Dome Productions was formed in 1989, with the opening of the then named SkyDome, as the production and post-production arm of the John Labatt Limited Broadcast Group. The other divisions of JLLBG at that time were TSN, RDS and TSN Enterprises. Primarily focused on providing live event facilities using its two in-house control rooms for baseball, football and any other events in the stadium, Dome Productions also provided post-production facilities for movies, episodic productions and commercials.
With the purchase of two mobile units in 1992, Dome Productions progressed into the mobile production business. The goal was to expand the live event services being provided to its sister companies at the SkyDome to the myriad of events they were doing on the road. Dome hoped this would maximize the use of these facilities to bring in third party dollars.
In 1994, the most significant part of TSN Enterprises -Distribution Services- was transferred to Dome Productions. As part of TSN Enterprises, Distribution’s original mandate was to reduce TSN’s ever-increasing backhaul costs by purchasing satellite time in bulk and reselling any excess to third parties.
As time went on the business continued to grow, supporting the ever increasing requirements of TSN and RDS, as well as a host of third party customers including the Ontario Jockey Club, Cancom and CTV among others. As the customer base services and profits continued to grow, the business evolved beyond satellite to fibre optic transport.
