VEVO vertically integrates with TV channels

VEVO, as a coalition of 2 of the 3 remaining global giants, Universal and Sony, already had a production arm; YouTube acted as the main distributor/exhibitor for its wares (music videos) until now, arguably being of greater importance than MTV and suchlike. Now they've launched their own channels, so are able to boast in-house production, distribution and exhibition.
There's more in the article below, including the assertions that "Part of what we're trying to achieve is that element of nostalgia but 70% of our audience is under 34."
YouTube has now bought a 10% stake in VEVO.

Article source.

Vevo launches 24-hour digital music channel in US and Canada

Video website hopes to recreate MTV's 1980s heyday with service for internet-connected TVs, tablets and mobiles

• Josh Halliday
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 March 2013

Rihanna: likely to feature on Vevo TV. Photograph: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images

Thirty-one years after MTV flickered into life to the sound of the Buggles hit Video Killed the Radio Star, the video website Vevo has launched a 24-hour digital music channel in the US and Canada.
Vevo, the site created by record giants Universal Music and Sony, hopes to recreate MTV's 1980s heyday with the channel, showing a selection of music videos, live concerts and original programming.

But music fans of a certain age were no doubt disappointed to hear more Rihanna than Pat Benatar when Vevo TV went on air on Tuesday.
The channel will be available on devices plugged into internet-connected televisions, such as the Xbox and Roku set-top box, as well as on Apple iPhones, iPads, Android and Windows mobile handsets.
Vevo reportedly plans to launch dedicated digital music channels for the UK, Europe and Latin American markets later this year following Tuesday's launch in the US and Canada.
The Vevo chief executive, Rio Caraeff, told the Financial Times that the move towards the small screen showed the traditional music channel was still relevant to the digital generation.
"It's really about a return to how it used to be," he said. "What we've learned is that there's a time and a place for on-demand and there's also a time and a place for a programmed, linear experience."
Asked whether Vevo aimed to become the new MTV, Caraeff told the paper: "I can only hope and aspire to that, but by the nature of it it'll be different. Part of what we're trying to achieve is that element of nostalgia but 70% of our audience is under 34."
Vevo was launched by Universal and Sony in 2009 as an answer to the booming popularity of music videos on Google-owned YouTube. YouTube has since taken a stake thought to be close to 10% in Vevo and Caraeff has described their relationship as "symbiotic".