MTV Networks is switching out and replacing VH1 Mega Hits, one of its small digi-nets, to make room for new gay-targeted channel Logo, officials said Monday.
VH1 Mega Hits, which plays hits of the ’90s to the present, will be supplanted by Logo on MTVN’s satellite transponder next month, according to a spokesman for the startup network. Logo is slated to debut June 30 with distribution in the neighborhood of 10 million subscribers.
Cable systems that have deals to carry Logo will be able to pull the fledgling network down from MTVN’s bird and carry it on the old VH1 Mega Hits channel slot, according to the Logo spokesman.
However, distributors who don’t have affiliation contracts for Logo but do carry VH1 Mega Hits won’t be automatically switched to the new channel, the spokesman said. It was unclear what other options Viacom Inc.-owned MTVN would offer these distributors to fill VH1 Megahits’ vacant space.
VH1 Mega Hits, which launched in 2002, is part of MTVN’s “Suite,” a package of digital services that includes Nicktoons and Noggin.
