Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent industry restructuring led to its operations being restricted to Eastern Canada from 1984 to 2016; it then held a regional legal monopoly on movie-based premium TV services in its territory until the launch of the present-day Super Channel in 2007.

As such, the service was often sold by providers under the name Crave + Movies + HBO, until programming from both tiers was collapsed into a single library in October 2021.

The Saskatchewan government together with Cable Regina (later Access Communications) set up a provincial pay television network called Teletheatre in 1979.

In September 1981, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held a hearing in Hull, Quebec to license Canada's first pay television networks.

When First Choice Canadian Communications Corp. made its application to the CRTC in September 1981, the individuals and companies involved in the proposed channel included Donald Sobey (of the Sobeys supermarket chain), J. R. McCaig, Norman Keevil, television producer Riff Markowitz, Royfund Equity Ltd. (a mutual fund division of the Royal Bank of Canada), AGF Management Ltd. and Manufacturers Life Insurance Co.

At the time that First Choice applied to the CRTC, it estimated that to program major American movies, entertainment specials and Canadian movies and specials, pay for satellite time, and marketing of the channel, it could sell it to the cable companies at a wholesale rate of $7.50 each month.

However, by the time the channel launched, and providers received their revenue from the pay television services, the retail cost of First Choice jumped significantly to $15.95 (equivalent to $43.13 in 2023).

When First Choice was launched on February 1, 1983, it operated as a national premium service; the network's original slogan was "Look Out for Number One!

The network inaugurated programming with a two-hour promotional reel announcing the programming that First Choice would carry, followed by a replay of The Who's farewell tour concert special; the airing of The Who concert which had been aired live on other channels in Canada the year before, as well as the two-hour promotional ad had several critics wondering about the channel's claims that it would be commercial-free and not play reruns.

After a disappointing run for pay services in general, the industry was restructured in late 1983 and into 1984, and First Choice's service area was restricted to Canadian provinces east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, with competitor Superchannel (later Movie Central) taking territorial rights to the west of that border.

In early 1984, that service was merged with another Quebec-based pay-television network, TVEC, to form Super Écran, which continues to exist today.

Critics argued that this limited competition and consumer choice, while proponents said that there was very little in content or functionality that was not already offered by the existing services.

[citation needed] In July 2005, the CRTC, the Canadian federal broadcast regulator, announced that public hearings would begin on October 24 of that year on four applications for new national pay television licences from different groups.

Bell Media head Randy Lennox cited increasing competition with Netflix as a basis for the decision.

Traditional TV service customers west of that border receive programming on a Mountain Time Zone schedule, being a holdover from Movie Central's scheduling practices due to its origins as an Alberta-based service also serving the Central and Pacific time zones.

TMN ultimately assumed sole responsibility for the channel after replacing Movie Central in its service area.

The channel, which was rebranded to simply "HBO" in June 2019, is available at no additional charge to TMN/Crave linear subscribers and, moreover, is not available on a standalone basis except on MTS TV[citation needed].

HBO Canada began broadcasting in high definition on October 30, 2008, becoming the first TMN multiplex channel to launch its own HD simulcast feeds; followed by MFun and MExcess in 2010.

Prior to 1990, subscribers received PrimeTime magazine, a similar publication originated by Superchannel (later Movie Central).

Conversely, other service providers (including Shaw Direct) began to require subscribers to opt-in (for the same $2 charge) if they wished to receive the magazine.

An editor's note in the penultimate issue cited changes in home media consumption meaning the magazine was no longer necessary.

Programming on Crave's linear service includes theatrically released motion pictures, original and foreign television series, made-for-cable movies, documentaries, and stand-up comedy and concert specials.

Before other Canadian specialty networks like TSN and Much were licensed, First Choice prominently offered commercial-free professional sporting and concert events.

[30] Original programming produced under the Movie Network branding included: After rebranding as Crave in 2018, the service initially scaled back on the development of ongoing television series; apart from the reality show Canada's Drag Race and the comedy series Letterkenny and New Eden, most titles branded as "Crave Originals" in the next few years were documentary films or stand-up comedy specials recorded at the Just for Laughs festival.

The service began to shift back toward series development again in 2021, with original series including 1 Queen 5 Queers, Bria Mack Gets a Life, Little Bird, Pillow Talk, Shoresy, Thunder Bay, Late Bloomer, Cocaine, Prison & Likes: Isabelle's True Story[31] and We're All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel).