The service is also commonly known as "Broadcast News", after the former CP division originally responsible for CableStream.
As alphanumeric data, the CP Cable Service has never been subject to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensing.
In the early days of cable TV, many Canadian cable companies would carry the service on a "restricted" channel, i.e. a frequency on which a local TV station was broadcasting over-the-air.
Since the broadcast station might interfere with whatever channel was placed at that position by the cable company, CableStream provided an easy, low-risk means of filling that position.
In St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Cable Atlantic (and later Rogers Cable) used CableStream until 2006 in place of blacked-out commercial breaks on the regional cable channel ASN, due to a since-removed CRTC condition of licence intended to protect local station NTV.