The Tube Goes Down the Tubes

Digital multicast channel The Tube “ceased its national broadcast” Oct. 1, according to a statement on the music-video network’s home page.

The brainchild of music-industry veteran Les Garland, The Tube launched in June 2005 on 30 Raycom Media stations. Its mission was airing the videos that were once a staple at MTV. Months after launch, Garland announced distribution deals with station groups such as Tribune and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Neither Tube nor Raycom executives could be reached for comment.

On its Web site, The Tube thanked record executives, artists, investors, TV partners and viewers for their support as the network “struggled through the financial limitations that ultimately contributed to its incapacitated state.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.