It’s like the end of an era for the 90s kids. Channel V, which started out as an exclusive music channel and which later went on to feature daily soaps and reality shows in its programming is reportedly set to shut down. Its popularity gradually started waning after it stopped airing music in 2015. In 2016, it turned back to its forte - music but it was apparently too late and that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
The TV industry is abuzz with reports that the channel was aborted due the dearth of a solid strategy and low TRPs. It is also allegedly slated to be substituted by a Kannada sports channel. There were also reports of the network’s collaboration with Hotstar, Star’s digital partner.
Social media is rife with nostalgia. Many members of the Twitterati, including those associated with the erstwhile Channel V, have gone all out in expressing its melancholy at the closure of this 20-year-old Indi-pop culture space, which created iconic characters like Lola Kutty and Udham Singh. It also kickstarted the careers of prolific playback singers like Neha Bhasin and Anushka Manchanda. Ex-Channel V employees have also posted messages as an ode to the channel on its way out.
While some people were disheartened, there were others who took to Twitter to say that the network had moved beyond its heydays and that it had in fact died years ago.
Whatever one may feel about Channel V, the 90s kids are not going to let it go gently into the night.
Source: The Indian Express
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