RIP Channel [V]: It’s all about the music
In this guest post, Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis reflects on the launch of Channel [V] in Australia 22 years ago, the evolution of subscription TV and his thoughts on today’s announcement of the channel’s closure.
In that prehistoric era before the internet, before mobile phones, before ‘ice’ meant anything other than a helpful addition to cool a beverage, subscription TV was born in Australia. And I was there. Possibly by mistake.
It was late in 1994 and having applied unsuccessfully to be a security guard for IBM (where my mother worked), a co-worker at The Reasonably Good Café where I had some casual shifts washing dishes, mentioned his flatmate was having trouble finding a fourth talking head for a soon-to-be launched 24/7 music channel, to be called Red, on Galaxy Pay TV – “with No Ads!”
I remember watching Jabba on the analogue FOXTEL cable back in the red days on a large 21′ National Tv
Twenty years later I still watch it and it is a sad day for music lovers. Yes the channe had commercial integration that it never did initially, however it was still done in a way that kept it ‘edgy’ and feeling a bit like Triple J on TV
I was lucky enough to go to Sydney in the 90’s to do work experience at the channel.
It says how much pressure FOXTEL must be under; how could the channel be sustainable with significant live content in the 90s and early 2000’s with 200,000 subscribers yet now with over 1,000,000 and less live content Suddenly no longer.
Yes video clips are available on demand however there is something nice about having somebody else select the tracks.
I’m sure most won’t notice the departure yet I will.
Well said Jabba.
Ah V! A big part of my teen years. First insights into the Big Day Out before I was able to go myself watching PJ Harvey in awe with my parents on the telly. When I was 15/16, my dad would travel from Newcastle to sell bread at the EQ Markets, I would tag along to go watch Jabba’s Morning Glory (despite innocently being unaware of what one was!) and ‘Whatuwant’ happen live. My mates and I caught the train and farewelled Jabba on his last show. A lovely man especially with probably very annoying teenage girls hanging around. Thank you for giving us the time of day, it really meant a lot to us at the time. I also remember meeting the lovely Yumi Stynes. My teenage photo albums have photos with members of Machine Gun Fellatio and Regurgitator, which for underage teens, seeing them live elsewhere would have been impossible.
My parents have videos of me chatting to Andrew G at V and participating in the V Bus when it rolled into Newy. Thanks V for the good memories, the awesome coverage of bands, festivals and original shows (how excellent was band in a bubble!).
Great write-up and restrospective, Jabba, and kudos to you for landing this gig in such an unconventional way!
Who could have forgotten Mike Kerry presenting next to the very tall transgender lady on Room 208 on Saturday nights. The end of the blue light disco era. Outstanding stuff!! RIP Channel [V].
Let’s take it back one step further and look at how PayTV began the decline of free-to-air TV. FTV budgets were slashed in the wake of advertiser market dilution. No more $100k per night budgets for live variety TV shows…. Sure it had to happen, but don’t come crying to us when you couldn’t make STV music work.
You had 22 years of (GLOBAL) strategy building and insights to make sure the channel never closed.
Example… there is still no real music on the TV or web which gives me the freedom to “watch” 100% music videos in my own playlist when I want to watch them… subscript or ad model…
I don’t work in the music industry but surely, this isn’t rocket science!!
Agreed. Surely they could have reduced some of the live content and put more clips rather than totally ending the channel. A ‘hits’ format espeically on a plus two fulfills the need of a KFC store for background music however not to have around a house where more variety is needed for a longer viewing time.
If the same thing happened to the other channels (remember MTV classic closed years ago) I would actually cancel my subscription. Ok one $90 sub isn’t going to affect the profitability of the business however I am sure others feel the same.
The idea of pay TV is for mass and niche audiences via subscription funding for a viewer. When that value proposition is diluted the need to subscribe diminishes
Awesome Piece, well said Jabba
Nice one Jabba – yes it’s all too easy for people to jump onto You Tube and find a song instantly.
Unfortunately (in my opinion) tribalism is dead.
I can remember when MILLIONS of Aussies watched Saturday morning music TV, whether it be Sounds, Rage or Video Hits and of course Countdown.
It’s going to be hard for new acts to make themselves heard above all the “noise” out there.
I used to watch Channel [V] in it’s heyday and I found presenters like Jabba and Andrew G self-indulgent, oblivious to their self-indulgence.
The network’s live content was east coast-centric, as Jabba admits in his nostalgia, so it wasn’t truly representative of youth culture across Australia, in my opinion more like a dictator of what it should look like.
Jabba says, anecdotally: “Despite our audience numbers being in the low thousands, there was significance in brand [V].” Where? In the corporate world? Because that quote reads like corporate speak.
And Jabba, what’s the future of broadcasting? Perhaps it’s a young version of you with his or her own YouTube channel, who makes money and gets hate mail and all. One thing is for certain; they won’t fluke their way into a dream job at a mass media corporation.
@geoff – I can assure you tribalism is alive and well. The subjects have just changed.
Mike Kerry should relaunch Room 208 as a YouTube channel.
Nice write up Jabba. Good times doing the live shows for Big Day Out, ARIAs, The Joint and WhatUWant as a VT operator. For a country boy’s first time in the big smoke, Channel V was an eye opening education into how quality TV could be made on a shoestring budget that has stayed with me for my career.