Channel V Philippines

Channel [V] Philippines

Launched	May 1994 (EEC DWAC 23) 15 December 1999 (Citynet 27) 1 March 2009 (TV Xtreme Broadcasting Company)
Owned by	STAR TV and Fox Networks Group Philippines through Channel [V] Co-owners: GMA Network Inc. (December 15, 1999 – July 25, 2001) TVXBC (March 1, 2009 – 2011) Northern Star Productions (April 2011 – 2012)
Slogan	V Your Music!
Country	Philippines
Language	English, Filipino
Broadcast area	Philippines
Sister channel(s)	Channel V International Fox Filipino Fox Sports

Channel [V] Philippines is a 24-hour music-entertainment television network owned by STAR TV and Fox Networks Group Philippines in partnership with TV Xtreme Broadcasting Company (formerly Makisig Network) and Northern Star Productions as network provider.^[1]

History

Debut on UHF 23

Channel [V] was first launched in 1994 in the Philippines, as MTV Asia made the decision to split from STAR TV and form its own satellite TV channel in Asia. It began airing on UHF Channel 23, licensed to Ermita Electronics Corporation, as the Philippines' first UHF TV station fully devoted to re-broadcasting a foreign satellite channel after MTV Asia was started as a music channel in 1992. It was started as the "Next Generation of Music" until it relaunched as Channel [V]. (During that time, the actual feed was Channel V Chinese on AsiaSat 1 while the Asian/Indian counterparts were on AsiaSat 2 and Palapa C2, respectively.)

Channel [V] in the Philippines aired only a few of the English-language shows like The Ride, Over The Edge, By Demand, and Sigaw Manila (with Filipino artists, locally produced) but aired several of their Mandarin Chinese or Indian counterparts.

In 1995, the station launched the first ever Channel V Philippines VJ Hunt for aspiring Filipino VJs; it was won by Melanie Casul, the competition's first and last winner.

The channel left UHF 23 on July 1996, when EEC (the owner of the license) turned over to AMCARA Broadcasting Network, an ABS-CBN affiliate, creating Studio 23 (now known as ABS-CBN Sports+Action).

Citynet Television

August 1995

Before GMA Network officially launched Citynet Television in August 1995, GMA Network signed a contract with Star TV Network to broadcast selected taped Channel [V] International TV shows from 1995 until its closure in March 1999. This programming made Trey Farley, Joey Mead, Amanda Griffin, Michael Zerrudo and the late Francis Magalona former VJ-TV hosts of part-Filipino descent, familiar to Citynet viewers. From 1998 until its closure in March 1999, Asian Top 20 Countdown was the only rebroadcast Channel [V] show.

December 1999

The very first logo, from 1999

On December 15, 1999, STAR TV leased the airtime of Citynet to launch Channel [V] Philippines^[2] through EMC, also known as Entertainment Music Channel. Part of the strategy to localize Channel [V] was with programming produced both by Star TV and GMA through Alta Productions and Probe Productions, Inc. The marketing image was shifted from music to more live-action products. Idents from this time frame used the brackets in the name. It dimensionalized the name Channel [V], making it into an object that could then became an environment for its broadcast design and a stage for live events. Additional shifts in programming occurred at the relaunch, specifically a shift to genre-specific rather than continuous hits, with special graphics for each set. In the middle of 2001,^[3] Channel V Philippines shut down due to the intense competition from MTV Philippines provided by Nation Broadcasting Corporation, a PLDT sister company, when PLDT bought a controlling stake of GMA Network. The channel was officially shut down on July 25, 2001.^[4]

Channel [V] returns to the Philippines

Logo from 2009–2010

Eight years later, STAR TV (in turn was directly over to Fox Networks Group) and Makisig Network/Herma Group Inc (now known as TV Xtreme Broadcasting Company) announced an agreement to expand Channel [V] in the Philippines and to launch Tagalog-language content geared toward youth audiences, with an emphasis on local VJs, Pinoy music, and local bands and artists. Makisig now included Channel [V] International in its basic tier of cable channels, expanding the reach of the channel to more than 600,000 households across the Philippines.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12] The channel's program mix is 60% Hong Kong satellite feed and 40% local feed versions of the more popular programs. Local content includes local-language and Pinoy music. The channel's creative director is Jose Javier Reyes.

Makisig continued to expand the reach of Channel [V], moving it down from channel 59 to 25 on SkyCable and adding online content.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] ^[18]^[19]

On March 26, 2011, [V] Philippines went temporarily off-the-air after its CEO, then Ilocos Sur representative Ronald Singson, was jailed in Hong Kong for possession of illegal drugs. Its international counterpart took its place temporarily until April 25, 2011, when it returned on Destiny Cable through Northern Star Productions (owned by Chavit Singson). This channel was currently silent in middle of 2012.

In 2015, Fox Networks Group's Philippine branch took over the rights on [V] Philippines branding, but this time as a sponsor for its upcoming concerts and events and using local feed for the teaser or promos to other Fox Networks Group Philippines' channels.