The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Documentary on MuchMusic Comes To Crave On Friday

RadioActive · January 21, 2024 9:53 pm

If you were a fan of MuchMusic or are curious about "299 Queen St. W.," the documentary made about it, your chance to see if it if you're a subscriber is here. It debuts this coming Friday, Jan. 26th on Crave, the streaming service and the cable channel.

It traces the history of the pioneering music station with those who were there, like Michael Williams, Steve Anthony, Denise Donlon, George Stroumboulopoulos and more. It comes after the filmmakers spent several months last year on the road touring the documentary across the country.

I'm not sure what happened to Universal Music's threat to block the movie over the use of unlicensed music clips, but if it's debuting on Crave, it appears the issue has been resolved.

Retrontario · January 22, 2024 9:57 am

It's a great time capsule! We helped Sean with a lot of the rarer footage seen in the documentary.

paterson1 · January 25, 2024 12:17 pm

Hopefully 299 Queen Street West will run more than once. Right now it is scheduled on Crave 3 for 12:55am Saturday morning, and I didn't see it coming up any other times. Maybe the program is going directly to on demand? I am going to record it just in case.

RadioAaron · January 25, 2024 12:43 pm

Crave viewership is somewhere north of 80% via the app. "On Crave" by default means streaming.

RadioActive · January 25, 2024 3:36 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Hopefully 299 Queen Street West will run more than once. Right now it is scheduled on Crave 3 for 12:55am Saturday morning, and I didn't see it coming up any other times. Maybe the program is going directly to on demand? I am going to record it just in case.

According to the Star Week magazine, "299" is showing as follows:

9 PM Friday on Crave 1
11 PM Friday on Crave 4 and
12:55 AM Saturday on Crave 3

Binson Echorec · January 25, 2024 6:54 pm

It will likely also show up in the Crave library if you're subscribed. Looking forward to it.

markow202 · January 26, 2024 1:34 pm

Whats the name of the documentary? 299 Queen St w?

Last edited by markow202 (January 26, 2024 1:35 pm)

RadioActive · January 26, 2024 1:38 pm

Yes, it's called "299 Queen St. W."

You can see the trailer here.

BeatleTeunis · January 26, 2024 9:18 pm

Still not on Crave? Was hoping it would be there today.

paterson1 · January 26, 2024 11:04 pm

So far I only see it scheduled on Crave 3 at 12:55am Saturday morning in a few hours. It was not on at 9pm this evening on Crave 1 and isn't scheduled on the grid on my television at 11pm on Crave 4.

Tq345 · January 27, 2024 12:55 pm

paterson1 wrote:
So far I only see it scheduled on Crave 3 at 12:55am Saturday morning in a few hours. It was not on at 9pm this evening on Crave 1 and isn't scheduled on the grid on my television at 11pm on Crave 4.

I recorded the 12:55am showing, but it was another movie altogether. It's scheduled again at 2:20am Friday. I've set the PVR, so we'll see.

Binson Echorec · January 27, 2024 1:01 pm

Tq345 wrote:
I recorded the 12:55am showing, but it was another movie altogether. It's scheduled again at 2:20am Friday. I've set the PVR, so we'll see.

I "taped" it too but haven't watched yet, thanks for letting me know not to bother lol.

I also couldn't find a listing for it in the app on my tv.

RadioAaron · January 27, 2024 1:08 pm

It's a decent watch. Not much more to it than a collection of old clips, but there's nothing wrong with that.

It doesn't spend much time on "the fall" half of the title, but there's not much to say there; videos became available on-demand, so MTV and MUCH tried reality TV for a bit, which worked for a while but ultimately destroyed the brands.

paterson1 · January 27, 2024 1:44 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
Tq345 wrote:
I recorded the 12:55am showing, but it was another movie altogether. It's scheduled again at 2:20am Friday. I've set the PVR, so we'll see.
I "taped" it too but haven't watched yet, thanks for letting me know not to bother lol.

I also couldn't find a listing for it in the app on my tv.

Wonder if in fact the issue with Universal Music is cleared up. I have set it to record again at 2:20AM this Friday and it doesn't look like it is scheduled any other time right now.

RadioActive · January 27, 2024 8:10 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Binson Echorec wrote:
Tq345 wrote:
I recorded the 12:55am showing, but it was another movie altogether. It's scheduled again at 2:20am Friday. I've set the PVR, so we'll see.
I "taped" it too but haven't watched yet, thanks for letting me know not to bother lol.

