october 5 1998 1998 10 05 closed september 1 2016 2016 09 01 owned by bell media picture format 1080i hdtv 480i sdtv country canada language english broadcast area nationwide headquarters toronto ontario formerly called muchmoremusic 1998 2009 muchmore 2009 2013 replaced by gusto sister channel s much mtv citation needed m3 formerly muchmoremusic and muchmore was a canadian english language category a cable and satellite specialty channel owned by bell media . as with its sister networks the network was headquartered at 299 queen street west in toronto ontario . established in 1998 as muchmoremusic the network began as a spin off of the youth oriented muchmusic targeting an older demographic with adult contemporary classic hits and classic rock music videos along with music news programs and concert specials . its lineup later expanded to incorporate pop culture programming often sourced from the similar u.s. network vh1 reality shows dramas and sitcoms . on september 1 2016 m3 was shut down and replaced in some of its previous channel allotments by gusto . contents 1 history 1.1 sale to ctv 2007 2016 2 programming 2.1 notable former personalities 3 references history edit in june 1993 the canadian radio television and telecommunications commission crtc began accepting licence applications for new canadian specialty channels 1 for the first time since 1987 . 2 on august 31 1993 muchmusic and city tv co founder moses znaimer announced on air a proposal by chum limited to launch a specialty channel called muchmoremusic as an adult music lifestyle channel quoted as offering music more familiar tuneful and melodic for an audience who could do with a little less rock and rap and metal . 3 this followed chum s earlier application for a country music channel muchcountry . melodic pop soft rock jazz soul and blues were to be some of the genres played by muchmoremusic ; according to muchmusic the new channel would be able to provide such music to the sizable portion of its existing audience who enjoyed such softer music but could not find it reliably on muchmusic . 4 muchmoremusic logo used from 1998 to 2009 at a subsequent february 1994 public hearing the crtc reviewed a total of seven applications for music channels comprising five country music channels muchmoremusic and chum s musiquextra which was to be a french language adult contemporary counterpart . 5 in a canadian press article commissioner adrian burns noted concerns with giving one operator control of multiple music channels ; znaimer meanwhile claimed that there was no room for more than one operator of music channels in canada . 4 in june the muchmoremusic application was denied by the commission as well as the muchcountry and musiquextra proposals ; 1 out of the seven the only application approved was maclean hunter and rawlco communications the country network which launched as new country network and has since become cmt . 2 subsequently the crtc was criticized for passing only 10 of the 48 total applications . 6 in january 1996 the next round of licensing began drawing another 44 applications ; chum submitted nine of these including muchmoremusic and the french language adult contemporary channel now called musimax formerly musicmax . 7 the new application delivered by muchmusic programmer denise donlon on may 8 1996 incorporated video testimonials by a number of canadian musicians including anne murray bruce cockburn burton cummings celine dion david foster lawrence gowan dan hill and marc jordan attesting to the need for the channel ; donlon conceded in a canadian press article that a number of canadian musicians were no longer filming music videos because muchmusic was not able to accommodate every music genre equally . 8 on the same day chum also made pitches for canadian learning television and computer access a later rejected computer education channel . 9 muchmoremusic was licensed by the crtc in 1996 as well as some of chum s other proposals rejected in 1994 including cablepulse24 space and musimax ; the channel was launched on october 5 1998 under the ownership of chum limited . logo as muchmore used from march 31 2009 to september 30 2013 in january 1999 globe and mail critic john doyle commented on the channel s invariant hosting at the time remarking that it appears to be staffed by one person only jana lynne white . the woman does everything interviews running down the appalling video chart promos everything except come to your house and turn on the tv for you . 10 the channel s early lineup also included the muchmusic program cliptrip which was moved to muchmoremusic along with its host diego fuentes the winner of muchmusic s 1995 vj search . in may 2000 bill welychka also transferred from muchmusic 11 to host freshly pressed and later the loop . in april 2000 full time staff and programming was expanded including daytime information segments . studio space at 299 queen street west was shared with muchmusic until may 2000 when it was moved to the fourth floor of the building . 11 in september 2004 muchmoremusic launched a sister digital network muchmoreretro which focuses exclusively on classic music videos . sale to ctv 2007 2016 edit on june 22 2007 ctvglobemedia gained control of muchmoremusic as a result of a takeover of chum limited . on march 31 2009 muchmoremusic was relaunched with a new on air format and subsequently was renamed muchmore . the changeover took effect at 6 00 a.m. eastern time with the first edition of the newly branded morning video flow series juiced . ownership changed hands once again when bell canada gained 100 % control of ctvglobemedia s assets including muchmore it did not already own resulting in muchmore being taken over by bell media on april 1 2011 . on september 19 2013 bell announced that muchmore would be relaunched as m3 on september 30 shifting towards an entertainment oriented superstation format with a focus on newly acquired dramas and comedies alongside music programming . unlike muchmore which was marketed as a spin off of muchmusic m3 is marketed as a separate brand to quell concerns over viewers incorrectly suggesting that the network was catered towards a youth demographic due to its similar name . a high definition feed was also launched . 