Incorporated in 1960 as Télé-Metropole by Joseph-Alexandre DeSève, the network officially became TVA when it acquired stations owned by rival broadcaster Pathonic. TVA owns six of the ten stations on its network, and has a 45 per cent interest in the owner of two of its other four affiliates.
TVA also owns Le Canal Nouvelles, Canada's only French-language headline news channel. As well, the company owns a magazine publishing division unit, a film production and distribution house, and a number of other Internet and cable properties.
In 1998, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission made it compulsory for all cable systems in Canada to carry a TVA station, in order to improve service to Canada's francophone minority communities. The station offered is usually the network's Montreal flagship, CFTM-TV. This station also provides a time-shifted feed for Western Canadian cable companies.
See also: List of Canadian television channels - Media in Canada