Israel to get its own MTV
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Music, Pop Culture, Technology
MTV's Bhavneet Singh: Israel is the South Korea of the region.
While cable viewers here have had easy access to MTV Europe and VH1 Europe for many years, the days of a full-fledged MTV Israel are imminent, according to MTV Europe’s Managing Director and Executive Vice President Bhavneet Singh, who was in recently town for talks with the company’s partner in Israel – Ananey Communications, one of the country’s leading cable channel developers.
Singh is a big fan of Israel and it’s tech ingenuity and sophistication. In fact, two years ago, Israel became the first country to launch an online MTV – MTV.co.il - without having a TV channel to go along with it.
“Technology-wise, you guys are like the South Korea of this part of the world, in terms of your broadband penetration and your consumption of media,” Singh told me in a meeting in Tel Aviv. “You’re known as a people and culture of being ahead of the game – whether it’s ICQ or any number of new tech companies coming out of here. That was one of the reasons giving us the confidence to say, hey, an online introduction to MTV is a nice way to do this.”
The MTV Israel free-on-demand web site features many of the staples located on the MTV Europe TV channel that cable subscribers can view, like The Hills, Cribs and Pimp My Ride, as well as local programming like celebrity news show Mehadura.
According to Ananey’s Udi Meron, an Israeli TV pioneer who founded the Kids Channel back in the early days of cable TV, the popularity of the site has convinced Singh and his colleagues that the time is ripe for a Sabra MTV music channel to go along with the more than 50 distinct MTV channels around the world.
“Everyone finds their own balance – we want to add of course the element of Israeli music and Israeli lifestyle. For Israel it’s very important, internally and externally, because one of the things we want to do is make MTV Israel a window to the world, and to the MTV network,” said Meron.
While Israelis like Becky Griffin, Eden Harel and Jason Danino-Holt have served as MTV Europe VJs, and on November 5th in Berlin, Ninet Tayeb will represent Israel at the MTV television network’s Europe Music Awards, Meron sees a unique opportunity in MTV Israel for the country’s virtues to be exported to youth around the world, through original programming that Singh said was of sufficient quality to be dubbed and sent to MTV affiliates everywhere.
While neither Singh or Meron would commit to a target date for the channel’s launch, Singh said that it would “be sooner than later.”
Third place for Shiri
The buzz over Shiri Maimon’s live performance Thursday at the 2008 MTV European Awards was formidable indeed, and the attractive singer didn’t disappoint her Israeli fan base. She might have taken fourth place at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, but when all of the votes were tallied, she beat that mark by earning third place at the MTV awards in the “Europe’s Favorite Act” category (Turkey’s Emre Aydin took home the statuette).
At this rate, Maimon should win second place in the 2011 Soul Train Awards, paving the way for a 2014 Grammy.
The entire studio version of “Now That You’re Gone,” Maimon’s latest hit single in English, and the song she performed on MTV Europe, can be heard here.
Perhaps the 2008 MTV European Awards weren’t quite ready for Maimon, as the scale of the proceedings seems to have been more global than local, according to YNet’s coverage:
Former Beatle Paul McCartney stole the show at the ceremony, as he was named Ultimate Legend. The other big winner was Britney Spears, who won Act of 2008 and Album of the Year. She did not attend the event.
McCartney was one of several stars on the night to pay tribute to Barack Obama following his victory in the US presidential election this week.
In fact, being a down-home local girl thrust into the glitzy world of international power is exactly what was on Maimon’s mind leading up to the performance. In an interview with Ma’ariv La’noar, the singer defended herself against accusations that she had turned into a spoiled superstar, claiming that the Israeli market is simply too small to be able to support the whims of a real diva. To back up her claims, Maimon cited rumors that Mariah Carey demands 6000 flowers decorate her every dressing room.
Some day, you too shall merit such treatment, Shiri.
Maimon on MTV Europe
MTV might be the ultimate trendsetter when it comes to the Eighties niche cable programming revolution in the US, but until recently, many countries were able to establish their own local music video channels that competed for ratings against MTV Europe and MTV Asia, to name two examples of regional versions of the channel.
Over the past few years, however, MTV has aggressively gone local-global, offering its brand name to licensees in countries around the world. MTV Israel might not be much more than a glorified, Viacom-approved YouTube so far, but plans to go on TV are in the works.
Now the trend is coming full circle, with the 2008 MTV European Awards on November 6 offering a “Europe’s Favorite Act” category, its 23 nominees made up of regional winners. If nothing else, it’s a clever way to get esoteric markets to tune in to the mega-broadcast. Representing Israel at Liverpool’s Echo Arena will be Shiri Maimon, no stranger to international pop competition, currently starring in a recurring role on Bad Girls, a soap opera on the local MTV-competing Music 24 channel.
So a few weeks after Liverpool pop finally came to Israel, Israeli pop is finally going to Liverpool.
Following a second-place win on the American Idol-emulating local TV show Kochav Nolad, Maimon took fourth place at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. She also has released three hit albums on Helicon Records. Regardless, becoming the first-ever Israeli performer at the MTV European Awards feels special to her, as she told YNet:
“For me, it is amazing to represent Israel in Europe again,” said Maimon.
“This may be a cliché, but it is really a dream come true to appear on an MTV stage. I will try doing the best I can, just like I love,” she said.
The general public is invited to vote for a Shiri victory in Dublin by clicking here.
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