12 13 after the relaunch muchmoreretro was rebranded as muchretro aligning the channel with the much brand . the muchmore countdown became the m3 countdown and was relaunched with a new format on january 18 2014 . 14 it was the last remaining original music related program on the network . juiced was cancelled following the rebrand and m3top20.ca formally known as mmmtop20.ca and later mmtop20.ca a viewer voted countdown show was removed from the schedule in the spring of 2014 . on september 7 2014 m3 debuted a new countdown show called the retro 30 . replacing the m3 countdown retro 30 focuses on the biggest news events and artists of a specific day of a year . 15 following its introduction the network began adding more retro videos into its rotation . in january 2015 m3 debuted a new country music block the m3 country brunch . retro 30 was eventually cancelled and the country brunch block was later removed from the schedule . on september 1 2016 m3 was replaced by gusto a cooking and lifestyle oriented network . a prior incarnation of the network was operated by knight enterprises under a category b license ; the company sold the canadian rights to the gusto brand and programming to bell media and the channel was taken over by bell under m3 s category a license . 16 programming edit for a more comprehensive list see list of programs broadcast by m3 . programming on m3 primarily consisted of dramas sitcoms reality shows and theatrically released films . m3 often carried same week encores of programming aired on ctv and ctv two as well as off network repeats of shows that aired on other bell media owned channels . music videos were broadcast from 6 00 a.m to 3 00 p.m et on weekdays and 6 00 a.m to 10 00 a.m et on weekends . originally the channel s music content was aligned towards lighter genres of music . under the muchmore branding the channel began airing a more pop driven rotation of videos . as noted before m3 was marketed as a superstation and a separate channel from much . though both channels had diverged from their original purpose much still retained its music based format while expanding to focus on pop culture and adopting more younger skewing programming . notable former personalities edit matt wells karen bertelsen diego fuentes bill welychka references edit enchin harvey september 13 1993 tv audiences in back seat channel applicant says priority is securing cable affiliation the globe and mail pp . b3 issn 0319 0714 feschuk scott september 16 1993 bidding hot for tv licences 5 or 6 channels up for grabs the globe and mail pp . b1 issn 0319 0714 knight ridder news service september 1 1993 burt throws a tantrum on fictional talk show toronto star pp . b6 issn 0319 0781 a b bronskill jim february 24 1994 two new music tv stations wouldn t give us stranglehold muchmusic creators say the gazette pp . d6 issn 0384 1294 atherton tony february 8 1994 country music channel tops list of crtc tv applications series ottawa citizen pp . f1 issn 0839 3222 zerbisias antonia june 11 1994 broadcast blessings toronto star pp . c1 issn 0319 0781 zerbisias antonia january 13 1996 44 applicants seeking tv channel licences toronto star pp . f3 issn 0319 0781 canadian press 1996 04 25 . muchmusic for boomers to be a kinder gentler affair muchmoremusic . canadian press newswire . zerbisias antonia may 9 1996 znaimer spins more music in licence bid toronto star pp . c4 issn 0319 0781 doyle john january 23 1999 john doyle s critical list the globe and mail p. 4 issn 0319 0714 a b leblanc larry may 6 2000 ac channel m3 restructures to offer canadian labels much more choice billboard 112 19 pp. 63 64 issn 0006 2510 muchmore changes the channel rebrands as m3 . marketing magazine . retrieved 19 september 2013 . muchmore channel to become m3 in the fall . toronto star . july 26 2013 . retrieved 19 september 2013 . 5 days to go counting down to the new m3 countdown hosted by matt wells premiering jan. 18 . bell media . january 13 2014 . retrieved 18 april 2014 . m3 is going back in time with retro 30 . m3 news wednesday september 3 2014 . updated bell tv dropping several channels including cnbc shopping channel . cartt.ca . retrieved 24 august 2016 . subscription required v t e bell media and other broadcasting properties of bce inc. terrestrial tv ctv civt vancouver cfcn calgary cfrn edmonton cfqc saskatoon ckck regina cicc yorkton cipa prince albert cky winnipeg ckco kitchener cfto toronto cjoh ottawa cfcf montreal chbx sault ste. marie cici greater sudbury cito timmins ckny north bay cklt saint john ckcw moncton cjch halifax cjcb sydney ctv two civi victoria cftk terrace cjdc dawson creek chwi windsor cfpl london ckvr barrie chro ottawa specialty pay tv channels ctv two ctv two alberta ctv two atlantic ctv news bnn cp24 ctv news channel ctv specialty animal planet discovery channel discovery science discovery velocity espn classic rds rds2 rds info tsn tsn2 much mtv comedy the comedy network comedy gold mtv mtv2 much maple leaf sports & entertainment1 leafs tv nba tv canada premium and ppv cin pop the movie network hbo canada the movie network encore super cran vu 1 venus1 other booktelevision bravo canal d canal vie e fashion television gusto investigation investigation discovery space tv12 vrak z bell media radio am cfax cfgo cfra cfrb cfrn cfrw cfte