It primarily airs entertainment programming and series relating to celebrities and popular culture.

In 2010, then-owner CTVglobemedia announced an agreement with Comcast to license the branding and programming of similar U.S. network E!, resulting in its rebranding on November 29, 2010.

The channel was licensed in 1996 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and was launched on September 10, 1999 as Star!, which was originally owned by CHUM Limited.

In July 2006, Bell Globemedia (later renamed CTVglobemedia) announced that it would purchase CHUM for an estimated $1.7 billion CAD, including Star!.

is very similar to its American counterpart, it also incorporates reruns of shows that have aired on other Bell Media services (and which often were shot in Canada, allowing them to fulfill Canadian content quotas) including the original iteration of CSI, Reign, Being Human, and Supernatural.