TV Channels

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Notes on addition criteria

This is not a list of every channel everywhere, just a list of those most likely to be referenced in Fanlore as housing fannish television. For a full list of television networks by country, see the listing on Wikipedia. Likewise, channels do not include listings of every fannish show they've ever aired, just some of the more notable ones to give a feel for the channel's general influence on fandom (to try to keep this page under control). Where possible, a link is given to a more extensive list on Wikipedia.

Australia

See Wikipedia's list of Australian tv series for an incomplete list of all Australian programs and the networks they air(ed) on.

ABC

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by the ABC for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Nine Network

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by Nine Network for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Canada

CBC

Canada's public television station, focused very strongly on Canadian programming these days. See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by CBC for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

CTV

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by CTV for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Global TV

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by Global for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Showcase

A Canadian cable specialty channel with mostly scripted content from domestic and international sources. Many fan favorites are included in the shows Showcase has re-aired (Highlander, dueSouth, Queer as Folk (UK))

Notable fannish offerings originally aired on the channel have included:

Space/CTV Sci-Fi

A Canadian cable specialty channel (see their website) focusing on SF, fantasy, and horror programming. It often uses the subtitle "The Imagination Station" after its name. Space shows both first-run and rerun series. It is noted for showing missing episodes of shows that were cancelled and full versions of shows that are often cut.

Many fan favourites are included among the shows Space has aired, including all Star Trek and Stargate series, Babylon 5 and Crusade, Forever Knight, Firefly, Being Human, Doctor Who and Torchwood, Smallville, and Battlestar Galactica.

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by Space for (an incomplete) list of shows that have aired on Space.

Space was acquired by CTVglobemedia in 2007, and renamed CTV Sci-Fi Channel in 2019.

Germany

ARD

Notable fannish offerings have included:

ZDF

ProSieben

(formerly stylised as Pro7) The channel has co-financed several shows. Notable fannish offerings have included:

RTL

Notable fannish offerings have included:

WDR

Notable fannish offerings have included:

United Kingdom

You may be looking for the The Bored Without Blake Committee, also known as "the BBC", or the Block B fanclub, also known as "BBC").

BBC One

The BBC's main drama channel. See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by the BBC for a full list (note: combined, not broken out by BBC channel). It, along with all other BBC-branded networks, is funded through an annual licence fee that UK citizens must pay in order to legally operate a radio or television set.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

BBC Two

BBC Three

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by the BBC for a full list (note: combined, not broken out by BBC channel).

Notable fannish offerings have included:

CBBC

Aimed at children/younger audiences.

Channel 4 & E4

ITV

ITV is a "network" of independent broadcasters throughout the UK who produce and share programming. Despite UK citizens needing to pay a licence fee to operate a TV set, that money goes towards funding the BBC; ITV is a commercial-funded network. Due to its shows being formatted for ads, many have widespread syndication in the US and even aired on networks there.

See Wikipedia's list of programs aired by ITV for an incomplete list.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

United States

ABC

One of the traditional "big three" broadcast networks. It carries news, soap operas, dramas, comedies, reality shows, miniseries, and movies. It tends toward mainstream rather than genre offerings.

See Wikipedia's list of current ABC shows and Wikipedia's list of previously aired ABC shows for a complete listing of all ABC shows. In 1995 it was bought by Disney.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

ABC Family (now Freeform)

A basic cable channel and is a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. Its programming includes off-network syndicated reruns and original series, feature films and made-for-TV original movies. From 1998 to 2001 it was known as "Fox Family" which syndicated many Canadian series, such as Big Wolf on Campus. In 2016, ABC Family changed its name to "Freeform" in order to cater more to young adults than families or teenagers following years of complaints by parents and media watchdogs over sexual content and violence in programming branded "Family" (the inclusion of the word "Family" in the branding being a legacy from when ABC Family used to be a religious-based network).

See list of ABC Family shows.

AMC

A basic cable channel whose name originally stood for "American Movie Classics," but which has recently started airing critically-acclaimed original programming.

Notable original fannish offerings include:

A&E

A basic cable channel whose former name for "Arts & Entertainment Network". See List of programs broadcast by A&E Network at Wikipedia for a full list.

Notable original fannish offerings include:

Cartoon Network

A basic cable channel that is a division of Time Warner company that is mainly geared towards children to preteens. In the early 2000s, the channel created "Adult Swim" which would be any show after 11PM and the cartoons would be aimed toward late teens and adults. See the full list of shows that aired on Cartoon Network and full list of shows that aired on Adult Swim.

Notable fannish offerings include:

Adult Swim:

CBS

One of the traditional "big three" broadcast networks. It carries news, soap operas, dramas, comedies, reality shows, miniseries, and movies. It tends toward mainstream rather than genre offerings.

See Wikipedia's list of current CBS shows and Wikipedia's list of previously aired CBS shows for a complete listing of all CBS shows.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

CBS All Access

CBS All Access is CBS's subscription streaming service operated by CBS Interactive. Star Trek: Discovery was one of the first shows made available only on the streaming service in order to draw subscribers. The service was subsequently renamed Paramount+.

Notable CBS All Access original content includes:

The CW

The new network created from the merger of UPN and the WB in 2006. See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by The CW for a complete list.

Notable original fannish offerings include:

There also is CWRPS, an RPF subfandom specifically for actors of this network.

CW Seed

CW Seed is a CW production arm that provides original content created exclusively for digital platforms focused in the areas of animation, game shows, comedy and digital personalities.

