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 t ...

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 target ...

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, 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 air ...

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, hip hop,

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, 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 mu ...

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 su ...

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 lanuc ...

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, Malajube, Thunderheist, Japandroids, Apostle of Hustle 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; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(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 (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 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 communic ...

, EastLink, and Source Cable 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 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 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 High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape * HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...

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 ...

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. No ...

.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 ''Aux Weekly'' is a Canadian television series that focused on the latest headlines in music and entertainment news. Viewers were given an in depth look into the headlines that matter in the world of music. Hosted by Andrew Alba, Melissa Hetu and B ...

'', ''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.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 "the alt.sessions" is a Canadian television series, capturing bands playing alternative versions of their songs in a unique and meaningful setting. It was launched on aux.tv, a Canadian music website, and BiteTV, a digital cable channel, in late ...

''.

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