On September 4, 1996, South Asian Television Canada Limited was granted approval from the CRTC to launch an ethnic specialty television channel called SATV, a regional service catering to the South Asian community in Ontario.

[2] The channel officially launched in May 1998 as ATN via cable and satellite.

ATN signed an agreement with Zee Network, securing the exclusive rights to programming from Zee TV, India's top rated channel at the time.

[3] On September 7, 2006, ATN signed an agreement with STAR Plus, India's top rated entertainment channel.

It subsequently began airing foreign programming from &TV.