Much (TV channel)
Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. Prior to 2013, the channel was officially known as MuchMusic, though "Much" has been the branding most commonly seen on-air since 1997.
For the Taiwan channel, see Much TV.Country
Canada
Nationwide
1080i HDTV
(downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
August 31, 1984
MuchMusic
(1984–2013; 2021–present)
MuchMusic launched on August 31, 1984, under the ownership of CHUM Limited, and was originally focused on music programming, including blocks of music videos and original series focusing on Canadian musicians. In the years since its acquisition by Bell, Much has cancelled the majority of its music programming due to budget and staffing cuts. The TV channel was officially renamed "Much" in 2013 in reflection of its decreasing reliance on music-related programming.
Since 2021, the "MuchMusic" branding has been used exclusively for its digital media network, which operates in parallel with the linear "Much" TV channel.
History[edit]
Under CHUM (1984–2006)[edit]
MuchMusic was licensed on April 2, 1984, by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to CHUM Limited. It had faced competition from two other proposed services. One of them, CMTV Canadian Music Television, was deemed not to have sufficient financial resources. The third applicant was Rogers Radio Broadcasting. The CRTC believed that the Canadian market could only support one music video service and CHUM's proposal was chosen because of various commitments it had made and the company's expertise in music programming.[1] The station was initially patterned on City Limits, an overnight weekend rock music show which had aired on sister station CITY-TV since 1983.[2]
Much personalities[edit]
VJs (1984–2014)[edit]
Several individuals have served as MuchMusic's on-air hosts, or video jockeys ("VJs"). A number of notable Canadian and American television personalities either began their careers at MuchMusic or spent time there. Among these are J.D. Roberts who, under the name John Roberts, is a national correspondent for Fox News; Christopher Ward, a noted songwriter and producer who collaborated musically with Mike Myers on the Austin Powers movies; Sook-Yin Lee, now a noted CBC Radio host and actress; Terry David Mulligan, a prolific film and TV character actor; actress Amanda Walsh; Erica Ehm, who became a noted songwriter after leaving Much; and George Stroumboulopoulos, who became a television personality on CBC, U.S. network CNN and Sportsnet.