GERMANY (CelebrityAccess) – Viva, Viacom’s German music video channel, will officially air its final broadcast on December 31, 2018, following a successful 25-year run.
Though the channel is still profitable, according to Viacom general manager Mark Specht, the company has decided to focus on its core brands: MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, and hopes to port Viva viewership over to MTV with the promise of “more than 18 hours of music per day.”
When the news of Viva’s closing broke earlier this year, many in the German music community were disappointed as the channel has served as a springboard for German entertainers for decades.
Commenting on the channel’s legacy, Viva co-founder and former managing director Dieter Gorny said that the channel “influenced a whole generation” and that “it cannot be replaced.”
Viva has been under the Viacom umbrella since its purchase in 2004.
