Channel O is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

–based music channel that started transmission in 1997. Its main concept is African music in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

. Channel O can be accessed via DStv, a satellite pay TV service for pan-African households. The channel broadcasts a variety of music videos. The channel was set up to target the 16-24 demographic, with a variety of African tracks played."New channel for African artists", ''Africa Film & TV Magazine'', nº. 17, April-June 1998 At the start of its existence, the channel started arranging agreements with terrestrial television channels outside of South Africa. Such agreements included Sanyu Television in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

(later bought by TVAfrica and subsequently shut down) and the Kenya Television Network. The channel was created following a failed attempt by Johnny Clegg to launch an African version of MTV, that was planned between 1994 and 1995. An agreement between M-Net and the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

prompted SABC 1 to start airing an eight-to-ten hour block of Channel O programming over its terrestrial network from 11 December 1998. With this deal, Channel O's viewership base increased from 35 million to 45 million. In late 1999, some music videos seen on the channel were removed because of incompatibilities with

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

's cultural code."Channel O too hot for Malawi", ''Africa Film & TV Magazine'', nº. 23, November 1999-January 2000 It also holds the annual Channel O Music Video Awards ceremony, where artists are awarded for their outstanding contribution to music. Channel O, in recent years, has lost a significant amount of popularity mainly due to the launch of rival channels MTV Base Africa, Trace Urban and Trace Africa. The channel has been trying several means to gain popularity including the increasingly popular method of creating a South African feed and a Rest of Africa feed (MTV Base and Trace have also adopted this).

Programming

Playlists

*Only This playlist views music videos dedicated to a specific artist or genre. * Facts Only Similar to Only, this playlist provides information on the specific artist or genre. This consists of mostly the artist's background information, their real name as opposed to their stage name, where they grew up, when they entered the entertainment industry, etc. *Crispy Fresh Crispy Fresh plays the latest newly released music videos of the week. * O-House A playlist exclusively for music videos in the house genre, including club and dance. * Zoom In Similar to Only, this playlist consists of music dedicated to a specific artist or genre. *Uncensored A late-night playlist displaying music videos that are uncensored and unedited, showing videos with nudity or sexual activity and strong language. * The Hit List Plays the freshest tracks from the biggest artists. * Best of The Week A round-up of music videos that have appeared on Crispy Fresh. * Lyrics On The Beat Music videos shown with their lyrics. * Collabos A selection of music video collaborations

Chart Shows

* Ten2One The top ten music video of a specific genre or region. * The Channel O Top 30 These are the top 30 most popular music videos, voted for by the viewers on Channel O's website.

Music Shows

* Interviews with music artists and personalities as they request their favourite music videos. *Massive Music * A 30-minute show hosted by Lalla Hirayama and Smash Afrika about the latest music releases, guest interviews, a countdown of the latest releases and live performances. The show airs on

Mzansi Magic Mzansi Magic is a South African digital satellite and general entertainment channel created by Multichoice and run by M-Net's local interest division, and is broadcast on DStv. History The channel launched in mid-July 2010 on channel 107 as ...

and Mzansi Wethu before airing on Channel O. However, the channel offers a blitz-speed bulletin titled Massive Music News during the day, providing updates on the latest music news. *The Mix Up Music videos are mixed, blended, and mashed up by resident DJ Mikey. *Remix Studio * Remix Studio takes a peek at the artist and what inspired them to create a smash hit. True to its name, it also provides a platform for the artist to "remix" their own song. * Lockdown House Party Shimza and PH host live performances and a mix of various music tracks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specials

*'' Channel O Africa Music Video Awards'' (CHOAMVAs)* *''

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

'' (AMAs)** *''

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

**'' *''Billboard Music Awards**'' * '' Big Brother Mzansi Saturday Night Party'' * The Channel O Music Video Awards were last hosted in 2014. MultiChoice is yet to announce whether it will be hosted again ** These award shows are shown live on

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

or One Magic. Channel O acts as a rerun channel for these award shows.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site
Television stations in South Africa English-language television stations in South Africa Television channels and stations established in 1993 Television channels and stations established in 1997 Music television channels Music organisations based in South Africa