Music television channels
Music television channels are special-interest channels on television that mainly broadcast music or music videos and information about music.
Functionality, aesthetics and effects
These channels are mainly financed through advertising income, so they are mostly geared towards a young target group . Other sources of income are sponsoring, merchandising , but also teleshopping and paid service numbers. On television, a quick sequence of cuts should captivate the viewer with visual and acoustic stimuli and prevent boredom. This has established its own music video aesthetic. The program is presented by so-called video jockeys (VJs). In Germany, this type of television was also a talent factory for “young faces” and produced stars like Stefan Raab , Oliver Pocher and Heike Makatsch . Well-known television stations of this type are MTV and VIVA . The online music channel tape.tv has also existed since July 2008, and has been continuously expanded since then and also cooperates with classic TV channels. Increasing competition arises from video portals such as YouTube .
German-language music TV channels
The first German music station was founded in January 1984 and was called musicbox . The program was converted to Tele 5 in 1988 . In December 1993, VIVA , the second German music broadcaster , started in Cologne as a competitor to MTV, which owned a majority of four of the then five major labels in Germany (EMI, Warner, Polygram and Sony). A twofold purpose for this music television station can be seen in the ownership structure: It should not only be profitable through the sale of advertising time like MTV, but also stimulate the business of its owners as a playback station for local charts pop music. VIVA Zwei started in March 1995, followed by Deluxe Music (April 2005) and Deutsches Musik Fernsehen (February 2007). The Austrian gotv went on air in October 2002.
The broadcaster MTV, which actually came from the USA, had had a European branch ( MTV Europe ) since 1987 , which could also be received in Germany in all cable networks. In 1997, a German-language broadcaster was spun off from this ( MTV Germany ), which still exists today. In the early 2000s, both MTV and VIVA began to expand their main programs into comprehensive entertainment channels in which music videos were only played when no quota was expected. Instead, VIVA Plus and MTV2 Pop were created, which - sometimes with call-in formats - only played music videos.
Since June 24, 2004, VIVA Media has been part of the US media company Viacom , which also owns MTV. In the period that followed, the respective second programs were discontinued and replaced by completely different formats; the main broadcasters have further reduced their share of music clips, so that one can hardly speak of a “music broadcaster”. MTV has not been freely available since 2011, but can only be viewed via satellite for a fee. This means that the era in which music television channels were a major pop culture phenomenon can be considered over. In 2018 MTV became freely available again. For this, VIVA was completely discontinued on December 31, 2018. The Dutch broadcaster XITE ceased broadcasting in the German cable network in January 2019.
In the meantime, smaller stations have emerged such as YAVIDO , iMusic1 and iM1 Hits . The only German-language music channels that are currently still partially free to air in Germany are Deluxe Music , the hit channel Deutsches Musik Fernsehen and the Austrian channel gotv .
As an alternative to the TV channels, there are now various online portals with a focus on music videos, such as the Berlin online music channel tape.tv , which has now been discontinued . The music station had over 45,000 music videos in its program and also produced its own formats such as on the rooftops or - in cooperation with ZDFkultur - on tape . Youtube is a big player with its own music video channels. Other online offers are VEVO, which - like VIVA in the past - belongs to some of the major labels and which appears as a music video channel on Youtube in all other countries except Germany, and Clipfish or the now discontinued Ampya. Like the music television stations before, the online offers are largely financed through advertising. But there are also other approaches: Ampya, for example, offered a free offer with advertising or, alternatively, advertising-free models for a monthly fee.
International
In August 1981, MTV was launched in the USA as the world's first special-interest channel for music. When MTV's programming content was largely focused on black music , Country Music Television (CMT) was launched in March 1983 . The music channel Music Box was founded in England in March 1984 , but was taken over by the Super Channel in January 1987 . Today there are numerous classical music channels that can be received at BSkyB via satellite (28.2 ° East). The broadcasts are unencrypted and can also be received in German-speaking countries. VIVA UK & Ireland was discontinued in early 2018.
In the year 2000 VIVA and MTV start branches in Poland. MTV replaced the first Polish music television, Atomic TV . In 2017 VIVA Polska was discontinued and replaced by MTV Music Polska which was also discontinued in 2020. In Hungary there was also VIVA that started in 1997 and was also discontinued in 2017.
The Dutch stations The Music Factory and The Box were also discontinued after the takeover by Viacom / MTV.
In Turkey , PowerFM, NR1 (Number 1 TV), Kral TV and Dream operate a channel each for Turkish and one for international music videos. The broadcast is unencrypted in HD via the Türksat satellites at 42 ° East, which means that these channels can also be received in German-speaking countries. MTV Türkiye broadcast until 2011.
Numerous music channels can be received from other European countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
Individual evidence
- ^ Henry Keazor, Hans W. Giessen, Thorsten Wübbena: For the aesthetic implementation of music videos in the context of handhelds. (PDF; 6.1 MB) In: Book / research project. July 24, 2012, accessed June 17, 2013 (German).
- ↑ Fabian Heuser: Media experts and VCs invest in tape.tv: Social music television is getting louder! (No longer available online.) In: Press release. June 17, 2013, archived from the original on May 28, 2012 ; accessed on April 10, 2012 (German). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ MTV: A piece of pop culture turns 30. In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de. August 1, 2011, accessed June 17, 2013 (German).
- ↑ DWDL.de MTV again on Free TV
- ↑ DWDL.de VIVA is discontinued
