Trio (stylized as TR!O) was an American cable and satellite television network. Trio went on the air in 1994, then originally owned and operated jointly by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Power Broadcasting Inc. (a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada) along with 24-hour international news channel Newsworld International. The channel served as a venue for airing the CBC's arts, culture and entertainment programming in the U.S. It was sold to USA Networks in 2000, and was subsequently transferred to Vivendi Universal and later NBC Universal. With the slogan, "pop, culture, TV", Trio programming under Vivendi/NBC Universal ownership focused on television as a cultural tool and art form. In January 2005, Trio was dropped from DirecTV, eliminating about two-thirds of the homes that could receive the network. On November 21, 2005, NBC Universal announced that the Trio brand would be transferred to a broadband Internet TV initiative under the Bravotv.com banner on January 1, 2006. Cable and satellite providers still carrying Trio were offered a new NBC Universal cable network instead, called Sleuth, which was renamed Cloo in 2011 and continued on until its sudden closure on February 1, 2017.

Notable Trio programs

Original

Reruns

Brilliant But Cancelled

This was the umbrella title under which Trio aired repeats of series that had very short lives on mainstream broadcast television, yet were still considered to be programming that "broke the mold" of what was normally expected from the "Big Three" networks. Series that appeared under the Brilliant But Cancelled umbrella included: Brilliant But Cancelled was later used by Universal as a title for a series of DVDs that feature samples of short-lived series. Two of these have been released—one being a sampler of short-lived crime drama series, while the other was selected episodes of EZ Streets.

Flops

Special airing of shows that flopped. (The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer was supposed to air, but was pulled due to the controversial nature of the program, which played for laughs the relationship between a black nobleman and President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War).

Schedule Lineup

Kids Block

08:00 AM – The Raccoons 08:30 AM – Once Upon a Hamster 09:00 AM – Mr. Dressup 09:30 AM – The Littlest Hobo 10:00 AM – The Raccoons 10:30 AM – Once Upon a Hamster 11:00 AM – Mr. Dressup 11:30 AM – The Littlest Hobo

Lifestyle

12:00 PM – Taste of Life 12:30 PM – Canadian Gardener

Red Hot Dramas

01:00 PM – Blue Heelers 02:00 PM – North of 60 03:00 PM – Street Legal 04:00 PM – Murdoch Mysteries

After-School Theatre

05:00 PM – Northwood 05:30 PM – (Monday; Max Glick) 05:30 PM – (Tuesday; Mysterious Island) 05:30 PM – (Wednesday; Dog House) 05:30 PM – (Thursday; Madison) 05:30 PM – (Friday; Deepwater Black) 06:00 PM – (Saturday; Degrassi) 06:30 PM – (Saturday; Street Cents)

In-Style

06:00 PM – SCTV 06:30 PM – Fashion File

Highway 7

07:00 PM – (Monday; Coltrane in the Cadillac) 07:00 PM – (Tuesday; The Fifth Estate) 07:00 PM – (Wednesday; Flightpath) 07:00 PM – (Thursday; Frost's Century) 07:00 PM – (Friday; Undercurrents 07:30 PM – (Friday; MediaTelevision)

Dramarama

Mondays only

08:00 PM – Black Harbour 08:30 PM – North of 60

Tuesdays only

08:00 PM – Street Legal 08:30 PM – Mercury

Wednesdays only

08:00 PM – Noah's Ark 08:30 PM – Murdoch Mysteries

Thursdays only

08:00 PM – London's Burning 08:30 PM – Traders

Fridays only

08:00 PM – Counterstrike 08:30 PM – McCallum