MoonTV


MoonTV was a free Finnish cable network channel. It started off as a channel for programmes about computer and video games but later grew into a channel covering several areas of youth culture. In its prime it was the first interactive TV channel in the world. At its best MoonTV could reach 1.3 million potential viewers in the 12 biggest cities across Finland. In 2003 the channel was shut down after the company that owned it filed for bankruptcy.
MoonTV was relaunched in 2010 online with new hosts and a new program line-up.

People

Mika Koivula and Hannu and Pekka Kossila were the founding members of MoonTV. Koivula came up with the name "MoonTV" back in 1996. Pekka Kossila was in charge of creating economical interactive TV formats which were the core of the channel when it started its test broadcasts in November 1996. Hannu Kossila, CEO, took care of the marketing and expansion of the channel.
MoonTV is noted for bringing forth youth-icon and political representative Wallu Valpio former member of the music group "Arto Muna ja Millennium Orkesteri".

Programming and production style

The programs were shot primarily around the city of Helsinki, with occasional programming such as concert events and E3 shot elsewhere. If shows were not hosted at MoonTV's studios they were usually shot at public locales. MoonTV employees were notorious for relying heavily on guerilla shoots. This was poked fun at in the early airings in commercials which showed candid footage of a police-car chasing the film crew. For these reasons certain inserts were usually hosted at playgrounds or inside clubs or restaurants. As MoonTV became better recognised such problems with shooting became less of an issue.
MoonTV gathered the support of several Finnish musical artists who would regularly shoot inserts and commercials for the show. Most noticeably Jimi Pääkallo's "Se on ihmisten tekemä" insert became extremely popular amongst viewers. Pääkallo was also a regular guest and even shot a commercial for the channel's cooking show Musta Pippuri.
MoonTV's initial purpose was to be, according to channel's co-founder Pekka Kossila, a 24/7 video game-oriented channel. Originally channel's programs were very short, sometimes only 15 minutes, but with the introduction of more youth-oriented programs the average show-length became 30 minutes. MoonTV's programming was updated weekly and this meant that reruns of any show could be seen several times daily like in today's movie or music channels. However, there were several programmes like the entertainment and sport news that were updated on a daily basis via the Web. Aivoradio, a 15-minute news and current events programme was the only show to be updated daily, but appeared only for a brief time very late into MoonTV's existence.
Being a completely computer-run channel MoonTV was prone to various technical malfunctions. During its run the channel "went dark" several times. The periods of darkness could last anywhere from a few minutes to a whole week. Additionally, the fact that the channel was not supported by a bigger, better established channel undoubtedly had effects in the overall production values of the channel's programmes. Unlike other commercial channels, MoonTV did not feature subtitling for programmes, regardless of their language.
Despite having minimal impact in Finnish television culture MoonTV sustained a steady fan-base and helped launch the careers of several of their employees and associates such as Jarno Sarkula of the band Alamaailman Vasarat, Miika Huttunen and Thomas Puha, the main editors of the game magazine Pelaaja and the Finnish equivalent of Jackass, the Extreme Duudsonit.

Internet Relaunch

In 2010, MoonTV was revived with its programmes now hosted online. Some of the technical and production crew is the same as the original MoonTV's, however, its shows and hosts are entirely new.

Original Hosts

Game related shows

Miika Huttunen, Thomas Puha and Elias Poutanen were later reunited on the show Play which aired on Nelonen from 2004 to 2005. Jarno Sarkula also made two guest appearances on the show.

Others