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MuchMusic (often called Much) is a 24-hour cable television music video and variety television channel based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which debuted on August 31, 1984 as one of the first Canadian cable specialty channels on the air.
Controlled by CHUM Limited, a major Canadian media conglomerate, it was designed as a Canadian version of MTV, the very successful American cable music channel that had premiered a few years earlier. Although never an affiliate, Much often broadcast MTV-produced programming such as awards shows and concerts.
The first video played on MuchMusic was Rush's "The Enemy Within".
There are also affiliates in Montreal, Quebec (Quebecois MusiquePlus) which debuted in 1986, and international affiliates in the United States (MuchUSA) launches in 1994, Jyrki a Finland-based segment which airs on Alma Media's MTV3. Argentina (MuchMusic Argentina) launched in 1992, Colombia (CitytvBogota) launches in 1999, Muchmusic Malaysia launched in 2000 in Malaysia and in 2002, Singapore's RTV Broadcast Services began broadcasting content from Citytv and MuchMusic and also in 2002, Mexico's MuchMusic Mexico began a segment airing on Canal Once.
MuchMusic also has spinoff channels in Canada including MuchVibe, MuchLoud, and MuchMoreMusic.
It has been credited with creating a vibrant Canadian music scene simply by following the Canadian content broadcast rules which guaranteed native musical acts had a secure and prominent place on the channel's play schedule.
Making use of CHUM's facilities and production teams, the network has produced many specialty musical and variety programs, including the long-running dance program Electric Circus and the late-1980s game show Test Pattern, and it adopted some programs originally created for CHUM such as City Limits which featured alternative videos. It ran afoul of Canadian broadcast regulators in the early 1990s when it aired the animated series Ren and Stimpy; it was forced to take the program off the air on the basis that it was not a music-based program as per the network's licence.
The network also generated controversy by occasionally banning videos it deemed too racy or violent for broadcast (MTV also weathered similar controversy). Often, the network would broadcast banned videos as part of a Too Much for Much TV special, followed by discussion with viewers and concerned groups about why the video should or shouldn't be aired (but rarely would videos be unbanned). On the flipside, the worst videos of the year would also be featured in annual New Year's specials entitled Fromage (i.e. "cheese").
In recent years, particularly with the arrival of MTV on Canadian digital cable, the influence of MuchMusic has waned, and the channel has had to weather criticism that it focuses too much on "top 40" acts and imported MTV "reality shows" like Newlyweds and Pimp My Ride thereby not giving enough time to smaller, independent, and canadian performers, but it still remains a popular station for young viewers.
MuchMusic personalities
Current
Past - Steve Anthony (who still does voiceovers for CHUM channels)
- Glenn Baxter
- Jeanne Beker
- Laurie Brown
- Kim Clarke Champniss
- Lance Chilton
- Monika Deol
- Angela Dohrmann
- Denise Donlon
- Erica Ehm (Erica Miechowsky)
- Simon Evans
- Rainbow Sun Francks
- Diego Fuentes
- Dan Gallagher
- Larissa Gulka
- Craig Halket
- Bradford How
- Namugenyi Kiwanuka
- George Lagogianes
- Avi Lewis
- Sook-Yin Lee
- Jennifer Morton
- Terry David Mulligan
- Rachel Perry
- Juliette Powell
- Kathleen Rajsp
- Rebecca Rankin
- Natalie Richard
- Daniel Richler
- J.D. Roberts
- Teresa Roncon
- Aaron Strate
- George Stroumboulopoulos
- Amanda Walsh
- Christopher Ward
- Bill Welychka
- Michael Williams
- Byron Wong
- Tony "Master T" Young
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