Early years MTV Asia (15 September 1991 – 2 May 1994) Channel [V] was originally launched on 15 September 1991 as
MTV Asia (). It was a
24-hour music channel broadcast in English,
Hindi and
Chinese, focused on
pop music. On 2 May 1994,
MTV Asia left the
STAR TV Network as the contract with Viacom expired.
Channel [V] On 27 May 1994, under the leadership of managing director Gary Davey, Channel [V] was launched as a replacement of
MTV Asia with VJs (who used to work on
MTV Asia) celebrating on air from various locations; the
Great Wall of China, the
Taj Mahal,
Downtown Tokyo, the
Himalayas etc. At the same time, Channel [V] officially 'split' its beam, in effect, providing two separate services for different regional audiences within the
AsiaSat 1's footprint. This enables the channel to provide appropriate programming and viewing time for its viewers from different regions in Asia. On 5 June 1994, Channel [V] opened its production facilities in
Taipei,
Taiwan. On 4 July 1994, Sigaw Manila was launched on the Northern Beam. On 1 August 1994, BPL Oye! was launched on the Southern Beam. On 5 June 1994, Channel [V] has opened up its production facilities in
Mumbai (formerly known as
Bombay),
India. On 27 April 1995, the
STAR TV Network starts transmitting Channel [V] on the
Palapa B2R satellite to
Indonesia and the
Philippines. On 30 April 1995, Channel [V] has opened up its production facilities in
Dubai, the
United Arab Emirates producing Sony Yalla!, the first ever Arabic Top 10 Countdown in the
Middle East was launched on the Southern Beam. On 4 August 1996, a
Thai-localized feed of Channel [V] was launched in
Thailand, as carried on Thai cable and satellite providers. This apparently replaced Channel [V] International in the country, but the pan-Asian feed would still be available in
Thailand via both
AsiaSat and
Palapa satellites. In 1997, Channel [V] International was launched in the
Middle East on the Middle Eastern digital satellite TV platform
Orbit Communications Company as part of the STAR Select package. On 15 July 1997, Channel [V] International was launched in
Japan on the Japanese digital satellite TV platform
SKY PerfecTV!. In 1999, the president of rival MTV Networks Asia conceded that Channel [V] was a very close competitor in Taiwan and Thailand. On 27 April 2021, Disney announced that Channel [V] would be closing down on 1 October as part of its winddown of traditional cable/satellite networks across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong in favor of focusing on both
Disney+ and
Disney+ Hotstar. As a result, the Star China Media-managed Channel [V] in Mainland China became the only Channel [V] branch operating until its shutdown on May 8, 2026. ==Operating channel==