MegaMega

MegaMega is a Canadian young adult's television channel being owned by Corus Entertainment. It features animated shows, anime and live-action shows. It was launched on May 10, 1993. Its flagship show is Letterkenny but it also features television series such as Sailor Moon, Angry Beavers, Regular Show and many more.
It is carried on major cable and satellite providers in Canada (Rogers Cable, Shaw Cable, Cogeco Cable, Telus, SaskTel and EastLink). However, it was broadcast in the USA from November 15, 1997 until September 30, 2012, when the service was taken off DirecTV and other major American cable and satellite providers (though some smaller markets may still carry the channel).
In 2011, Canada's English-language satellite service the Space Channel stopped carrying the channel because of a dispute over MegaMega's content. (This is the same satellite service that carried the USA MegaMega and Space Channel) This angered the local affiliates who didn't want MegaMega to lose more of its advertising revenue. The conflict eventually settled out of court and the service was added back to the service.
== History ==
The channel was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on 1992 by Doug Wright and started on May 10, 1993. It has been distributed to all major Canadian markets. Originally, the network had a target of 15 years, however, it was extended for 3 years, since its audience was not young.
However, in 1996, 47% of MegaMega was sold to Calgary-based Shaw Communications and later the rest of the stake was fully acquired from Roger's remaining shares after 75 days. This is also part of MegaMega Inc.  In 1999, the media assets of Shaw were spun off to form Corus Entertainment.
In 2002, MegaMega expanded its services to the United States, which launched on November 15, 1997 and was carried by DirecTV and later shut down on September 30, 2012. The MegaMega USA feed ceased operations when the MegaMega USA agreement with DirecTV expired in January 2012. It was taken off DirecTV on September 30, 2012, a move that was opposed by affiliates because of a dispute between Discovery Communications and Corus Entertainment.
On January 11, 2011, a high-definition feed was launched along with its sister channel, YTV. As part of a deal with Rogers Communications, Space (later to be rebranded as a space) announced on June 8, 2011, that they would add MegaMega to their channel lineup. It launched on the service on July 12, 2011. On April 14, 2014, the channel was added to Telus Optik TV service.
During the daytime, the channel aired shows such as Pokémon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996), while at night it ran anime series such as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. At the same time, MegaMega offered some limited live-action programming, including the Canadian version of the children's game show Fun Factory and the Canadian educational series Science or Suck, as well of its flagship series, Letterkenny which premiered in 2007.
==MegaMega in the United States==
MegaMega was launched on November 15, 1997, in the United States, and it was carried by DirecTV from 1997 to 2010. The idea was dated back March 1997 when Discovery Communications agreed with Shaw Communications to bring MegaMega to an American audience. Unlike its original Canadian counterpart, it mostly airs movies ranging dates from 1950s to 1990s while it still airs original series from its Canadian counterpart and as well as television comedies and dramas. It also featured the Discovery Kids block on the channel, which aired Sunday mornings from 2002 until 2008.
The channel was eventually removed from DirecTV on September 30, 2012. The reason cited for the removal was a dispute between Discovery Communications and Corus Entertainment. According to the official MegaMega website, Corus filed suit in January 2012 after Discovery allegedly failed to provide a minimum of $1.5 million in funding for the 2012-2013 season.
MegaMega was taken off DirecTV along with six other Discovery Networks channels, including American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet and Discovery HD Theater, when it went off-the-air at 1 AM Eastern Time (11 AM Pacific Time) on September 30, 2012. DirecTV said it could not reach an agreement on its content with Discovery Networks, but this was disputed by Doug Wright Productions. The removal was that the channel showed "adult themed programs, which in some cases cross the line of decency".
==Programs==
See List of programs broadcast by MegaMega
Currently, all programming on MegaMega's schedule is animated, although the channel does feature live-action series. In addition to being aired on the digital multicast feed on The Movie Network and Space.
As with its U.S. counterpart, the programming schedule on the English-language feed of MegaMega features a selection of classic cartoons, anime and live-action series, along with a range of other programming. In addition to the movie trailers that air before feature films on The Movie Network and Space, new animated movies are also scheduled at least once per week on the English-language feed of MegaMega.
==Animation studio==
MegaMega Animation Studios is an animation studio that operates in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
==Production house==
MegaMega Productions, headquartered in Toronto, is a production house in the Asia-Pacific region founded in 1996.
==Criticism==
MegaMega has faced criticism from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for a number of instances of adult-oriented content. On April 18, 2003, MegaMega aired an episode of the show Dragon Ball Z at 6:30 pm. That episode was "The Terror of Freeza". As a result, the CRTC issued a finding of non-compliance against MegaMega for breaching the Code of Ethics in not safeguarding viewers from material that is harmful.
On February 21, 2005, MegaMega aired the episode "The Sleeper Effect" of the Canadian animated series My Life as a Teenage Robot at 6:25 pm. It also aired the episode "Attack of the Clones" of the anime series Naruto on September 25, 2005, and the episode "Nanana" of the series Digimon Tamers at 6:00 pm on November 15, 2005.
On May 1, 2006, the CRTC issued a finding of non-compliance against MegaMega for breaching the Code of Ethics by broadcasting a Dragon Ball Z episode at 6:00 pm on January 20, 2006. In June 2007, the CRTC found that MegaMega breached the code of ethics with the broadcasting of two episodes of Dragon Ball Z at 7:00 pm on February 24, 2007.
In a letter to the CRTC on July 30, 2010, Doug Wright Productions responded to a CRTC report filed by the Parents Television Council in the United States in which Wright Productions called the MegaMega USA "an anomaly in the MegaMega family, and it does not reflect the policies or practices of the Canadian MegaMega." On January 26, 2012, the CRTC issued a finding of non-compliance against MegaMega for the broadcast of the 2-hour miniseries Witches of East End on January 20, 2012, which contained nudity and sexual scenes.
==Ratings==
MegaMega currently ranks third among all children's cable networks in Canada, behind Disney Channel and YTV. The channel ranks 16th among all English-language cable networks, slightly ahead of the Food Network.
On October 11, 2010, the channel drew its highest average audience ever with 100,000 viewers for a two-hour marathon of the 1998 movie Mighty Joe Young on The Movie Network and Space. In January 2011, the channel drew an audience of 179,000 viewers on the English-language feed for its programming block dedicated to Pokémon from January 8 until 10, 2011. The channel had its highest average audience ever, with 227,000 viewers on March 23, 2012.
Category:Canada
Category:Television channels
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1993
Category:Corus Entertainment
Category:Toronto
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