TV Channels
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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:
- The Big Gig
- Good News Week (later sold to Channel Ten)
- Bluey
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:
- Blake's 7
- Doctor Who
- Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes
- Merlin
- Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth adaptation), and many other costume dramas
- Spooks/MI5
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
- Black Mirror
- Camelot
- Formula 1
- The Great British Bake-Off
- The Inbetweeners
- The IT Crowd
- Misfits
- My Mad Fat Diary
- Shameless (UK)
- Skins
- Queer As Folk (UK)
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:
- Agatha Christie's Poirot
- The Avengers
- Jeeves & Wooster
- Inspector Morse and its spin-off Lewis
- The Prisoner
- The Professionals
- Robin of Sherwood
- Sherlock Holmes (the Jeremy Brett adaptations)
- Space: 1999
- Thunderbirds
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:
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Alias
- Castle
- General Hospital
- Grey's Anatomy
- Lost
- One Life To Live
- Once Upon a Time
- The Real Ghostbusters
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch (later moved to WB)
- Scrubs
- Sports Night
- Starsky and Hutch
- Three's Company
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).
- 10 Things I Hate About You (TV Series based of the film)
- Baby Daddy
- The Bold Type
- Chasing Life
- Greek
- Famous in Love
- The Fosters
- Kyle XY
- The Lying Game
- Make It or Break It
- Melissa & Joey
- The Nine Lives of Chloe King
- Pretty Little Liars
- The Secret Life of the American Teenager
- Shadowhunters
- Siren
- Young & Hungry
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:
- Breaking Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul
- Mad Men
- The Prisoner (2009 remake)
- The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead
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:
- Breakout Kings
- Longmire (moved to Netflix after cancellation)
- Bates Motel
- The Glades
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:
- Adventure Time
- Ben 10
- Codename: Kids Next Door
- Dexter's Laboratory
- DreamWorks Dragons
- Ed, Edd n Eddy
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
- Johnny Bravo
- Justice League Unlimited
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Regular Show
- Samurai Jack
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Steven Universe
- Teen Titans
Adult Swim:
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Cowboy Bebop
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- InuYasha
- Metalocalypse
- Rick and Morty
- Robot Chicken
- The Boondocks
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:
- As the World Turns
- Criminal Minds
- The CSI universe
- due South
- Hogan's Heroes
- MASH
- NCIS
- Numb3rs
- Supergirl (moved to CW)
- The Twilight Zone
- The Wild Wild West
- The Young and the Restless
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:
- Smallville
- Supernatural
- Veronica Mars
- The Vampire Diaries/The Originals/Legacies
- Reaper
- 90210
- Valentine
- Gossip Girl
- Emily Owens, M.D.
- Life Unexpected
- Ringer
- Hellcats
- Arrowverse / DCTV
- Black Lightning
- Beauty & the Beast
- Nikita
- Hart of Dixie
- Reign
- The Carrie Diaries
- The 100
- Jane the Virgin
- iZombie
- Star-Crossed
- Riverdale
- Dynasty
- Charmed (2018)
- Roswell, New Mexico
- All American
- In the Dark
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.
- Stupid Hype
- I Ship It
- How to Be a Vampire
- JoJoHead
- Prom Queen
- Husbands
- Vixen
- Constantine (moved from NBC)
- Freedom Fighters: The Ray
Currently also has Hellcats, Forever and Birds of Prey.
Comedy Central
- Futurama (after being cancelled by Fox)
- South Park
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:
- 24
- Alien Nation
- Bones
- Dark Angel
- Doctor Who (1996 TV movie)
- Dollhouse
- Family Guy
- Firefly
- Glee
- House
- Prison Break
- The Simpsons
- Space: Above and Beyond
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- That 70s Show
- The X-Files
- Lucifer (moved to Netflix)
- Prodigal Son (TV series)
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:
- American Horror Story
- The Americans
- Fargo
- The Strain
- American Crime Story
- Taboo
- Legion
- Louie
- Baskets
- Atlanta
- Better Things
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:
- Army Wives
- The Client List
- Drop Dead Diva
- Flowers in the Attic film remake & the sequel Petals on the Wind
- Witches of East End
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:
- Days of Our Lives
- Hannibal
- Heroes
- Homicide: Life on the Street
- The Law & Order universe
- The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (originally from MGM)
- Star Trek
- Third Watch
- The West Wing
- Revolution
- Saved by the Bell
- Grimm
- The Blacklist
- The Chicago series franchise : Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice
- Blindspot
- The Schuroverse: Parks & Recreation, The Office, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Guiding Light
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:
- Orange Is the New Black
- Hemlock Grove
- Mako Mermaids
- House of Cards
- Sense8
- Fuller House (a spin-off of Full House)
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Grace and Frankie
- Stranger Things
- Longmire (originally from A&E)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe Neflix Television series:
- Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (miniseries)
- The OA
- A Series of Unfortunate Events
- One Day at a Time
- Crazyhead
- Travelers
- Santa Clarita Diet
- 13 Reasons Why
- Dear White People
- Black Mirror, series 3 and on
- My Dad the Bounty Hunter
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:
- As Told by Ginger
- Avatar: The Last Airbender & its sequel The Legend of Korra
- Barnyard
- CatDog
- Clarissa Explains It All
- Danny Phantom
- Doug
- Drake & Josh
- The Fairly OddParents
- Hey Arnold!
- iCarly
- Invader Zim
- The Loud House
- Rugrats
- Sanjay and Craig
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- The Thundermans
- Victorious
- Winx Club
Challenges
- DisNick Big Bang link, owned by disnick_mod
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:
- Wild Kratts
- Sesame Street
- Arthur (TV series)
- Reading Rainbow
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
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:
- Eureka
- The Expanse (seasons 1-3)
- Battlestar Galactica
- Farscape
- The Invisible Man
- Stargate Atlantis
- Stargate SG-1 (after it left Showtime)
- Warehouse 13
- Sanctuary
- Haven
- Tin Man
- Alice
- Being Human
- Continuum
- Alphas
- Red: Werewolf Hunter
- Wynonna Earp
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:
- Ash vs. Evil Dead
- Californication
- Dead Like Me
- Dexter
- Homeland
- The L Word
- Odyssey 5
- Penny Dreadful
- Poltergeist: The Legacy
- Queer as Folk US
- Shameless
- Stargate SG-1
- Weeds
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.
- American Dad! (after being cancelled by Fox)
- Angie Tribeca
- The Detour
- Search Party
- People of Earth
- The Guest Book
- Wrecked
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.
- The Closer
- Dallas (2012 revival)
- Falling Skies
- Franklin & Bash
- King & Maxwell
- Perception
- Rizzoli & Isles
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:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (after it left The WB)
- Roswell (after it left The WB)
- The Sentinel
- Star Trek: Enterprise
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Veronica Mars (later shown on the CW)
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:
- Angel the Series
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (later moved to UPN)
- Dawson's Creek
- Gilmore Girls (final season shown on the CW)
- Popular
- Roswell (later moved to UPN)
- Smallville (later shown on the CW)
- Supernatural (later shown on the CW)
Kids' WB
- See the full list of progams broadcasted by Kids' WB for more.
- The Batman
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Batman Beyond
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Johnny Test
- Legion of Super Heroes
- Men in Black: The Series
- The Mummy: The Animated Series
- Pokémon
- The Spectacular Spider-Man
- Static Shock
- Superman: The Animated Series
- Teen Titans
- What's New, Scooby-Doo?
- X-Men: Evolution
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- The Zeta Project