A.Side TV was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

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 targete ...

owned by

Blue Ant Media Blue Ant Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcasting and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by Michael MacMillan and formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Glassbox Television. Its name was chosen in reference ...

. Originally focusing on music and pop culture programming, the channel drifted towards generic

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

and paranormal programming before it wound down operations in mid-January 2023.

History

As AUX (2009–2016)

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

Glassbox Television Glassbox Television Inc. 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 ...

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

BiteTV Makeful is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Blue Ant Media focused on lifestyle programming relating to do-it-yourself projects such as food, design, style, and crafts in connection with maker culture (from which the channel takes its na ...

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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, and new and emerging artists in

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a 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 coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' 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, 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 were a Canadian rock duo from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 2006. The band consisted of Brian King (guitar, vocals) and David Prowse (drums, vocals).Lindsay, Ca"No Fun City Rockers" ''Exclaim!'', May 2009 accessed November ...

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

and

The Rural Alberta Advantage The Rural Alberta Advantage is a Canadian indie rock band that formed in 2005 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Nils Edenloff on lead vocals and guitar; Amy Cole (Robin Hatch between September 2016 and January 2018) on keyboards, bass, an ...

. 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; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

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

(in Ontario and New Brunswick, and shortly thereafter in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

). Later, other providers such as

Shaw Cable Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

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

, 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 Cog ...

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. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

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 channel ...

had filed an intervention against the Glassbox application suggesting that the channel would be in competition with the established music video networks MusiquePlus and MusiMax. On April 11, 2011, it was announced that

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., though by the middle of 2020 those presences had gone inactive outside schedule updates. In December 2022, Blue Ant announced that the channel would cease operations on January 15, 2023. Shortly after this, the channel space created in 2009 by Aux ceased to exist.

Programming

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

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

, 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'', '' Aux Weekly'', ''Strange Notes'' (hosted by George Pettit of

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

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

References

External links

* {{Music television channels in Canada Blue Ant Media channels Music television channels 2009 establishments in Canada Television channels and stations established in 2009 Defunct specialty television channels in Canada Canadian music websites English-language television stations in Canada 2023 disestablishments in Canada Television channels and stations disestablished in 2023