Minimax Brasil

Minimax was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril under the permission of Groupe Canal+. It first launched on September 6, 1999 and closed on August 31, 2013.

History
Minimax Brasil was launched on September 6, 1999, only to metropolitan São Paulo, through UHF channel A69 and metropolitan Rio de Janeiro, through VHF channel A20. At launch, the channel aired only from 6:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Until March 3, 2000, it gradually extended its broadcast hours, and from that date onwards, the channel aired from 6:00 AM to 1:00 AM, later in May 2000, the channel gained another hour at the beginning of the broadcasting day, now operating from 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM.

On September 3, 2000, a regional version of the French television channel Game One (originally planned as Game Channel) began timesharing with Minimax, broadcasting from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM.

On March 1, 2001, Minimax premiered its first programming block, MiniCarrossel, aimed at preschoolers, inspired by the Polish feed's MiniKaruzela block. A second block called ZonaMax, also inspired by the Polish feed's MaxiStrefa block, premiered on May 1, 2002, aimed at teenagers. MiniCarrossel aired at weekdays, while ZonaMax aired at weekends.

On November 1, 2003, M+ was launched taking over the evening slot. M+ was available only in smaller cable companies. Although most cable companies turned off the signal after Minimax signed off.

On September 4, 2004, M+ merged with Humor 1 and renamed as Cool. When it was still called M+, it has operated independently from Minimax since December 6, 2003.

On February 4, 2005, ZonaMax was discontinued in favor of a regional version of A+ Anime that began timesharing with Minimax, replacing Cool.

On July 31, 2005, a regional version of A+ Anime was discontinued, and Minimax was now 24 hours a day.

On November 1, 2005 at 6:00 AM, Minimax changed its logo, just like Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, France, Japan, South Korea and Latin America, but this logo was only used as an on-screen bug, until January 1, 2006. After the logo change, the 1999 bumpers and mascots still remained unchanged (except for the Minimax logo) until April 1, 2008, when the channel was given a new look and replaced its original 6 mascots with Mini the girl, Max the boy, the cat Gato & the dog Cachorro, although a few months before, Minimax Brasil began to use some backgrounds from 2008 in some Minimax Brasil commercials on November 2007-March 2008. On the same time, MiniCarrúsel/MiniCarrossel and ZonaMax were discontinued.

In 2006, due to regulatory requirements that non-Brazilian companies can own only up to 30% of a terrestrial network, Abril acquired 20% of Minimax Brasil from Mediatech.

Minimax was broadcast for the last time in Brazil on August 31, 2013, being the last TV show aired was O Último Programa do Mundo no Minimax ("The Last Program in the World on Minimax"). and was replaced by Canal Ao Vivo.

Programming
Some of the notable series aired on Minimax Brasil include Twipsy, Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat, Tiny Toon Adventures, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Bibi Blocksberg, Hanamaru, Bear in the Big Blue House, Rolie Polie Olie, Little People, Arthur, Cyberchase and many others. In the channel's final months of broadcast, its programming consisted primarily of various animated shows such as Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, Jungle Junction, Gawayn, Robot and Monster and etc.

Trivia

 * According to Mauricio Pereira, the channel closed due to the fact Minimax in the other countries (such as Asia), would be closed following the redesign that was received a fully 3D CGI refresh on the Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Serbian and Slovene feeds. and the other reason is because the other feeds of Minimax (such as Asia, Portugal, Greece and etc), didn't receive a fully 3D CGI refresh, unlike the Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Serbian and Slovene feeds.
 * Among the network's favorite programs was (believe it or not) Twipsy. When VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penguins! started to become popular in Brazil (this is the dream equivalent), Minimax Brasil started airing it in competition with Twipsy, with both shows often airing back-to-back.