A.Side TV is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...

owned by Blue Ant Media. Originally focusing on music and pop culture programming, the channel currently broadcasts general entertainment programming.

History

As AUX (2009-2016)

Originating under the branding, AUX, the channel's origins begin in 2008 when original owners,

Glassbox Television Glassbox Television was an independent Canadian broadcasting and media company specializing in the operation of multi-platform broadcast and video-on-demand (VOD) channels, content production, and digital publishing. The company was formed in 2001 ...

, launched both an AUX-branded website and a 2-hour programming block on sister channel

BiteTV Makeful (formerly known as BiteTV) is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Blue Ant Media. It has transmittered from 299 Queen Street West since at least 2012. The channel was first launched on March 5, 2005, as BiteTV, and primarily aire ...

that focused on music-related programming featuring primarily

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, and new and emerging artists in

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

, hip hop,

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

and other similar genres. Both the website and the programming block launched on November 24, 2008.Great AUXpectations
Torontoist; 2009-09-24 Aux tv logo

In February 2009, AUX participated with

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

and ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' to launch "X3", a new collaborative cross-promotional platform which saw all three outlets create content spotlighting a particular "Artist of the Month". X3 artists of the month have included

K'naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominenc ...

, Malajube,

Thunderheist Thunderheist was an electronic music duo from Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Thunderheist was made up of producer Graham Bertie (Grahmzilla) and Omolola Isis Salam (Isis). The two began collaborating before they had ever met in ...

Japandroids Japandroids are a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting of Brian King (guitar, vocals) and David Prowse (drums, vocals).Lindsay, Ca"No Fun City Rockers" ''Exclaim!'', May 2009 accessed November 10, 2010. Formed in 2006 ...

Apostle of Hustle Apostle of Hustle was a Canadian indie rock group, formed as a side project in 2001 by Andrew Whiteman, who has been in such groups as Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Que Vida and plays as the lead guitarist for the indie supergroup Broken Social Sce ...

and The Rural Alberta Advantage. The project ceased in 2012. Glassbox Television received approval by the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcast ...

(CRTC) to launch AUX as a national English-language category 2 specialty channel on March 6, 2009, describing the channel n regulatory documents as a service ''"devoted to emerging music and its creation, including programming featuring emerging music and aimed at helping emerging musicians."'' The channel was launched on October 1, 2009, exclusively on

Rogers Cable Rogers Cable Inc. is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, primarily in Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. R ...

(in Ontario and New Brunswick, and shortly thereafter in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

). Later, other providers such as

Shaw Cable Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

Shaw Direct Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications company Shaw Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two commu ...

, EastLink, and

Source Cable Source Cable (formerly known as Southmount Cable Limited) is one of three main cable television service providers for the city of Hamilton, Ontario. The other two are Rogers Cable (in the former Mountain Cablevision / Shaw territory) and Cogeco. ...

launched the channel on their systems, eventually obtaining wide national distribution on most majors television providers in Canada. In April 2010, the CRTC denied an application by Glassbox to launch a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in No ...

version of AUX, as

Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channels ...

had filed an intervention against the Glassbox application suggesting that the channel would be in competition with the established music video networks

MusiquePlus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

and MusiMax. On April 11, 2011, it was announced that Blue Ant Media would acquire a controlling interest in Glassbox Television. Blue Ant Media initially acquired a 29.9% stake in the company, with the option to expand their stake up to 75% which would give the company controlling interest. The company would later be purchased outright by Blue Ant Media in the summer of 2012. On June 4, 2013, AUX launched a high definition feed.

As A.Side

On April 6, 2017, Blue Ant Media, along with Shed Creative Agency, announced that the channel would be rebranded A.Side TV, later confirmed to launch on May 30, 2017. The purpose of the rebrand was to align the channel with the newly formed multi-platform music brand, A.Side, which launched on May 18, 2017, and focuses on general pop music and pop culture content aimed at millennials, in particular, female millennials. Blue Ant Media continued to operate and fully own the channel, while Shed managed content for the A.Side website and social media platforms. A.Side's website and social media accounts have been inactive since May 2020.

Programming

Though still marketed as a music and pop culture service as of 2022, A.Side currently broadcasts unrelated reality series and documentary programming predominately centred around

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

and the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

.TV Schedule for A.Side TV , TV Passport
/ref> As AUX, the channel aired a mix of music-related programming in the form of music videos, docuseries, interviews and talk shows, and pre-taped live performances, among others. Original programming produced under the AUX brand included '' ExploreMusic with

Alan Cross Alan Cross is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music.

'', '' Aux Weekly'', ''Strange Notes'' (hosted by

George Pettit George Frederick Douglas Pettit(born October 2, 1982) is a Canadian musician best known as the lead vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He is also currently active as the vocalist of Dead Tired. Biography Pettit grew up in Grim ...

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike.Band is a scream", CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit ...

), and '' the alt.sessions''.

References

External links

* {{Music television channels in Canada Blue Ant Media channels Music television channels Television channels and stations established in 2009 Digital cable television networks in Canada Canadian music websites English-language television stations in Canada