The Hybe Was Strong

    Hybe TV program will not continue for a second season on MTV3. While Hybe Media owner said future of the startup television-web media was uncertain.

    Running a media company is tough. Running one in the niche startup space is even tougher. We know, as not only do we have two of those at the moment, but also because we have been on the market since 2007 and have seen many come and go.

    Recently, Hybe from Finland launched a lifestyle TV Program and blog, focusing on the startup world. Unfortunately it now seems that at the very least the media-startup will have to make some difficult decisions.

    The first season premiered on MTV3 in Finland but according to Lauri Ogawa, Executive Producer, Domestic Programs at MTV, the Startup lifestyle program was “too small and too niche for Finnish market”. As a result, the second season of Hybe will not be airing on MTV.

    “too small and too niche for Finnish market”

    According to Ogawa, the main target audience was entrepreneurs, who already knew enough about the startup ecosystem which lead to the low viewership numbers. In addition to that, airing in English while being a mainly Finnish TV channel, played its role in the result.

    Additionally Hybe Media owner and chairman Martii Timgren, stated in a call that the future of the startup television-web media was uncertain, after the only TV channel that Hybe was on – decided not to continue with the show.

    That is not to say that Hybe is over. They still have a chance to find a global partner, go fully online or perhaps focus on the online media business. We have reached out to Hybe and offered assistance and if you have any thoughts and ideas, do get in touch with them. When it was tough times for ArcticStartup, it was our audience that really helped us out and we hope that the same can happen to others. Best of luck, Hybe.