Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

APTN building on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian broadcast and Category A cable television network. Established in 1992 with government support to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, since 1999 APTN has had a national broadcast licence. It airs and produces programs made by, for and about Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is the first network by and for Indigenous peoples.^[1]

History

Establishment

Logo while under the name Television Northern Canada (TVNC)

In 1980 the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued the Therrien Committee Report. In that report, the committee concluded that northern Indigenous peoples had increasing interest in developing their own media services and that the government has a responsibility to ensure support in broadcasting of Indigenous cultures and languages. The committee recommended measures to enable northern native people to use broadcasting to support their languages and cultures.

The Canadian government created the Northern Broadcasting Policy, issued on March 10, 1983. It laid out principles to develop Northern native-produced programming. The policy included support for what was called the Northern Native Broadcast Access Program, a funded program to produce radio and/or television programs in First Peoples' languages to reflect their cultural perspectives.

Soon after the program's creation, problems were recognized in the planned program distribution via satellite. In January 1987, Canadian aboriginal and Northern broadcasters met in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to form a non-profit consortium to establish a Pan-Northern television distribution service. In 1988, the Canadian government gave the organizers $10 million to establish the network. The application for the new service, initially known as Television Northern Canada (TVNC), was approved by the CRTC in 1991. The network officially launched on over-the-air signals to the Canadian territories and far northern areas of the provinces on January 21, 1992.

National expansion and re-launch

After several years broadcasting in the territories, TVNC began lobbying the CRTC to amend their licence to allow TVNC to be broadcast nationally; they promoted the "uniqueness" and "significance" of a national Aboriginal service. On February 22, 1999, the CRTC granted TVNC a licence for a national broadcast network.

On September 1, 1999, the network also re-branded as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). It was added to all specialty television services across Canada.^[2] APTN was the first national public television network for indigenous peoples.^[1]

Budget

In 2009, APTN had an annual budget of C$42 million.

Distribution

APTN's service consists of five different feeds: two terrestrial feeds, separate national cable feeds for Eastern (Manitoba and east) and Western Canada (Saskatchewan and west), as well as a national HD feed.

The terrestrial feed, the successor to the original TVNC, is available over-the-air in Canada's far northern areas. It consists of flagship station CHTY-TV^[3] in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, semi-satellite CHWT-TV^[4] in Whitehorse, Yukon, and numerous low-powered rebroadcasters across the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

On August 31, 2011, APTN shut down 39 low-power television repeaters across the Northwest Territories and Yukon,^[5] representing nearly half of its over-the-air transmitters. Although this was conducted on the same day as Canada's over-the-air digital conversion deadline in certain mandatory markets, these transmitters were not subject to this deadline. None of the mandatory markets was located the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

In November 2016, CEO Jean La Rose told the Winnipeg Free Press that APTN was negotiating carriage for a U.S. service. He noted that there was a high level of interest among Native Americans for programming relevant to their communities.^[6]

The Eastern Canada cable feed operated as the national feed until the Western Canada feed began service on October 2, 2006.

APTN is licensed as a national network by the CRTC, thus putting it on par with CBC Television, Radio-Canada and TVA. Since APTN's relaunch as a national network in 1999, all Canadian cable and satellite television providers have been required to include it in their basic service. But, many cable companies outside the Arctic place it above channel 60 on their systems, rendering it inaccessible to older cable-ready television sets that do not go above channel 60. The CRTC has considered requiring cable companies to move APTN to a lower dial position, but decided in 2005 that it would not do so.^[9]

Programming

APTN offers a variety of programming related to Aboriginal peoples, including documentaries, news magazines, dramas, entertainment specials, children's series, movies, sports events, educational programs and more. APTN's network programming is c. 56% English, 16% French, and 28% Aboriginal languages.

Programs which have aired on the network include:

Adult programs

• APTN National News
• APTN Contact
• Arbor Live!
• Bingo and a Movie
• Blackstone
• Bro'Town
• The Candy Show
• CAUTION: May Contain Nuts
• Cooking With the Wolfman
• First Talk With Tamara Bull
• Finding Our Talk: A Journey Through Aboriginal Languages,^[10] the world's first series in Mohawk language, three seasons (2001, 2002, 2009)
• Friday Night Flick
• Guides and Gurus
• Hard Rock Medical
• La piqure
• Medicine Woman
• Mixed Blessings
• Moccasin Flats
• Mohawk Girls
• My TV
• Native New Yorker
• North of 60
• Northern Exposure
• One With Nature
• Rabbit Fall
• Rez Bluez
• The Sharing Circle
• Storytellers in Motion
• Warriors: TKO
• Wentworth

