YTV

YTV, informally (never officially) known as Youth Television, is a Canadian specialty cable network that launched in 1988. Aimed at older children and teenagers, the network airs a mixture of original programming, imported youth programming from the US, and also airs teen and adult-oriented sitcoms from Great Britain.

One of the first shows on YTV's schedule was Doctor Who, with the network deciding to air the series from the very beginning, starting with An Unearthly Child. This marked the first time the 1960s-era episodes had been shown in Canada since the mid-1960s, and was also the first time many Canadians were able to view Doctor Who in its original serialised format, as for the decade preceding the show was widely seen via cable television import of PBS broadcasters from the US, who aired the stories in omnibus format (although the 30-minute episodes had been shown in a limited fashion on TVOntario and some local broadcasters).

YTV ultimately aired all existing episodes of the series up to Season 26 in a weekday afternoon timeslot. The final two Sylvester McCoy seasons were aired in a separate evening time slot, only a few months after their broadcast in the UK and long before they were broadcast by PBS in the US.

YTV followed its Doctor Who broadcasts by hosting the North American premiere of Red Dwarf, although some episodes had to be heavily edited for content and at least one episode ("Polymorph") was banned outright. YTV was also the first Canadian broadcaster to carry cult favourites such as Farscape and Whose Line is it Anyway?

By the mid-1990s, YTV had dropped Doctor Who, and it moved to Space Channel.