The
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) had approved a separate TSN2 channel in 2000, but was never launched due to a prohibition on live programming. The authority for this channel expired in 2004 and was never re-applied for, so the present TSN2 is not directly connected to the 2000 licence. TSN2 operates under the same CRTC licence for TSN as a whole, In fall 2006, the CRTC allowed TSN to air multiple feeds nationally, with the alternate feed only available on digital platforms, as had previously been permitted for
Sportsnet's regional feeds. In essence, this meant that for
digital cable and
satellite subscribers, TSN now had two channels on which to air programming. The broadcaster's use of the alternate feed changed significantly following this decision, as the alternate feed began to carry a much larger number of live events that could be aired nationally when the main feed was carrying another ongoing event.
Launch of TSN2 was absent, closer resembling the logo of
ESPN2. On August 6, 2008,
The Globe and Mail announced that the TSN alternate feed would be replaced by a new network known as TSN2. The new channel promised "major league programming" throughout the day, and would have extensive coverage of
auto racing and
tennis. Unlike the existing TSN alternate feed, which was available free of charge, service providers (and potentially, in turn, consumers) would be required to pay extra in order to carry TSN2, and the alternate feed was discontinued in August 2008. Unlike the alternate feed, TSN2 would also be available in
high definition. Initially, TSN2 was restricted to acting as a
timeshift channel for TSN, with most non-live programming being aired on a three-hour
tape delay from TSN proper, allowing TSN2 viewers in the
Pacific Time Zone to watch many programs at the same local time as TSN viewers in the
Eastern Time Zone (ET). However, as had been the case with the alternate feed, up to 10% of the TSN2 schedule could consist of alternative live sporting events that cannot air on TSN due to other programming commitments. On August 8, 2008,
CTVglobemedia and
ESPN Inc. (via their joint venture
CTV Specialty Television) were granted the
CRTC approval for a TSN spin-off called
TSN Extra, a channel focuses on college sports plus simulcasts of TSN's sports properties. The new channel was launched on August 29, 2008, at 7 p.m. ET in standard and high definition, with live coverage of the
US Open tennis tournament continued from TSN, followed by an encore presentation of a
Friday night CFL game aired earlier on TSN. Since February 1, 2010, TSN has been subject to revised conditions of licence (since formalized as
Category C licensing) that allow TSN2 to operate autonomously from TSN's main channel as a pure multiplex. TSN launched three more multiplex channels—TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5, on August 25, 2014, serving primarily as regional feeds of TSN. ==Programming==