Max Trax

Max Trax
Max Trax logo
Closed	October 1, 2009
Owned by	Stingray Digital
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	National

Max Trax was a Canadian English and French language category 2 digital pay television audio service owned and operated by Stingray Digital.

Programming

At the time of its closing, Max Trax offered 22 commercial-free music based audio channels, each devoted to a particular musical genre, distributed through digital television platforms. Each channel consisted of a continuous stream of music or audio, using no live, on-air disc jockeys.

Channels

Blues Street Flashback 70's Franco Energie Franco Relax Greatest Hits Hit List HotCountry Jammin Jazz Café Kids'Stuff Le Top Détente

Masterworks Max Trax Party Memories Musique Bout'Choux Rave Rock RockAlternative Swingin' Standards The Beat The Light The Spa

Galaxie Max Trax

Because of service duplication, in 2002, Galaxie (a similar television service) and Max Trax agreed to provide a joint 40-channel audio distribution service to satellite and digital cable television providers called Galaxie Max Trax. The package consisted of 20 Max Trax and 20 Galaxie channels. The package was discontinued upon merger with Galaxie in late 2009.

Sale to Stingray Digital

On February 13, 2009, original owners Corus Entertainment announced it had entered into an agreement to sell certain assets associated with Max Trax to Stingray Digital, including hardware, websites, domain names, among other assets including trademarks that includes the Max Trax name.^[1]

Previous to the sale to Stingray, in December 2008, Stingray received a category 2 digital licence to operate a national pay TV audio service, similar to Max Trax, from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

The agreement was structured so that Corus would discontinue the Max Trax service, keeping the service on the air until Stingray launched its own service under its own licence using the Max Trax brand, resulting in a seamless transition and no interruption in services.

Merger with Galaxie

On October 1, 2009 the Max Trax brand was discontinued by owners Stingray Digital, who merged it with Galaxie under one brand. Stingray Digital, who had been operating as the exclusive sales and development agent for Galaxie since late 2007 on behalf of its owners, the CBC, officially took over as managing partner in the service upon completion of merger.^[2][3] Stingray would later purchase Galaxie from the CBC in May 2011.^[4]

The original licence for Max Trax that was owned by Corus, was revoked by the CRTC on September 23, 2011.^[5]

References

1. ^ Corus Enters Agreement with Stingray Digital For Pay Audio Service; Broadcaster Magazine; 2009-02-13
2. ^ http://twitter.com/GALAXIEMUSIC/status/4528049589
3. ^ http://www.maxtrax.com
4. ^ CRTC ownership chart for Stingray Digital
5. ^ http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-613.htm CRTC 2011-09-23