Bell Media shuts down poorly viewed retro sports TV channel

Bell Media has finally pulled the plug on the Canadian edition of ESPN Classic.

On Tuesday, the channel, which existed as a home for classic sports events and replays, finally went off the air after 22 years.

First launched in 2001 and modelled after an American station of the same name, the channel was “dedicated to showcasing some of the world’s greatest sporting moments and the momentous impact these events had in our lives.”

Bell Media owned 80% of the channel, while Disney-owned ESPN controlled the remaining 20%.

In a bygone era, a channel like ESPN Classic made plenty of sense.

It offered viewers a chance to watch some of the country’s best sporting moments on repeat, with events such as full and partial broadcasts of old NHL, NBA, CFL, international hockey, and curling games of the last half-century being aired 24 hours a day, to go along with ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series and other classic highlight shows from TSN.

But in a modern world with plenty of entertainment options and an internet catalogue full of the highlights from just about every game you could ever want to revisit, it’s hard to imagine the network had many repeat viewers.

With the American version of ESPN shutting down in 2021, it took two more years for the Canadian version to follow suit.

In its official licence agreement from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CTRC), the channel was designed exclusively to provide a home for old sports broadcasts and highlights.

“The service shall provide a retrospective on sports events that occurred at least 18 months prior to the broadcast day on which they are aired by the service,” the agreement reads, adding that that channel was not able to show “news, information or highlight coverage of current sports events,” or “live event coverage.”

The network officially went off the air at midnight ET on October 31.