owned by Astral Media through its subsidiary Astral Bellevue Communications.
Le Canal Famille, name translated as The Family Channel, which was the name of another Canadian youth channel that also began airing in September 1988 and itself owned at 50% by Astral Bellevue Communications.
VRAK
Canal Famille was replaced by VRAK.TV on January 2, 2001, keeping the same channel frequency and still owned by Astral Media. The channel switched to an ad-supported format in 2006 to coincide with the renewal of license and launch of HD feed.
Vrak.TV was separated from its sister channels in 2013 due to the acquisition of Astral Media by Bell Media; Bell sold off Family Channel, the French version of Disney Junior, the English version of Disney Junior and Disney XD to DHX Media, and MusiMax and MusiquePlus to V Media Group.
Vrak.TV was simply renamed to just Vrak on August 25, 2014 and launched a new block, Vrak2, aimed at a teen audience.
On September 12, 2016, Vrak changed its audience focus to the ages 13–35 group due to the success of its Vrak2 block. Some series targeting its former audience focus moved to other stations.
Removal from Videotron, closure
On August 16, 2023, Vrak and Z were removed from Vidéotron, the company that created the original channel it was based on 41 years earlier, whilst Bell removed Yoopa from all of their TV services a day later. Yoopa is now scheduled to shut down on January 11, 2024, and will be replaced with a TV broadcast version of its parent company's QUB Radio channel.
Two days later on August 18, 2023, Bell Media announced that the channel would be closing on October 1, 2023, owing to "challenges" in the broadcasting sector, lack of viewers and regulatory affairs deemed "outdated" by Bell Media. On September 25, the CRTC confirmed it had revoked Vrak's licence at the request of Bell Media. On October 1, 2023, the channel had shut down entirely with the final program being an episode of Entre deux draps (The French adaptation of Pillow Talk). There was no goodbye or farewell message, and at midnight Eastern Time, after the show was finished, the channel gave way to a sign off message for one final time for a few seconds, followed by a black screen. Color bars were shown for a few hours starting at 1 AM before cable and satellite providers were notified that the channel had ceased operations, after which the channel space folded and ceased to exist.
== Revival ==
Blue Ant Media announced that they made a deal with Bell Media to bring Vrak back. Bell sold the name and rights to Blue Ant Media and Blue Ant Media announced that they would bring Vrak back under it original format but more.
== Reason for bringing back Vrak ==
Blue Ant Media lost the rights to the children's channel ZooMoo, so, they decided to bring back Vrak to have a new children's channel. And it was also made as way to compete with YTV and Family Channel (The previous namesake for which it was the French name for it.) 
== Relaunch ==
Blue Ant Media then brought Vrak (as Vrak.TV) and it's old mascot "Bibite" back from the day it was shut down and it's old programming returns as well.
==== The "Gardez-le méchant" era ====
As a part of the revival it has a new era "Gardez-le méchant" (French for "Keep it Wicked") a nod to YTV's "Keep it Weird" era and the channel's original slogan "CANAL MÉCHANT", The channel has wicked shows for 7-12 year olds. Blue Ant Media felt that it would really help the channel get back on it's "transmitted feet"
== The programming debacle ==
The channel got the rights to it's old shows back and even more the first program that was broadcast was the French version of Dora the Explorer (original series)
== Mascot ==
The mascot of the channel is Bibite a blue creature with antenna 
He was the mascot for the channel from 2001 to 2007
He was dropped from the channel while Vrak used a simplified version of the Vrak logo
But then when Blue Ant Media bought Vrak from Bell Media they decided to bring him back because they felt he brought a sense of fun to the channel and thought he'd be the host of the channel. 
==Programming ==
Main article: List of programs broadcast on Vrak.TV
The programming is French dubs of programs from CBBC, GoKids, Qubo, Discovery Kids, TVOKids, CBC Kids, CBS Kidshow, Vortexx, 4Kids TV, TheCW4Kids, Toonzai, CITV, LittleBe, Fox Family Channel, Smile TV, PBS Kids, Jetix, FoxBox, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney, etc.
==== Programming blocks====
Vrak Junior - the programming block for preschoolers in the morning
Vrak Famille - the programming block showcasing programming block showcasing shows for the whole family (including classic sitcoms, dramas, Westerns, etc.)
Vrak la Nuit - the programming block for adults showcasing adult animation and classic television shows, made as a competitior to Télétoon la Nuit.
Vrak Boum - the action adventure block showcasing action shows for kids.
Vrak Fantôme Maison - the programming block showcasing horror shows for kids.
Vrak Résultats - the programming block showcasing Comedy shows for kids.
Vrak Étoile spatiale - the programming block showcasing sci-fi shows for kids.
Vrak Céleste - Programming block showcasing fantasy shows for kids.
Vrak Classiques - the programming block showcasing classic television shows and cartoons for kids.
Vrak Adolescents - the block airing shows in between the afternoons and evenings.
Vrak Fille - The programming block showcasing shows for girls.
Vrak Otaku Heure - the block showcasing anime for 7-12 years old.
Vrak Dessins animés - The programming block showcasing cartoons 
Vrak X SpaceToon - a programming block showcasing different planets shown as a promotion for SpaceToon Canada and Espace Dessin animé.
Category:Canada
Category:Canadian Television Network
Category:Children's TV Channels
Category:French language television channels
Category:Quebec
Category:Blue Ant Media
Category:Cartoon channel
Category:Family tv channel
Category:Vrak
Category:Anime television
Category:Classic television
Category:Revivals
Category:Reboots
Category:Vidéotron
Category:Bell Media
Category:Canadian Radio-televison and Telecommunications Comissions