Max (Canadian TV channel)
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Pierre Boivin, blind trust (MusiquePlus Inc.) (sale pending) |
MusiMax is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel. Established in 1997 by a joint venture between CHUM Limited and Radiomutuel, it is a sister station to MusiquePlus (itself the French equivalent to MuchMusic), focusing primarily on adult contemporary music (making it the French-language equvalent to MuchMusic's sister station, then known as MuchMoreMusic).
History
MusiMax was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in September 1996 by CHUM Limited and Radiomutuel and launched on September 8, 1997 with each companies holding 50% of the service.
In June 1999, Astral Media announced it would takeover Radiomutuel and gained control of Radiomutuel's assets including MusiMax shortly thereafter. In July 2006, CTVglobemedia announced it would acquire CHUM Limited. While the company initially planned to keep MusiquePlus and MusiMax, it instead elected to sell its stakes in the networks. On April 11, 2007, Astral Media announced that it would be acquiring the remaining 50% in MusiMax and MusiquePlus from CHUM Limited, giving it majority ownership. The sale was completed on June 30, 2007.
On March 4, 2013, following the Competition Bureau's approval of Bell Media's takeover of Astral, Bell announced that it would put MusiMax and five other channels (Family, Disney XD, Disney Junior's English and French services and MusiquePlus) up for sale, in an attempt to relieve CRTC concerns regarding the takeover.[1]
MusiMax HD
On August 23, 2010 Astral launched a HD feed of MusiMax called MusiMax HD.[2] It is available on Cogeco and Vidéotron.
International distribution
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon - distributed on SPM Telecom systems.
See also
- List of French-language Canadian television series
- List of Quebec musicians
- Music of Quebec
- Culture of Quebec