Vrak

Vrak was a Franco-Canadian specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcast live-action programming aimed at 13-to-35 year-old audiences.

For the Swedish museum, see Vrak – Museum of Wrecks.
Vrak
2016-2023 Vrak logo
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersMontreal, Quebec
Programming
Language(s)French
Ownership
OwnerBell Media
Sister channelsNoovo
Z
Canal D
Canal Vie
Cinépop
MTV
MTV2
Much
History
Launched1982 (Montreal/Quebec City)
September 1, 1988 (cable)
ReplacedCanal Famille
ClosedSeptember 30, 2023
Former namesTVJQ (1982–1988)
Le Canal Familie (1988–2001)
Vrak.TV (2001–2014)

The network launched in 1988 as Le Canal Familie with a family-friendly focus, though the service itself originally launched in 1982 as channel specific to Montreal and Quebec City, before eventually focusing on Francophone Canadian teen audiences exclusively with a change in branding to "Vrak" in 2001. It ended on September 30, 2023 after declines in viewers and shifts in the Canadian broadcasting industry, along with major Québécois cable system Vidéotron dropping the network.[1]

History

TVJQ

The youth channel TVJQ ("Télévision des Jeunes du Québec") went on the air in 1982 and was distributed by a subsidiary of Vidéotron.[2] It was originally available only in the Montreal and Quebec City areas.[3]

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.[3] This made Vidéotron the first cable company in Canadian history to simultaneously be a producer of television content.[3] However, TVJQ was intended to be temporary until a permanent channel for children would succeed it.[3]

Le Canal Famille
The 1988–1995 logo of the channel as Le Canal Famille. A newer logo was used from 1995 until 2001.
The 2001–2007 Vrak.TV logo, featuring the channel's mascot, Bibite.[4] The mascot was dropped in 2007, but a simplified variant of this logo was used until 2014.
The 2014 Vrak logo was used until 2016.

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 itself was already partially owned at the time by Astral Media (the predecessor of Bell Media).[5]

Le Canal Famille, name translated as The Family Channel, which was the name of another Canadian youth channel that also began airing in 1988, as well as YTV (owned by Corus Entertainment).[6]

VRAK

Le Canal Famille was replaced by VRAK.TV on January 2, 2001.[7] 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.[8]

On September 12, 2016, Vrak changed its audience focus to the ages 13–35 group due to the success of its Vrak2 block.[9] Some series targeting its former audience focus moved to other stations.

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. Two days later on August 18, 2023, Bell Media announced that the channel would be closing on October 1, 2023,[10] owing to "challenges" in the broadcasting sector, lack of viewers and regulatory affairs deemed "outdated" by Bell Media.[1] On September 25, the CRTC confirmed it had revoked Vrak's licence at the request of Bell Media.[11]

At the last minute of September 30, 2023, the channel wound down after an episode of Entre deux draps (The French adaptation of Pillow Talk) without any ceremony.

Programming

Since its creation, the channel had aired animated series, teen sitcoms and light-hearted dramas. Many of them are French dubs of English-language programs such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, What I Like About You, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, The O.C., Life with Derek, Smallville, SpongeBob SquarePants, That '70s Show, 90210, Gossip Girl, and many others. It also aired programs from Disney Channel; due to the launch of La Chaîne Disney by Corus Entertainment, the last remaining Disney Channel show on the channel, Good Luck Charlie (Bonne chance Charlie in French), was removed from the schedule in September 2016. The channel also featured local Quebec French language productions, such as Il était une fois dans le trouble and Une grenade avec ça?. Other series that the channel popularized were Dans une galaxie près de chez vous and Radio Enfer. As of 2010, the channel had aired films weekly.

Initially, as required by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the channel carried no commercials until 2006.[12] However, it aired promotional messages, interstitial programs (such as help segments known as R-Force (pronounced like "Air Force")), and public service announcements instead. The channel aired commercials from 2006-2023 with the launch of its HD feed and license renewal. Its former English-language counterpart (Family Channel) continued to be commercial-free until November 2016.

Unlike the other specialty channels, Vrak was the only channel on the air daily from 6am to midnight. When the station was Le Canal Famille, the station would close down at 7pm (8pm on weekends), sharing time with the flagship Super Écran channel (then also owned by Astral and now sharing Bell Media ownership with Vrak). In 2001, when the channel was revamped as VRAK.TV, its hours were increased to 10 p.m. (Super Écran followed on most systems). Vrak's closedown time at midnight went into effect in mid-2005.

On September 12, 2016, due to the channel's changes in audience focus, its animation programming completely disappeared from the channel, eventually, they reappeared on the channel in January 2017, starting with SpongeBob SquarePants (Bob l'éponge in French).

Since May 2019, all remaining children programming on the channel has completely disappeared. From May 2022 onward, the channel would focus exclusively on dramas until it's final broadcast in 2023.

Vrak HD

On October 30, 2006, Astral Media launched an HD simulcast of Vrak.TV called Vrak.TV HD.

It was available on Bell Satellite TV, Bell Fibe TV, Cogeco, Optik TV, Rogers Cable, Shaw Direct and Vidéotron.

International distribution

See also

References
  1. "Bell Media axes VRAK, the French-language youth TV channel based in Montreal". CBC News. 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  2. "Une chaîne pour l 'enfance sans aucune publicité". Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières. 22 July 1988. p. D11.
  3. "TVJQ, en attendant un "vrai" canal jeunesse". La Presse. Montreal. April 24, 1984. p. C1.
  4. "LE GROUPE DE RADIODIFFUSION ASTRAL INC. :: Quebec (Canada) :: OpenCorporates".
  5. CRTC Decision 84-32
  6. "CBC/Radio-Canada - History - 1980s". Archived from the original on 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  7. "Vrak.tv remplace Canal Famille - Infopresse". Archived from the original on 2016-06-25.
  8. "VRAK - Details". bellmediapr.ca.
  9. "Changement d'orientation : la direction de VRAK explique ses choix (In French)". Huffington Post Quebec. 10 September 2016.
  10. https://www.iheartradio.ca/rouge-fm/rouge-fm-drummondville/nouvelles/fin-des-emissions-pour-vrak-apres-23-ans-1.20139779
  11. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (September 25, 2023). "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2023-324". Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  12. Decision: Premier Choix: TVEC Inc. "Canal Famille" — 871204400, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, 1 December 1987
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