GameTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It currently broadcasts a mixture of game shows, reality competition series, and films. The channel was first launched in 2005 under the ownership of Stuart Media Group as Casino and Gaming Television (CGTV), which primarily focused on sports betting and televised poker. Larry Tanenbaum's Insight Sports served as the channel's operating partner. In 2007, the channel was re-launched under its current name, expanding its format to include competition programming (such as game and reality shows, and for a period, reruns of classic Canadian game shows) and films, and eventually phased out its gaming programming. In 2016, the channel was acquired by Anthem, after which it briefly expanded to include occasional sports and sports entertainment programming. Sports programming would later be dropped and shifted to new sister channel Game+, returning GameTV to its existing format. History In September 2001, Stuart Media Group was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch The Gaming Channel, described as "a national, English-language Category 2 specialty television service, providing live-event interactive programming about gaming or involving gaming. The service will offer programming including shorts and Canadian original programs about gaming that will be knowledge-based and entertaining, with a focus on providing unique insights into daily events of the gaming world and its participants. The service will also allow viewers to play along with Bingo Games, and will provide experimental, interactive and informational programming on gaming odds, lotteries, and the gaming experience in general." In December 2004, Stuart Media Group announced that it had reached an agreement with Casino and Gaming Television, Inc., owners of the Casino and Gaming Television (CGTV) brand, which would see Stuart Media Group launch The Gaming Channel as a Canadian version of the yet-to-be-launched American television channel of the same name. The agreement would see the Canadian channel launch in May 2005 on Bell ExpressVu and act as, what the companies called, a "test bed" for the American channel which would also launch later in 2005. The channel would later launch in November 2005 as Casino and Gaming Television (CGTV) Canada on Rogers Cable instead of initially on Bell ExpressVu. Programming on the channel primarily focused on poker, including live and pre-taped tournaments; however, programming on other casino games and casino-related programming did occur. Upon the launch of the channel in 2005, CGTV