I also couldn't find a listing for it in the app on my tv.
Wonder if in fact the issue with Universal Music is cleared up. I have set it to record again at 2:20AM this Friday and it doesn't look like it is scheduled any other time right now.

You're not the only one wondering. It was definitely listed in last week's Star Week Magazine, complete with a full description in their highlights page. And it was also on Bell Media's "The Lede" page, which highlights upcoming shows worthy of attention.

And now - all pages on the site have been mysteriously removed. I did a search for "What happened to 299 Queen St. W. on Crave," and it turns out we're not the only ones with this question. Here's a site that tried to get answers - but couldn't.

What happened to the MuchMusic doc on Crave?

With all the hype they gave this, the very least Bell could do is explain to viewers what happened - and if it's ever actually going to be shown on the service.

paterson1 · January 27, 2024 10:23 pm

I don't think they did hype it that "much". I never saw a promo for the doc on either Crave or CTV, which regularly shows Crave promos. The Lede is likely read primarily by media people, and Bell includes pretty much everything they have coming up on that site. Although they did give it some promo on X. There was lots of promo when 299 Queen St. West was running at film festivals but this was more from news services. I wonder if there is still a hold up with Universal and the music in the documentary. Didn't Much Music help sell a lot of product for Universal when playing their artists 24/7 a few decades ago? But if the program doesn't air or continues to be delayed, Bell should release an explanation why.

Last edited by paterson1 (January 27, 2024 10:29 pm)

Shorty Wave · January 28, 2024 10:18 am

Yesterday’s (Jan 27) Globe & Mail print edition had a correction stating that due to a scheduling change, the streaming premiere has been pushed back, although they didn’t provide the new airdate.
Something is definitely up and most likely involves Universal music. And yes, paterson1, Universal Music made tons of money off of MuchMusic’s back and this is how they thank them. Slimy stuff.

RadioAaron · January 28, 2024 11:39 am

Shorty Wave wrote:
And yes, paterson1, Universal Music made tons of money off of MuchMusic’s back and this is how they thank them. Slimy stuff.

The doc isn't produced by MuchMusic or BellMedia. It's from an independent film-maker. He got full access to the MUCH archives in exchange for Bell getting the streaming rights.

homewithbrian · January 28, 2024 2:52 pm

RadioActive wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Binson Echorec wrote:
I "taped" it too but haven't watched yet, thanks for letting me know not to bother lol.

I also couldn't find a listing for it in the app on my tv.
Wonder if in fact the issue with Universal Music is cleared up. I have set it to record again at 2:20AM this Friday and it doesn't look like it is scheduled any other time right now.
You're not the only one wondering. It was definitely listed in last week's Star Week Magazine, complete with a full description in their highlights page. And it was also on Bell Media's "The Lede" page, which highlights upcoming shows worthy of attention.

And now - all pages on the site have been mysteriously removed. I did a search for "What happened to 299 Queen St. W. on Crave," and it turns out we're not the only ones with this question. Here's a site that tried to get answers - but couldn't.

What happened to the MuchMusic doc on Crave?

With all the hype they gave this, the very least Bell could do is explain to viewers what happened - and if it's ever actually going to be shown on the service.

Thank you for sharing our link! We have definitely received a fair amount of messages over this debacle. We've been told from people who seem to be in the know (but not yet by Bell/Crave) that it is related to the Universal legal action. We will share whatever their PR people tell us as soon as we get a response.

homewithbrian · January 29, 2024 10:52 am

Appears this is all they will say: “Due to a scheduling change, ‘299 Queen Street West’ no longer premiered on Crave on Friday Jan. 26. This was a last minute update.”

arc23 · January 29, 2024 12:25 pm

Is there any indication on when we'll have a new date for the premier?

paterson1 · January 29, 2024 2:30 pm

Etalk should update this on their show and clear up the confusion or at least explain what happened.

Calhame · January 30, 2024 3:24 pm

Maybe this is why

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7098725

paterson1 · January 30, 2024 5:17 pm

Calhame wrote:
Maybe this is why

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7098725

Nice that at least CBC had some information on this.

RadioActive · January 30, 2024 5:52 pm

I'm guessing the Canadian Press article forced Bell's iHeart Radio to do a story of their own on the controversy - although there's not much more information on it there, either.

"Crave has yet to provide an update on if or when it will be adding the film back to its programming schedule."

Helpful.

MuchMusic Doc '299 Queen Street West' Pulled From Crave's Schedule