Entertainment One started in 1973 in Ontario, Canada, as Records on Wheels Limited (‘ROW’). Initially the business focused on retail sales of recorded music. In the late 1970s ROW began to distribute recorded music for third party retailers throughout Canada. During the 1980s and 1990s distribution became the primary focus of the business and the product mix expanded to include video as well as music. In 2001, ROW established a CD and DVD fulfillment business for internet retailers utilizing the infrastructure developed for the bricks and mortar distribution business. In 2003, ROW expanded its product range further to include video console games. In November 2003 ROW listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ROW Entertainment Income Fund, and soon after changed its name to Entertainment One Income Fund and proceeded to establish itself as the largest distributor of home entertainment products to the non-direct segment of the Canadian market.
In June 2005, Entertainment One acquired Koch Entertainment. This represented a significant strategic step for the company, taking it into distribution in the United States through Koch Entertainment Distribution and into content ownership through Koch Records. These are now called Entertainment One Distribution US and eOne Music respectively.
On 29 March 2007 the Entertainment One Income Fund was acquired by Entertainment One Ltd. for a total consideration of £85.5million and listed on AIM.
After listing on AIM, Entertainment One made a series of acquisitions in Canada, the UK and Europe that have transformed the company into a significant multi-territory entertainment business.
- Contender Entertainment Group, one of the largest distributors of TV content in the UK (June 2007)
- Seville Entertainment Inc., a leading Canadian film distribution and entertainment rights owner (August 2007)
- RCV Entertainment BV, an independent film distributor operating in the Netherlands and Belgium (January 2008)
- Barna-Alper and Blueprint Entertainment (Canadian TV production) together with Oasis Pictures (Canadian film, international sales and distribution) and Maximum (Canadian film and TV distribution) (July 2008)
On 15 July 2010, based on its ongoing growth and rapid evolution, Entertainment One.received a standard listing on the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities.