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MTV Australia is the Australian version of MTV Music Television, a channel specialising in music and youth culture programming. It is owned by MTV Networks and primarily features imported shows as well as locally produced programming.
History1980s - 1990s
The "MTV" brand was launched in Australia during April 1987 as a music program on the free-to-air Nine Network[1]. The program was hosted by Richard Wilkins and aired late on Friday and Saturday nights for it's full six year run [2]. The program presented a mixture of music videos, artist interviews and music segments and relied heavily on imported American content. Unlike its Australian counterparts such as ABC TV's Rage and Network Ten's Video Hits, its focus was predominantly hard rock music and the program rarely played dance, rap or Rhythm and blues music. The program was discontinued in 1993 when Nine chose not to renew the licence with Viacom. Nine said the axing was due to high production and licensing costs. "ARC Music Channel", owned by Austereo, was later launched, and in 1996 it affiliated with MTV Networks, with joint ownership including Village Roadshow and Optus Television, and was rebranded as the MTV channel in 1997[3]. Later the channel broke away to become a wholly owned subsidiary of MTV Networks. 2000-presentIn 2004 MTV was launched on the Foxtel and Austar[4] cable services and in the same year the channel set up MTV Networks Australia, which began work on launching its own original programming with the launch of the Australian Version of the hit American show TRL on September 10, 2004 with host Kyle Sandilands from 2day fm[5]. MTV Networks Australia launched sister channel Vh1 on March 14, 2004 when cable company Foxtel launched it's digital network. [6]. In 2005 MTV premiered more original programming with MTV Full Tank and on March 3 MTV launched the first inaugural MTV Australia Video Music Awards at Luna Park's Big Top with hosts The Osbournes[7]. At the end of 2006 it was announced that MTV would premiere its latest original show, MTV's The Lair which premiered on January 26, 2007 and is aired live every Thursday at the Metro Theatre[8]. At the beginning of 2007 MTV re-located it's head office from Ryde to Yurong St in East Sydney [9]. In April MTV Networks Australia launched TMF Australia on the Optus netowk[10]. ARIA and MTV Networks Australia made an exclusive partnership that would see MTV gain exclusive Pay TV rights to ARIA key events and properties [11] and on February 20, 2008 the ARIA Charts Show was laucnhed which features the countdown as well as interviews and reviews [12]. AvailabilityMTV Australia was originally only available through the Optus Television service (previously Optus Vision). This exclusivity deal was dropped in late 2002 and in 2003 MTV became available in a premium package on the FOXTEL subscription TV platform. Around this time the channel also became available on the Austar platform. Currently MTV is carried by all pay TV providers. It is available as a basic channel on Optus Television (cable), SelecTV, FOXTEL (cable and satellite) and Austar (regional satellite only). Select areas of New South Wales & Victoria can receive MTV Australia via Neighbourhood Cable. Programming and ScheduleMost of the channel's programming is sourced from MTV USA, MTV Europe and from other content providers within the Viacom/MTV Networks family. This includes entertainment programs popular in the US such as Pimp My Ride, Life of Ryan, Laguna Beach/The Hills, and Room Raiders. Frequently the channel features themed programme blocks and "marathons" on weekends, featuring an entire season of a particular show played over several hours. MTV Australia's flagship programme is a locally produced, original format, called The Lair - which attracts the very best music talent to perform live. Stadium acts such as Evanescence rock out next to unsigned breaking bands from around the Australian music scene. Music based programming makes up 50% of the overall channel content, with entertainment/reality shows making up the remaining 50%. Back to back music videos are still available throughout the day at various times, plus overnight and during breakfast. Exclusive specialised music shows that still frequent the channel are 'Making the Video', 'MTV Live' concerts and 'Kickin' It', where specific bands or artists host their own half an hour on the channel. Locally Produced ProgrammingMTV Australia AwardsIn 2005 MTV Australia launched the first ever MTV Australia Video Music Awards (Now known as the MTV Australia Awards), based on the VMA awards format used in Europe and the US. It was held at Luna Park in Sydney. Following suit with the location, the AVMAs had a circus theme and was hosted by various members of the Osbourne family. The awards ceremony included many international and local guests. ONE80PROJECTIn a joint venture with Sony Ericsson and Optus, MTV launched the Optus ONE80PROJECT which was a competition for young writers, directors and producers to create a three minute pilot and script to be aired on TV, mobile phone and internet. The prize was an opportunity to work with the MTV production team to create full-length dramas to air on the MTV Network. The entries opened on September 11, 2006 and closed on 24 November 2006 and the voting then commenced on 1 December 2006 and closed on 26 January 2007. The voting consisted of Viewers Choice and Judges Choice. The winners were announced on 7 February 2007 with The Viewers Choice going to Ben Briand for Hammer Bay and the Judges Choice going to Karl Mather and Zenon Kohler for Takoyaki City[13]. In 2007 the competition ran again with the winners announced on January 28th, 2008 at the ONE80PROJECT festival screening at Harmony Park in Surry Hills. The Viewers Choice Award went to Kade Robinson for Generation When and the Judges Choice went to Sarah Daggar-Nickson and Scott Otto Anderson for their co-production Dream Life. The 2008 competition is currently underway with winners to be announced early 2009. "Vote for Snoop" CampaignIn 2007 rapper Snoop Dogg was to attend the MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007 as a co-host on April 29 but a few days prior to the event it was announced that Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews would not grant him a Visa into the country because of past criminal convictions overseas [14]. In response MTV Australia organised the "Vote for Snoop" campaign through MySpace which contained videos talking about how much he wants to become an Australian citizen in different situations [15]. Current VJsCurrent VJs include:
Past VJs
Links with Terrestrial TelevisionOccasionally Australian terrestrial (free to air) television stations look at the success of shows on MTV before purchasing them for broadcast. In particular, Network Ten who purchased broadcast rights to The Osbournes from MTV Networks. Ten was required to wait until the show had aired on MTV Australia before broadcasting on their own channel. Later Ten purchased rights to Jackass, Pimp My Ride and Laguna Beach. Public broadcaster ABC also purchased the rights to animation Daria, which airs during its children's programming slot. WebsiteThe MTV Australia website has had a turbulent past. It was originally hosted without a domain name by Village Roadshow. It gained a domain name in 1998 as mtv.com.au. The website was very basic and only included information about MTV Unplugged and the American VMAs. In 1999 the website seemed to have been abandoned completely. In 2000 the website simply redirected to the American MTV site before the domain expired and was locked by a holding company. With MTV's expansion in 2003 the site was revived but pointed towards the MTV Asia Awards. A proper MTV Australia website was launched in 2004 and has since gone through several redesigns. Mini sites for TRL Australia and the AVMAs were also set up. The site was redesigned in 2007 and free broadband video channel MTV Overdrive launched on April 19, 2007 to coincide with the MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007, which the Overdrive Channel is only available throughout the territory[21]. References
See alsoExternal links
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