Currently also has Hellcats, Forever and Birds of Prey.

Comedy Central


Disney Channel

Disney Channel is an American cable and satellite television channel which features original programming aimed at kids, younger teens, and families. Most of these programs range from live-action productions to animated programs.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

E!

E! is an American basic cable and satellite television channel. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.

Fox

The fourth of the "big three" networks. Especially early on, Fox tended toward edgier, riskier programming as it tried to gain the youth audience away from the staid existing networks.

See Wikipedia's list of Fox shows (current and former) for a complete listing of all Fox shows.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

FX

FX, originally an initialism of "Fox Extended", is an American basic cable and satellite television channel.

See Wikipedia's list of FX shows (current and former) for a complete listing of all FX shows. Notable fannish offerings have included:

FXX

In 2013, FXX was launched as an offshoot of FX, mostly focused on comedy.

Programs aired on FXX include:

HBO

A pay-cable channel; you have to specifically choose to subscribe to it to see it. It originally aired only movies, but eventually began showing original programming, gaining a reputation for gritty realism and high-quality programming. As a pay-cable station, it has fewer limits on topics it can deal with, and on what sorts of things can be shown and said (i.e., more skin, more violence, more sex, and more swearing than broadcast or basic cable stations).

Notable original fannish offerings have included:

Lifetime

A cable channel that has TV shows or movies that are geared toward women or features women in lead roles. See a full list of programing at Wikipedia.

Notable original fannish offerings have included:

MGM

The television chanel launched in 1956 as "MGM-TV" as a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production/distribution studio, was and still is responsible for several films and series. See a full list of filmes at MGM Wikipedia Article and programming at MGM Television Wikipedia Article.

MTV

A cable channel that was original known to be a music television channel - showing music videos 24/7 - and later on a reality television channel - showing reality shows. Although the channel still has reality shows, many of the newer shows are geared towards young adults and teenagers. See a full list of programing at Wikipedia.

Notable original fannish offerings have included:

NBC

One of the traditional "big three" broadcast networks. It carries news, soap operas, dramas, comedies, reality shows, miniseries, and movies. It tends toward mainstream rather than genre offerings.

See Wikipedia's list of current NBC shows and Wikipedia's list of previously aired NBC shows for a complete listing of all NBC shows.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Netflix

Netflix is an on-demand internet-streaming media provider. As with HBO, the fact it's an optional service means it has fewer rules as to what it can air. As such most original Netflix programming has higher levels of sexual content and/or violence than that found on even broadcast cable.

See Wikipedia's list of original Netflix shows for a complete listing of all Netflix shows.

Notable fannish offerings have included:

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is a basic cable channel that has also spanned quite a few shows and movies that earned some fandoms, both in live-action tv and animated cartoons. See list of programs broadcast by Nick and list of films broadcast by Nick for a more complete list.

Notable original fannish offerings included:

Challenges

Communities

Fanworks

PBS

The only publicly funded broadcast network in the US, PBS has been home to a great deal of British programming, including Doctor Who and many of the Age of Sail shows. They are also known for their children's programming, including Sesame Street, Arthur (TV series), Reading Rainbow, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and many others.

SciFi (now SyFy)

A basic-cable channel, although not always in the most basic tier; a cable or satellite subscriber will probably have access without needing to pay a specific subscription for it. It carries syndicated SF/fantasy/horror shows, original SF shows, original movies, and most recently, reality programming that ranges from paranormal to things like "Scare Tactics" that have nothing whatsoever to do with science fiction.

See Wikipedia's list of SciFi shows for a complete list of programs aired by SciFi.

Notable original fannish offerings have included:

Showtime

A pay-cable channel; you have to specifically choose to subscribe to it to see it. It originally aired only movies, but eventually began showing original programming, gaining a reputation for high-quality programming (and soft-core porn). Like HBO, as a pay-cable station, it has fewer limits on topics it can deal with, and on what sorts of things can be shown and said (i.e., more skin, more violence, more sex, and more swearing than broadcast or basic cable stations).

See Wikipedia's list of Showtime programming for a complete list.

Notable original fannish offerings have included:

Spike

Spike (formerly and popularly known as Spike TV) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel. Spike had devoted large chunks of its programming time to the Star Trek franchise, to varying degrees. It initially featured Star Trek: The Next Generation heavily before introducing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 2004 and Star Trek: Voyager in 2006. It was originally known as The Nashville Network, and focused on Southern/country music-themed programming.

SundanceTV

SundanceTV, previously known as just Sundance Channel, a Cable network channel owned by AMC (2008-present); previously owned by Showtime (1996-2008). See for a List of Programming.

Notable original fanish offerings include:

TBS

TBS is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. TBS carries a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy, along with some sports events. TBS airs a mix of original sitcoms and reruns of sitcoms, includes some late-night talk and airing feature films. See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by TBS for a complete list.

TNT

You may be looking for the Brian Croucher fan club called TNT. TNT is a basic cable channel that spanned a few shows that earned some fandom. See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by TNT for a complete list.

UPN

Now defunct; it merged into The CW in 2006 along with the WB. See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by UPN for a complete list.

Notable original fannish offerings included:

USA Network

See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by USA for a complete list.

Notable fannish offerings:

The WB

Now defunct; it merged into The CW in 2006 along with UPN. See Wikipedia's list of programs broadcast by the WB for a complete list.

Notable original fannish offerings included:

Kids' WB

See the full list of progams broadcasted by Kids' WB for more.
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