The channel was launched under the name Lonestar on September 7, 2001, focusing exclusively on Western and rural-themed programming such as films, television dramas, and lifestyle series. After a few years, Lonestar began to air more general action and adventure programming unrelated to the Western theme of its early years, a considerable amount of that being movies, to the point where they made up the majority of the schedule. On August 21, 2008, Canwest announced that Lonestar would be rebranded as MovieTime, focusing on contemporary films. The name change took effect on October 6, 2008. A high definition simulcast feed of MovieTime was launched on March 12, 2010.