The rise and fall of Brand [V]

How an iconic music channel lost the plot even as rivals flourished in the same space

The music had stopped long before Star India pulled the plug on Channel [V], screeching to a halt as the network repeatedly sent out mixed signals about its leadership, positioning and programming. The once iconic property slid from the heights of public adoration in the late 1990s to being a shadow of its former shows through the 2000s and then, slowly into  anonymity towards the end of its days on air.

Such was the power of [V] that rival MTV India doffed its hat upon the channel’s demise saying: ‘Channel [V] has been a comrade in the last two decades’ and ‘In the spirit of champions embracing each other in the ring after a long, long match, we bid you farewell’. So what went wrong?

Despite being one of the pioneers on Indian music television with quirky shows, innovative fillers that went on to become brands in their own right and a talented set of anchors, the channel struggled to find viewers or advertisers towards the end. One of the big problems said almost all those who were a part of the channel in its heydays, was the schizophrenic existence it had begun to lead. Was it a music channel? Or was it a youth entertainment channel? Or what was it? No one knew where to look for it anymore, neither viewers nor advertisers. And as it lost eyeballs, it lost the backing of brands too. 

Another problem was the channel’s failure to leverage the cache of brands that it had built up the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Be it the irreverent sketches and fillers or its talented anchors or the characters such as Lola Kutty and Quick Gun Murugan who found their way into the public imagination, Star India never really unlocked the value of the many brands that [V] spawned.  

“The network clearly did not see the potential of the genre it was playing in. It went for the lowest hanging fruit (general entertainment channel fare) rather than sticking to its DNA and in the end, Channel [V] lost its USP,” said Shailendra Singh, former partner of Percept. 

The channel launched in 1994, long before the digital explosion hit India. It came about because there was a falling out between Star India and Viacom Network over the identity of MTV that the two were bringing to the country together. According to some observers, Star India wanted to localise the content, but MTV was unwilling as it did not want to dilute its identity. 

It continued with its focus on international songs. Channel V, Star India’s answer to MTV, began producing original Indian content.

Jiggy George, founder of licensing firm Dream Theatre recalls his days at MTV in the 1990s when he spent observing [V] as a competitor. “While it was a music channel, it did things differently. Some of comedy sketches and promos were iconic. It clearly lost its mojo when it moved from music (focus) to fiction. It failed to remain relevant in some ways, even after setting the bar high in terms of creativity,” he said

George’s words are echoed by almost all the anchors that debuted on the channel.  Actors like Aditya Roy Kapoor, Gaurav Kapoor, Purab Kohli and Vinay Pathak were among the first VJ’s (video jockeys) on the channel. Anuradha Menon (Lola Kutty), Paromita Vohra (Aunty 303), Quick Gun Murugan (Rajendra Prasad); these characters all had an enviable fan following, but the channel failed to build on that. And the coming of YouTube and Saavn sounded the death knell.

“I think some time in the last 10 years, the channel lost direction. There seemed to be no method to choosing who headed the channel. When it launched, it was a novelty. It was edgy. It was what I like to call 360 degree sexy. But there was no scientific thought behind developing it further. It almost felt like the neglected third cousin (in the network),” Singh adds. 

Leadership crises  overwhelmed the potential of the channel said many. In the early days, the anchors and actors had a free hand on the topics or people they chose to use for their shows. The Flashback V show by Jaaved Jaffrey was particularly irreverent to several well-known movie stars of the time, but it never caused the kind of outrage that similar shows do today. 

Everyone who had worked with the channel praised the work culture in the early days. Whether it was the laid back atmosphere at the studio or the risk taking gumption that the channel heads showed, they said it allowed them to give their best. Later leaders never really tuned in to the brand they said.

George believes that while the channel obviously failed to realise the potential of the brand it had built in terms of programming and ad-sales on TV, it also lost the opportunity to cash in on the iconic status its imagery had achieved. “The imagery of the channel was so iconic (back then) and in fact, you see a lot of those elements in many brands  today. The ethnic pop feel of the channel could have translated well into merchandise, but it never happened. It was home to so many one-liners which could have become tee-shirts. So many sites are doing it today,” he said. 

The channel had seeped into the local imagination and Star India could have easily leveraged its hold over the youth, but the network failed to recognise its power. And in the end all that [V] was left with was nostalgia and yearning for the good old days.