UPC Nederland has decided to stop its digital Music Zone bouquet, which offers four music video channels as well as a number of non stop audio channels. The channels involved are Slam! TV, Karaoke TV, TMF Pure and Trace Tropical and their futrure distribution on the network remains unclear.
Music Zone, which also includes 15 non-stop audio channels from XLnl and on-demand music videos, retails for €6 a month as a stand-alone option for digital subscribers. UPC’s basic digital package includes MTV, TMF and Xite, while the extended digital tier offers TMF NL, VH-1, MTV Brand New, Mezzo, Sterren 24 and TV Oranje, as well as 40 non-stop music channels.
UPC has offered a new carriage contract to the four channels. Of these, Slam! TV has applied for basic distribution in analogue.
It is our take that the move by UPC is a sign of waning interest in music videos on linear channels. Competiton from music videos on the internet, available on demand, serves viewers much better. In the this case, the added value of the Music Zone was also very limited with a total of nine music channels available in the basic and extended tiers.
