I will miss you Channel V - Channel V to shut down soon

If you belong to my generation of the 90s, let me give you a new. Star India's music channel V is dowing shutters this week and it will be replaced by some sports channel. I am soured to hear this because channel V was my childhood favourite music channel. And finally, it is getting closed. My childhood belongs to the time when a phenomenon called Indipop was rising in India. Young India was beginning to discover music celebrities who came with their western counterparts and the touch of rap along with fusion. Remember Baba Sehgal and Alisha Chinai. Leading to this phenomenon, two Indian channels came into the picture in the late 1990s. One was MTV India. The other was channel V. My favourite was Channel V between these two as it had more Desi touch.

Channel V shut stop this week as in the era of smartphone and internet, what purpose 24 x7 music uncreative channels serve? While MTV figured out the changing behaviour of audiences early on in 2000s and rebranded itself as a youth channel with including shows like Roadies and Splitsvilla. On the other hand, Channel V staggered a lot. Channel V probably didn't get it strategy right in the last 7-8 years. Lack of focus and outdated strategy in branding brought the channel down. When you lose something related to your childhood you feel bad and that's why I am little upset as Channel V got a halt.

Back those days of my childhood, Channel V used to give me more fun in watching. It created several memorable characters like Udham Singh and Lola Kutty. In the record of my favourites, first is Quick Gun Murugan. I especially liked the cowboy avatar mixed with south Indian touch and style. The teaser used to have a unique background music that always lifted up my mood. Then there was aunty 303 a single mother who dotes on her son in the day and dan a leather jacket with goggles in the night to fight crime god Naughty Boy.

And who can forget Udham Singh, a man wrapped in a blanket and holding a stick who used to talk in a calm yet comical manner? Udham Singh, the Haryanvi Jaat, a role played by Munish Makhija, was not just a mascot but also the occasional VJ of Channel V. In the directory of channel V mascots, there was a range of animated characters. Remember “Itna paisa mein itnayich milenga.” (This is what you get at this price). A Bai, a plump Maharashtrian maid. And also Simpu Singh, a Punjabi schoolteacher always taken advantage of by his naughty students. And the most bizarre of them all – Banjo and Macho, the “space khalasis”.

In its heydays, Channel V created a pattern that many kids of that time followed and cherished. The closure of Channel V is a big disappointment for its fans including me. After all, it has been around for more than 20 years even though it had a roller coaster ride during this time and mostly it competed against MTV. Last year MTVstrategically launched MTVbeats channel to cater to the audiences looking for Bollywood music. This facilitated the channel to focus on more youth based shows which include hits like Roadies, Splitsvilla and India's Next top supermodel. Although the Channel V tried to maintain its place seeing the fall in TRP and that's why it got revamped and rebranded a couple of times. Howbeit, the other problem it faced was the frequent change in leadership and therefore, the brand had no positioning left.

Now all those amusing Channel V characters will reside in our hearts and in the internet as the channel is officially discontinued. However, that misty-eyed nostalgia always welcome to be revisited. Honestly, there is nothing much left in Indian television to watch, admire and remember. That's why I prefer revisiting the shows of my childhood time on YouTube which were less conservative.The list now has a new entry for channel V shows. I will miss you Channel V.