Viva Roblox was a Robloxian television channel owned by rTV Networks, launched on March 22, 2018. The channel was officially announced on April 11, 2017, as the replacement for Roblox Music Television, which rTVN had recently acquired through the closure of Gavent Networks (RMT was owned by rTVN subsidiary rTV Networks Gavent between Gavent Networks' closure on March 31, 2017 and the launch of Viva Roblox).
The channel was closed and relaunched as RMT on January 25, 2019.
History[]
The origins of Viva Roblox date back to May 17, 2014, when rTV Networks experimented with potentially launching a Robloxian music brand based off of the now-defunct German music channel VIVA (formerly the first of a franchise of four European music channels by the name). Despite the potential for active competition from other Robloxian music channels such as MixTV (launched seven months earlier) and RMT (launched four months earlier), rTV Networks decided not to launch the channel, instead working on other projects.
Other variants of the channel's logo. The logo above this image was the initial logo devised for the channel in May 2014; the logo directly above this caption and the one at the top of this page are variants created for the channel's launch in April 2017.
On March 31, 2017, AGavent, the owner of Gavent Networks, which owned RMT, announced he would be closing his company and leaving the industry (he would return and start a production company two weeks later, but would later opt to permantently leave the industry later in the year). AGavent gave four of Gavent Networks' five channels, including RMT and its spinoff channel RMTEDM, to rTV Networks, which launched rTV Networks Gavent as a management subsidiary for the channels on that day. rTVN decided that, instead of running RMT, the company would use the opportunity to launch its own music channel in Viva Roblox (though the company would retain the rights to the "RMT" name, even though it wasn't planning on using it at the time). The company officially announced the new channel on April 11, 2017, at which point ownership of the channel transferred from the rTV Networks Gavent subsidiary to rTV Networks directly. The channel was a basic-premium television channel available to multiple providers. Viva Roblox was the first rTV Networks channel not to use an originally-created name.
On May 2, 2017, as a result of the Robloxian Broadcasting Exchange controversy, rTV Networks announced that they were considering removing all of rTVN's channels from BBS Player. On May 3, 2017, rTVN decided to only remove Viva Roblox, which meant the channel was then only available on roTV, in addition to Amicable.
On May 4, 2017, around 3am ET, Viva Roblox started broadcasting a holding loop, similarly to other rTVN channels. The loop consists of a mysterious, almost cryptic-looking arrangement of neon lights swinging from a ceiling, with three lights in the center arranged in a triangular "V" shape as a reference to the channel's logo and branding. A still of the loop was posted to Twitter at exactly 3am ET.
On May 17, 2017, Viva Roblox gained a sister channel, as RMTEDM was rebranded into Viva2, covering music in the indie, alternative, and electronic genres, along with additional pop music, while the main Viva channel maintains a largely pop-centric schedule.
On May 31, 2017, Viva Roblox was the fourth rTV Networks channel to gain its own Twitter account, after Blox News Channel, rTV3, and DogeTV (following the acquisition of that channel; its successor, rTV Fun, also received its own handle upon its launch), replacing the rTV Networks Gavent Twitter account. The account covers both Viva Roblox and Viva2, and features music news and features, along with promotions for the two channels' programming and music videos.
On January 20, 2018, at rTV Networks' panel event at RTNG MediaCon Winter 2018, company owner BenzBot stated that he currently intends to launch Viva Roblox, Viva2, and GTV at some point in the spring of 2018, although no concrete plans have been laid to firm up a specific launch date. On January 28, 2018, rTV Networks announced the slogan for Viva Roblox, "The Sound of Now", which, according to the channel, "reflects the unique way music can make moments memorable". The slogan is meant to help establish Viva's brand positioning.
In the early hours of March 20, 2018, with only two days' notice, it was cryptically announced on Twitter that Viva Roblox and Viva2 would both launch on March 22, 2018 at 7pm ET. To generate buzz for the launch, promotional bugs were placed on rTV, Blox News Channel, Rnetwork, rTV3, rTV3+, rTV Max, Blox, and Blox Sports. The two channels also began running new loops, alongside the old one, promoting the launch. Viva Roblox launched on March 22, 2018 at 7pm ET following a ten-minute countdown. After two promos introducing the channel to viewers, the first song played on Viva was Young Blood by The Naked and Famous; it also was the first song for sister channel Viva2. Following that, the first song in the channel's regular rotation was Your Song by Rita Ora.
On April 1, 2018, Viva Roblox played an April Fools' Day joke on its viewers, by replacing its schedule exclusively with songs by Iggy Azalea, an artist who often has jokes made at her expense. Viva2 ran its own joke by playing a selection of "meme songs" on loop throughout the day.
