Vintage TV Canada to add country music programming after being dropped by CMT Canada

[lostjon]

TORONTO - Music channel Vintage TV Canada is investing in the country music market after it says CMT (Country Music Television) Canada yanked music videos from its channel in favour of other programming.

Specific details about the new country music programming for Vintage TV Canada will be announced shortly, but the nascent channel said Wednesday that Canadian country music fans will have access to high quality content from both emerging and established country artists.

“There have always been millions of country fans across Canada, as well as a vibrant domestic country scene from coast-to-coast”, said Vintage TV Canada’s creative director Alan Cross, in the news release. “As a channel that loves good music of all genres, Vintage TV Canada will ensure that the country music fan is not forgotten and that country music artists are given the support and visibility they deserve."

Since its launch in October 2016, Vintage TV Canada added that country has been integral to its mix of musical genres, and that original programming such as Needle Time and Live With… have offered a platform for country music artists to reach their audience.

Source: https://cartt.ca/article/vintage-tv-...-country-music

*****

Say what you will about music videos no longer being relevant on TV, but they can still be viable to a certain degree, As long as these channels are owned and operated by not only companies who specialize in that genre and nothing else, but also by the best minds in the music industry. And that's why channels like Vintage TV Canada and the Stingray channels (which were sold off by Bell) are ideal outlets. The other conglomerates no longer see this as a priority given the changes they have made with the terms of their licence.

I can only hope that this announcement, will push other major providers to add Vintage TV Canada to their lineup (are you listening Bell, Telus, Videotron, Cogeco, etc.?) very soon. So far, just Shaw (Shaw Direct and Shaw Cable) and more recently, Rogers are the main providers carrying this channel.

The way I see it, CMT's loss is Vintage TV's gain - and more variety for fans of music.

Right now, both Vintage and the Stingray music channels are currently exempt from the CRTC given their low subscription numbers, but I would not be surprised if this changes at some point.

Looking back at what has happened with the various music video channels in just the last few years:

As I already mentioned in another thread, CMT (Corus) scrapped all their music video programming for more sitcom reruns that they already have on Dejaview. Nightly marathons of Everybody Loves Raymond, Will & Grace and Last Man Standing just to name a few. Oh, and they acquired Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Much (Bell) has drastically scaled back its music videos - yes, they still play music videos in the morning and at noon (with an hour of retro videos), but I would not be surprised if they eliminate them altogether at some point. For this fall, gone are the music video blocks during the evenings including the long-running MuchCountdown. Now taking its place are first-run episodes of TMZ and marathons of South Park, The Simpsons, Anger Management and various Comedy Central programs.

MuchMoreMusic which became MuchMore then M3 was rebranded into a new version of Gusto, as Bell Media was looking to get in to the food specialty genre to compete against Food Network and Cooking Channel.

Then all the Much-branded video channels (Retro, Loud, Vibe and Juicebox) got sold off to Stingray Digital. A smart deal considering that while it was sold to another Canadian company, their goals have gone beyond the Canadian market and cover various platforms. Earlier this year, each of the channels made a transition for the first time since being acquired by Stingray.

Nearly a decade ago, AUX launched and for a time, served as a pretty good alternative to Much. But as it underwent various ownership changes, it also became a victim of channel drift, evolving into another generic channel. It eventually rebranded as A.SIDE earlier this year, with millenials as their target audience. They still play music videos but most of the programming seems outdated, save for the occasional countdown shows.

On the French side, MusiquePlus (can we even call it that now?) and MAX (rebranded from MusiMax one year ago) dropped their music video blocks altogether at the end of last month. In the last year, they limited their music video blocks in the overnights and early morning hours.

Stateside, MTV and VH1 also scrapped music videos in favor of you guessed it, sitcom marathons. Although MTV is somehow looking to bring back the past now with their reboots of TRL and MTV Unplugged, and it so happens, that MTV Canada will also be carrying those shows in their fall schedule. And not to mention, they've also thrown in reruns of Friends for good measure...

Getting back to the topic of this thread, here's another interesting article: http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/c...es-take-slack/

[Test Pattern]

TORONTO - Music channel Vintage TV Canada is investing in the country music market after it says CMT (Country Music Television) Canada yanked music videos from its channel in favour of other programming.

Specific details about the new country music programming for Vintage TV Canada will be announced shortly, but the nascent channel said Wednesday that Canadian country music fans will have access to high quality content from both emerging and established country artists.