APTN Kids

This is programming which APTN has indicated is targeted towards children. Some of them currently air on weekends under the "kids" label which has its own logo.^[11]

• Adventures of Little Jake & Many Skies aka Little Jake Many Skies aka The Adventures of Little Jake + Many Skies^[12]
• Amy's Mythic Mornings^[11]
• Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock
• Animism: The Gods' Lake^[13][14]
• Artie the Ant^[15] aka The Adventures of Artie the Ant^[16]
• Bizou^[11][17]
• By The Rapids^[18]
• CG Kids^[19]
• Chic Choc^[20]
• The Deerskins^[21]
• Doggy Day School^[11]
• Fire Quest^[22]
• Garderie Waf Waf^[14]
• Guardians Evolution^[11]
• Inuk^[11]
• Kagagi: The Raven^[11]
• La Crosse Goals^[19]
• The Link (TV series)^[19]
• Little Bear^[14]
• Louis Says^[11]
• Monster Math Squad^[23]
• Mouki^[11][24]
• Nehiyawetan^[14][20]
• The New Adventures of Lucky Luke^[19]
• Planet Echo^[25]
• The Raccoons
• Raven Tales^[26]
• renegadepress.com^[22]
• Road Scholars^[22]
• Takuginai^[11][20]
• Tamanevugut^[11]
• Tiga Talk^[11][27]
• Tipi Tales^[28]
• Total Drama: Pahkitew Island^[11]
• Wapos Bay^[11]
• Wataway Kids^[22]
• Wumpa's World
• Wakanheja
• Yvon of the Yukon^[28]

High definition

In March 2008, APTN launched a high definition feed known as APTN HD; initially, the HD feed was a straight simulcast of APTN's Eastern cable feed, complying with the requirement that a specialty channel's HD simulcast must be 95% identical in programming and scheduling to its standard-definition feeds. In May 2017, the CRTC amended APTN's license so that APTN HD's programming would no longer necessarily have to mirror the scheduling of the SD feeds, as long as 95% of its programming had aired at some point on one of APTN's SD feeds. The network argued that this change would allow it more flexibility in scheduling programming on APTN HD to reach a broader audience.^[29]

First Peoples Radio

On June 14, 2017, a subsidiary of APTN, First Peoples Radio (FPR), was granted licences by the CRTC to operate radio stations in Toronto and Ottawa aimed at urban Indigenous populations in those cities. The Ottawa station will broadcast on 95.7 FM and the Toronto station will use 106.5 FM. Both frequencies had previously been allocated to Aboriginal Voices Radio which had its licenses revoked in 2015. FPR had also applied for licenses in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver but the CRTC granted these to other applicants.^[30]

Expansion into the United States

APTN is working towards launching a similar outlet, tentatively titled All Nations Network, in the United States.^[31] The network has already aired works produced in the United States, such as the full-length documentary film Skydancer, directed by Katja Esson, about the community of Akwesasne and its ironworkers. It was aired on both APTN and PBS in the United States in October 2012, after winning awards at film festivals.

See also

• World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network
• Aboriginal Canadian personalities

References

External links

• Official website
• Museum of Broadcast Communications -- TVNC History

Broadcast television networks and systems in Canada
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation	CBC Television Ici Radio-Canada Télé
English-language commercial	City CTV CTV Two Global
French-language commercial	TVA V
Multicultural	Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Omni Television
Religious	Yes TV
Defunct	A-Channel Baton Broadcast System E! Joytv Mid-Canada Communications Northern Access Network Northern Television Réseau Pathonic
See also	Legislative channels Public broadcasting List of television stations in Canada 2001 Vancouver TV realignment 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment
Additional resources on North American television North America List of local television stations in North America DTV transition North American TV mini-template Canada Canadian networks List of Canadian television networks List of Canadian television channels List of Canadian specialty channels Local Canadian TV stations List of United States stations available in Canada 2001 Vancouver TV realignment 2007 Canada broadcast TV realignment Mexico Mexican networks Local Mexican TV stations United States American networks List of American cable and satellite networks List of American over-the-air networks Local American TV stations (W) Local American TV stations (K) Spanish-language TV networks 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment List of Canadian television stations available in the United States Insular Areas TV