In mid-June 2018, following the announcement of the upcoming closure of VIVA Germany, the last remaining IRL version of the channel, rTV Networks announced that they would rebrand Viva Roblox as RMT in either late 2018 or January 2019, roughly in line with the closure. The rebrand is effectively a reversion of the channel to its roots, as RMT was the channel's name under Gavent Networks prior to its acquisition by rTVN to become Viva Roblox. (rTV Networks owns the rights to the "RMT" name through the acquisition, and had already intended to use it in the event of VIVA's closure.) At RTNG MediaCon Winter 2019, it was revealed that the channel would be relaunched as RMT on January 25, 2019, the fifth anniversary of the launch of the original RMT.
Viva Roblox closed on January 25, 2019, at 7pm ET; the last track played on the channel was Final Song by MO, with special farewell branding. After that, Viva Roblox aired a short farewell message set to a stripped-down version version of Young Blood. A three-minute countdown to RMT, backed with ambient noise, then proceeded to close the channel.
Programming and format[]
Viva Roblox was loosely based on the German version of its namesake, co-opting parts of its branding and some of its formats. In addition to various playlists, charts, and countdowns, an original series was planned for Viva Roblox: Viva Video Court, a program based on the Canadian Video on Trial format. While the network did put out a casting call for personalities for the show in the fall of 2017, in March 2018 it was confirmed the channel would not air the show at launch. Plans for blocks beyond Viva Sounds and Viva Neu were restricted to the HD channel only in May 2018, due to the 2018 Robloxian television transition and the scheduling issues associated with Livestream broadcasting.
Current programming[]
- Viva Sounds (March 22, 2018-present): The name for the channel's general music programming block in daytime and primetime. Directly derived from the German channel.
- Viva Neu (March 23, 2018-present): Block featuring new music premieres. Directly derived from the German channel, spelling and all, though Viva Roblox argues the block on their channel is pronounced "nyew", in an attempt to adapt it to English, rather than "noy", as it is pronounced in German.
- Viva Night Sounds (May 2018-present, HD only): The name for the channel's general music programming block overnight. Directly derived from the German channel.
- Viva AM Mixtape (May 2018-present, HD only): The channel's morning music block.
Upcoming programming[]
- Viva Most Wanted: Block featuring viewer requests and the most popular videos on the channel over the past week.
- Viva Video Court: Music video review program based on the Video on Trial format.
Features[]
- Viva All Eyes On (March 26, 2018-present): Feature segment focusing on a particular artist or song, aired across both Viva and Viva2. Directly derived from the German channel.
- Viva Check This (March 26, 2018-present): Feature segment focusing on a selected song or artist, aired on Viva only.
Ident and breakbumper songs[]
In keeping with its real-life inspiration, Viva Roblox will feature selected songs as the soundtrack to the channel's idents and breakbumpers.
| Start | End | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/22/2018 | 5/25/2018 | The Naked and Famous | Young Blood |
| 5/26/2018* | Summer 2018 | Claire | The Next Ones To Come |
| Summer 2018 | 12/16/18 | Felix Jaehn, Hight, & Alex Aiono | Hot2Touch |
| 12/16/18** | 1/1/19** | Ariana Grande | Santa Tell Me |
| 1/2/19 | 1/25/19 | Foster the People | Pumped Up Kicks |
*Started May 26, 2018 on Viva Roblox HD; started May 27, 2018 on Viva Roblox.
**Midnight-7pm only; no break bumper in primetime
Viva Roblox HD[]
Viva Roblox HD was a high-definition simulcast of Viva Roblox. The channel feed was launched on April 21, 2018, as part of the launch of seven HD channels by rTV Networks (including rTV HD2 and simulcasts of other channels, including Viva2). In mid-May 2018, BenzBot vowed to have the channel, as well as sister Viva2 HD, up and running in either late May or early June 2018, to capitalize on the then-upcoming summer music season. Due to variations between the Original Livestream platform and the new HD platform in which Viva Roblox HD will be using, while the channel is considered a "simulcast", it is not an exact simulcast for technical reasons. On May 20, 2018, Viva Roblox HD's platform was changed to the one currently used by rTV HD2. Testing of music video programming occurred on rTV HD2 after hours since May 17, 2018, in preparation for a full launch later in the month. Viva Roblox HD properly launched on May 25, 2018, at 7pm ET; the first video aired was Audio by LSD, starting the week's Viva Neu block. The first hour of Viva Roblox HD's programming was directly simulcast with its standard-definition counterpart; the two channels diverged at 8pm ET. Additionally, in an unusual move, the channel's opening night was broadcast commercial-free, due to time constraints earlier in the day leading up to the launch, which forced the channel to forgo advertising initially. The channel was rebranded as RMT HD on January 25, 2019, in line with the RMT relaunch.