“There have always been millions of country fans across Canada, as well as a vibrant domestic country scene from coast-to-coast”, said Vintage TV Canada’s creative director Alan Cross, in the news release. “As a channel that loves good music of all genres, Vintage TV Canada will ensure that the country music fan is not forgotten and that country music artists are given the support and visibility they deserve."

Since its launch in October 2016, Vintage TV Canada added that country has been integral to its mix of musical genres, and that original programming such as Needle Time and Live With… have offered a platform for country music artists to reach their audience.

Source: https://cartt.ca/article/vintage-tv-...-country-music

*****

Say what you will about music videos no longer being relevant on TV, but they can still be viable to a certain degree, As long as these channels are owned and operated by not only companies who specialize in that genre and nothing else, but also by the best minds in the music industry. And that's why channels like Vintage TV Canada and the Stingray channels (which were sold off by Bell) are ideal outlets. The other conglomerates no longer see this as a priority given the changes they have made with the terms of their licence.

I can only hope that this announcement, will push other major providers to add Vintage TV Canada to their lineup (are you listening Bell, Telus, Videotron, Cogeco, etc.?) very soon. So far, just Shaw (Shaw Direct and Shaw Cable) and more recently, Rogers are the main providers carrying this channel.

The way I see it, CMT's loss is Vintage TV's gain - and more variety for fans of music.

Right now, both Vintage and the Stingray music channels are currently exempt from the CRTC given their low subscription numbers, but I would not be surprised if this changes at some point.

Looking back at what has happened with the various music video channels in just the last few years:

As I already mentioned in another thread, CMT (Corus) scrapped all their music video programming for more sitcom reruns that they already have on Dejaview. Nightly marathons of Everybody Loves Raymond, Will & Grace and Last Man Standing just to name a few. Oh, and they acquired Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Much (Bell) has drastically scaled back its music videos - yes, they still play music videos in the morning and at noon (with an hour of retro videos), but I would not be surprised if they eliminate them altogether at some point. For this fall, gone are the music video blocks during the evenings including the long-running MuchCountdown. Now taking its place are first-run episodes of TMZ and marathons of South Park, The Simpsons, Anger Management and various Comedy Central programs.

MuchMoreMusic which became MuchMore then M3 was rebranded into a new version of Gusto, as Bell Media was looking to get in to the food specialty genre to compete against Food Network and Cooking Channel.

Then all the Much-branded video channels (Retro, Loud, Vibe and Juicebox) got sold off to Stingray Digital. A smart deal considering that while it was sold to another Canadian company, their goals have gone beyond the Canadian market and cover various platforms. Earlier this year, each of the channels made a transition for the first time since being acquired by Stingray.

Nearly a decade ago, AUX launched and for a time, served as a pretty good alternative to Much. But as it underwent various ownership changes, it also became a victim of channel drift, evolving into another generic channel. It eventually rebranded as A.SIDE earlier this year, with millenials as their target audience. They still play music videos but most of the programming seems outdated, save for the occasional countdown shows.

On the French side, MusiquePlus (can we even call it that now?) and MAX (rebranded from MusiMax one year ago) dropped their music video blocks altogether at the end of last month. In the last year, they limited their music video blocks in the overnights and early morning hours.

Stateside, MTV and VH1 also scrapped music videos in favor of you guessed it, sitcom marathons. Although MTV is somehow looking to bring back the past now with their reboots of TRL and MTV Unplugged, and it so happens, that MTV Canada will also be carrying those shows in their fall schedule. And not to mention, they've also thrown in reruns of Friends for good measure...

Getting back to the topic of this thread, here's another interesting article: http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/c...es-take-slack/

Corus is totally totally ruining such great Channels. They also ruined Deja View which had me cancelling my subscription to it. Now we need to get a better Retro Station brought to Canada. Something like METV or Antenna Tv. Face it Corus Channels are just gone passe'.

[CDN Viewer]

Corus is totally totally ruining such great Channels. They also ruined Deja View which had me cancelling my subscription to it. Now we need to get a better Retro Station brought to Canada. Something like METV or Antenna Tv. Face it Corus Channels are just gone passe'.

Yup, I've said it before- anything Corus touches turns to crap!

They wrecked Teletoon Retro when they took over from Astral (a great indie broadcaster) and then eventually just shut it down. Teletoon is not the same either and now it appears CMT is their next victim. I looked at the schedule in the guide yesterday and they are literally airing 5 or 6 shows (mainly sitcoms) over and over again- WTH?! Is this Corus' way of trying to kill the channel- gut the programming, strip out whatever popular shows they had that people tuned it for (if they had any?!) and just air a bunch of old sitcoms over and over?!

