The station was formerly available online from CBC's website[2] and iTunes Radio, but geographical restrictions were in place to prevent access outside of Canada.

The original plan was codenamed "Clubhouse" and was developed by Susan Englebert, Robert Ouimet, Anton Leo and C. William Smith.

[7] The team consisted of Susan Englebert,[8] Robert Ouimet,[7] Dave Tonner, Loc Dao, Rob McLaughlin and other partners.

120 Seconds was a directory of user and artist-created video and documentary projects, New Music Canada was composed entirely of user-created and uploaded music by Canadian independent pop, rock, electronic and hip hop musicians, and Just Concerts included exclusive recordings of live performances by independent artists, both regular concert performances and Radio 3 studio sessions.

Originally hosted by Craig Norris until he left the network to join CBC Radio's new outlet for Kitchener-Waterloo, CBLA-FM-2, in 2013, the program was then taken over by Lana Gay.

[18] The final simulcast, which aired on March 17, was a retrospective broadcast which included past interviews with William Shatner and John Lydon, visits from past hosts David Wisdom and Leora Kornfeld, phone interviews with Buck 65, Joel Plaskett, Sara Quin and Jim Bryson, and live in-studio performances by John K. Samson and Christine Fellows, as well as listener requests for classic songs from any era in which Radio 3 or its predecessors aired.

Initially, the webstream consisted exclusively of music with the occasional identification break, but on September 14, 2007 it was relaunched with hosts and feature content, similar to but still programmed separately from the satellite radio station.

Due to funding cuts, however, the two services were merged in June 2009, such that the webstream is now a straight simulcast of the satellite radio channel.

X3 artists of the month have included K'naan, Malajube, Thunderheist, Japandroids, Apostle of Hustle, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Owen Pallett, and Jenn Grant.

[19] In addition to the service's conventional radio programming, any song in the network's music library was able to be streamed on demand from the artist's profile page on the site.

It followed host Grant Lawrence across Canada visiting various musicians and other personalities along the way, including The Darcys, Hollerado, Sam Roberts, Theo Fleury, Hawksley Workman and others.

The Connect the Dots Tour in 2004 featured a different lineup of bands in each city, including p:ano, Ninja High School, The Russian Futurists, Young and Sexy, The Unicorns, The Super Friendz, Lederhosen Lucil, Dragon Fli Empire and controller.controller.

[27] Tour Tournée in the winter of 2006, jointly sponsored by CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part, included bands such as Wintersleep, Two Hours Traffic, Konflit Dramatik, Hexes and Ohs, Great Aunt Ida, Shout Out Out Out Out, Novillero, Les Breastfeeders, SS Cardiacs, Les Dales Hawerchuk, Pony Up!

On April 27, 2007, CBC Radio 3 and Bande à part jointly presented Quebec Scene, an Ottawa concert featuring The Stills, The Besnard Lakes, Karkwa and Mahjor Bidet.

[30] On June 9, 2007, as a part of the annual NXNE festival, CBC Radio 3 presented a concert in Toronto featuring United Steel Workers of Montreal, Ohbijou, Sebastien Grainger et Les Montagnes, You Say Party, In-Flight Safety and Two Hours Traffic.

[31] In 2008, the network sponsored and broadcast several live shows at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, including performances by Basia Bulat, The Constantines, The Most Serene Republic, The Stills, Shout Out Louds, Christine Fellows, Grand Analog and Hot Springs.

The network's live broadcast from the 2009 NXNE festival featured Woodpigeon, DD/MM/YYYY, Ruby Coast, Jason Collett, Hot Panda and The Lovely Feathers.

Past hosts heard on the network included Lana Gay, Tariq Hussain, Amanda Putz, Craig Norris, Alexis Mazurin, Lauren Burrows, Pete Morey, Lisa Christiansen, Raina Douris, Dave Shumka, Emma Godmere, Vish Khanna and Talia Schlanger.

Canadian musicians and other media personalities have also sometimes appeared as guest hosts, including Joel Plaskett, Carolyn Mark, Buck 65, Nirmala Basnayake, Hannah Sung, Brent Bambury, Graham Wright, Alanna Stuart and Nardwuar the Human Serviette.

Some personalities associated with the sister service Bande à part also appeared on the network as reporters or correspondents covering Quebec's music scene.

From 2006 to 2013, CBC Radio 3 presented the annual Bucky Awards,[34][35][36][37] which honour Canadian indie pop and rock music.