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Showcase (Canadian TV channel)

Canadian television channel

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ1390690 ↗
Source-derived summary

Showcase is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. Launched in 1995, the network primarily airs general entertainment programming, particularly action and drama series and films.

History

Licensed in 1994, Showcase was a venture between Alliance Communications (prior to its merger with Atlantis), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a number of smaller independent Canadian producers, and was intended to be a showcase for "the best of independently-produced movies, drama, comedy and mini-series from Canada and around the world", with limited content from the United States.

Showcase was formerly subject to a condition of licence obligating it to air 100% Canadian content between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. in the time zone of the originating feed. While some foreign programming did air in the late afternoon prior to this window, any foreign programming subject to watershed restrictions was required to air at 10:00 p.m. ET or later per the Code of Ethics agreed upon by the industry. For a few years beginning in fall 2005, when the channel was drawing most of its highest ratings for programming acquired from American cable networks, Showcase promoted 10:00 p.m. as its flagship timeslot; in one marketing campaign, the network hired branded taxis in major markets to drive people home for free by 10:00 p.m.

Editorial summary

“Showcase (Canadian TV channel)” enters the record as canadian television channel. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Showcase, Canadian and channel can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1995, 1994, 2005—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1995-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Showcase, Canadian and channel.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Showcase (Canadian TV channel)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Showcase, Canadian and channel provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1390690. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995, 1994 and 2005.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Showcase (Canadian TV channel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Showcase (Canadian TV channel) primary sources, Showcase (Canadian TV channel) archive and Showcase research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Showcase (Canadian TV channel)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Showcase (Canadian TV channel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.