| Discovery Science | |
| Picture Format: | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Owner: | Discovery Science Canada Company (CTV Specialty Television (80%)) Warner Bros. Discovery (10%)) |
| Country: | Canada |
| Area: | National |
| Headquarters: | 9 Channel Nine Court, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Former Names: | Discovery Civilization Channel (2001–2010) |
| Sister Channels: | Animal Planet Discovery Channel Discovery Velocity Investigation Discovery |
Discovery Science is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Discovery Science Canada Company, a channel majority-owned by CTV Specialty Television, Inc., a joint venture of Bell Media and ESPN Inc. It is headquartered at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough in Toronto, Ontario that is currently airing science-related programming.
Founded on August 15, 2001 as Discovery Civilization Channel, but after multiple ownership changes, the channel is currently majority-owned and operated by Bell Media, with a 20% share held by Discovery Science Channel's U.S. parent company Discovery Civilization North America, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, and a minority share also owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation through ESPN Inc. (via the CTV Specialty Television subsidiary, stemming from that subsidiary's ownership of sister network TSN; ESPN is not believed to be involved in the operation of the channel).
Bell Media will lose the rights to the Discovery Science brand and its U.S. programming at the end of 2024, at which time the channel will relaunch as CTV Nature Channel, with a mix of programs related to science, nature, and history. Rogers Sports & Media will take over the Canadian rights to Discovery Science programming, primarily distributing it through its streaming and on-demand platforms.
Discovery Science was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on December 14, 2000 as Discovery Civilization Channel Canada.[1] The application was granted to CTV Inc., and was later transferred to its subsidiary, CTV Specialty Television Inc., in which ESPN owns a 20% interest. The channel was originally described in regulatory documents as "a national English-language Category 2 specialty television service dedicated to bringing the diverse people and cultures of the world to Canadian viewers. The service will be dedicated to exploring and understanding the roots of human development and learning from other cultures and traditions."[1]
The channel was launched on August 15, 2001 as Discovery Civilization Channel, with programming devoted to human civilization and history. The channel was intended to be a Canadian version of a U.S. channel of the same name, which was later reformatted and renamed as Discovery Times, and later became Investigation Discovery.On June 4, 2010 CTVglobemedia announced that Discovery Civilization Channel would be rebranded as Discovery Science on September 27, 2010,[2] focusing on science-related programming.
See also: 2024 Canadian specialty television realignment. On June 10, 2024, Rogers Sports & Media announced it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for Canadian rights to its lifestyle brands beginning in January 2025, which were subsequently confirmed to include Discovery Science.[3] [4] This led to a lawsuit by Bell, which claimed the move would violate previous non-compete clauses with WBD; the matter was settled out of court in October.[5] [6] Rogers announced that Discovery Science content would move to its on-demand and streaming platforms including Citytv+, rather than a new linear channel.[7]
On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced the channel would rebrand as CTV Nature Channel on January 1, 2025. With Bell's former Discovery Channel rebranding as a Canadian version of USA Network, CTV Nature will take over much of Discovery's previous mandate within the Bell Media portfolio, repurposing certain Canadian factual series previously commissioned by Bell, as well as other content related to science, nature, and history from third-party distributors.[8]
On June 17, 2011 Bell Media announced that it would launch Discovery Science HD, a high definition (HD) simulcast of the standard definition feed, by the end of 2011.[9] The channel was launched on December 15, 2011 on Bell Fibe TV and on September 11, 2012 on Telus Optik TV.[10] Shaw Direct began using it on August 8, 2018.