As for Vintage TV, its great to see another indie broadcaster launch a channel, especially in this day and age where consolidation has taken hold and most channels are owned by the big conglomerates. I think there is still a market for music programming and if they have good people running the channel and stick to their genre (as lostjon mentioned above) then it has an excellent chance of succeeding. Now that Rogers has added it, I am hopeful that Bell will add it soon as well as I would like to take a look at this channel. I really enjoyed watching VH1's Behind the Music documentary series back in the day when it aired on MuchMoreMusic- Vintage should look into airing or creating a similar type show.

[musimax]

It's good to see Vintage TV take up the slack, but country is one of those genres where it really needs its own channel IMO.

Music videos can be viable on TV (and not just music videos, but music programming like interview shows, live performances, etc)... it's not gona be a huge money maker, and thats why the big guys are jumping ship, but a smaller company specializing in music can make a few bucks with it - either as its sole business or as a supplement, say if a site like Top Country launched a TV channel to supplement its website (cross promotional activities, multi-platform opportunities for advertisers, etc.), it could work. But the days of the big guys focusing on music on TV is gone; they are all about squeezing every last dollar out of what they can get, and when there is bigger and better opportunities available, they'll go for that.

So hopefully someone will come along and launch their own channel, maybe someone new, or maybe even Stingray.

[DraicKin]

Right now, both Vintage and the Stingray music channels are currently exempt from the CRTC given their low subscription numbers, but I would not be surprised if this changes at some point.

Actually both Stingray and Vintage TV made request to the CRTC for broadcasting licences for Stingray Juicebox, Loud, Retro, Vibe and Vintage TV back in april.
It was items in today's CRTC hearing in Gatineau.
http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-223.htm

[lostjon]

Both Vintage TV Canada and Stingray's four music video channels have been granted their broadcasting licenses by the CRTC this past week.

Vintage TV Canada
http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-26.htm

Stingray (Juicebox, Loud, Retro, Vibe)
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-29.htm

[lostjon]

It's good to see Vintage TV take up the slack, but country is one of those genres where it really needs its own channel IMO.

Music videos can be viable on TV (and not just music videos, but music programming like interview shows, live performances, etc)... it's not gona be a huge money maker, and thats why the big guys are jumping ship, but a smaller company specializing in music can make a few bucks with it - either as its sole business or as a supplement, say if a site like Top Country launched a TV channel to supplement its website (cross promotional activities, multi-platform opportunities for advertisers, etc.), it could work. But the days of the big guys focusing on music on TV is gone; they are all about squeezing every last dollar out of what they can get, and when there is bigger and better opportunities available, they'll go for that.

So hopefully someone will come along and launch their own channel, maybe someone new, or maybe even Stingray.

Having sampled Vintage TV's live feed from the UK, it is everything that you expect a music channel to be, more or less. Music video blocks scheduled according to themes (era/decade or genre), interviews with artists and celebrities focused strictly on music, and concert performances. Although music videos originated in the 1980s (pioneered by MTV), it's actually quite impressive to see them program music video blocks of earlier decades going as far back as the 1950s. And every now and then, they will even throw in videos featuring artists who are still recording music, even though they were better known in previous decades.

I totally agree that a genre like country music deserves its own channel. That was the case when CMT was an actual music video channel right until a year ago. Having said that, this is where Stingray can step up and fill the hole. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch now for them to launch another channel especially for this particular genre.

They launched three more channels since the last year, after acquiring the four channels that previously belonged to Bell Media. So far, they cover a wide variety of genres judging from their portfolio.

Two of the three channels are in French, but one of them plays a high percentage of English music. Stingray Hits! is very reminiscent of the music videos that previously aired on channels like Musimax and MusiquePlus, with a vast selection of videos from the 1990s up until the present.

Perhaps if Stingray were to launch a country music video channel, it should be similar to that of Vibe. Though Stingray Vibe is being marketed as a channel primarily for rap, hip-hop and R&B, they also feature selected pop, dance and EDM content.

Stingray would use this channel to not only market it for country music but perhaps tap into other related genres or middle of the road content (Americana, adult alternative, blues) that is not already being featured on their other channels with a spotlight on both proven artists and newcomers. On a related note, Stingray Retro will be presenting a special block of country music videos coming one weekend later this month. Perhaps, this serves as a tease for possibly launching a channel in the near future.

Much also had a country music video block running on Sunday afternoons but it looks like that has been dropped from their schedule. But they still have a one-hour retro block running weekdays.