MTV announced that on February 1 it would end the user generated content television channel Flux, which it started in the UK in September 2006. Flux will be replaced by “MTV One Plus 1,” which is a one hour timeshift of the programming on its flagship station. Though MTV is abandoning the idea of a completely UGC-oriented television channel, it is not giving up on using user generated content in its programming and will actually continue to build out the Flux brand online.
Flux, which came on the air 15 months ago, was formed on the basis of a similar idea to that of Current, another user generated television channel which we covered twicelast year. Viewers were able to sign up at the Flux web site and influence programming on air by uploading photos and videos, voting on playlists, etc.
When MTV pulls the plug on the channel next week, it plans to keep the Flux web community alive, reports the Guardian. MTV has plans to “integrate the user-generated content concept into its MTV-branded music channels,” writes the paper’s Mark Sweney.
Some of MTV’s other channels will host a show, tentatively titled “Flux Me I’m Famous” (which was the name of another show that aired on Flux), in which hosts would discuss the latest celebrity news and gossip being talked about on the Flux message boards. Further, Flux users will have the opportunity to vote on and influence playlists on MTV’s flagship music channels.
Flux had an average audience of just under just under 70,000 viewers (though MTV says it reached a height of 90,000 for some shows). New Media Age notes that user generated content is hot in the UK right now, with BBC Three and E4 both recently relaunching to put added emphasis on UGC and social networking.
