ViVaK

Vivak (stylized as ViVaK, short for "Viva Kids" and pronounced as "VIVA-KAY" or the less formal "VEE-VACK") is an Izumese pay television channel that began broadcasting on August 18, 2016. Specializing in programming for children and young teens, the channel is known for its consistently successful lineup of original programs, upbeat "edgy" aesthetic, contests, distinctive mascots, and witty banter between its hosts of both the past and present. Due to its high viewership percentages and emphasis on family-friendly hilarity, it is one of the most popular channels in the country. ViVaK broadcasts for 24 hours-per-day on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite.

ViVaK's headquarters are located in Umifuku, the capital city of Izumo. Its filming studio is located in nearby Media City.

In its home provinstate of Izumo, ViVaK operates English, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew, Cantonese, French and German feeds. The foreign-language feeds utilize subtitles for interstitial material and certain programs, but the original programs are fully dubbed in-house; acquired programming comes either in subtitles or dubs that aired on other channels prior to being introduced to Izumo.

Hosts
funny nitzan note: i'm still tooling with this section leave me alone

Since its launch in August 2016, ViVaK has been incorporating segments in which its designated on-air hosts participate in a wide variety of activities, discussions and unusual situations together. These segments, according to ViVaK CEO Tiffany Lefebvre, serve to "act as entertaining, high-octane segues into what's gonna be airing next, so the viewers can stay tuned in." In these segments, the hosts discuss the latest trends, films and occasional gossip, exchange back-and-forth banter, do absurd challenges, and play games among other activities. Multiple segments are known for spawning iconic memes in the Random Region that are still referenced to this day, some examples being "Fart gun", "You can't stop me, bro!", "Ultra mega extreme remote-throwing", "Getting funky", "Aren't you too old for fruit juice?", and "Get Gumi'd!".

The first on-air hosts were Joshua "Joshy" Bywater and Kevin "Krazy Kev" de la Cruz, two twentysomethings who were already well-known for their prank videos prior to being casted by the network. Bywater departed from ViVaK in January 2017 to pursue a career as a movie director, eventually being replaced with River Jay Lumpkin and Beck Hyndeston, with Izaac Yapchingco and Mako Umase being added to the lineup a month later in February. The other original host de la Cruz stuck around until November of 2018 for health reasons. As of 2022, River Jay Lumpkin, Beck Hyndeston, Amana Nakagawa, Ayaka Saga, Mako Umase, Izaac Yapchingco, Somi Anh, Daisuke Houshito, Elvira Law Yeuk-lam, and Yuuma Gennaka are the current on-air hosts. Saga is known for starring in many of ViVaK's original programs and being the youngest host in the network's history; she was 12 when she began hosting in 2018.

ViVaK tapes and records most of its on-air segments live at the ViVaK Studios filming lot in Media City, Izumo.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, segments were not produced from March 2020 to June 2021. In their place were special “stay at home” segments chronicling the hobbies and lives of the hosts, who would give the viewers tips on how to stay safe. New segments continued to be recorded and aired until March 2022, with safety protocols being kept in mind at all times.

On June 1, 2021, ViVaK filmed its first on-air segment since March 10, 2020, with hosts Somi Anh and Livie Cheung being introduced.

Current

 * River Jay Lumpkin (2017-present)
 * Beck Hyndeston (2017-present)
 * Izaac Yapchingco (2017-present)
 * Mako Umase (2017-present)
 * Ayaka Saga (2018-present)
 * Leo Shibuta (2018-present)
 * Daisuke Houshito (2018-present)
 * Yuuma Gennaka (2019-present)
 * Amana Nakagawa (2019-present)
 * Elvira Law Yeuk-lam (2019-present)
 * Livie Cheung (2022-present)
 * Somi Anh (2022-present)

Previous

 * Joshua Bywater (2016-2017)
 * Kevin de la Cruz (2016-2018)

Schedule

 * Mondays and Tuesdays: Ayaka, Daisuke, Somi, Livie, Yuuma, Leo
 * Wednesdays and Thursdays: River, Beck, Izaac, Amana, Mako, Elvira
 * Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays: All hosts

Mascots
Alongside its on-air presenters, ViVaK also incorporates a lineup of original characters in its advertising (namely bumpers). Introduced in December 2017 as part of a Christmas-themed event, the eight ViVaK mascots are seen as pop culture figures in their own right and have a multitude of merchandise, including blind bags, collectible figurines, plushies, bed sets, toys and more.

In October 2016, the same month they made their official debut on ViVaK, a tie-in animated sitcom series called That ViVaK Mascot Show began airing. It is currently in its fourth season.

1. Yuki: She is voiced by Kotori Omame. 2. Star: She is voiced by Greylyn McAlpine. 3. Zisel: She is voiced by Opal Onoszko. 4. Monday: She is voiced by Victoria Boesch-Fèvre. 5. Five: He is voiced by Gavyn Jongbloed. 6. Domo: He is voiced by Daniel Catalano. 7. Cory: He is voiced by Corey Shui. 8. Neo: A daring and fun-loving android who loves doing extreme, dangerous stunts. He is physically incapable of feeling pain and can regenerate his body parts at will. He is voiced by Ethan Koivunen.

Website
Vivak.iz

ViVaK+
ViVaK+ is ViVaK's online streaming service.

The Great Big ViVaK Movie poster contest
The Great Big ViVaK Movie is an Izumese theatrical film based on ViVaK's mascots and original programs. A combination of animation and live-action, it was released exclusively in theatres on October 9, 2021. The film follows the events of a vicious storm that affects all of the characters from ViVaK's original programs -- both live-action and animated -- which sends them all to the wrong shows, and only the mascots can trudge through the worsening strorm and safely get everyone back to their proper shows.

To drum up hype for the movie, an art contest took place in the summer of 2021 at the ViVaK headquarters building in Mimieux. Kids aged 8-15 could compete. The participants were tasked with drawing a poster for the film, and the top three winners would get minor voice roles in the film, as well as a few other prizes. Users with registered accounts on the ViVaK website could vote for up to three drawings. The penultimate winner of the contest was 12-year-old Tessie Huang. The second and third place winners were 14-year-old Lincoln Rutkowski and 9-year-old Zeke Esquivel.

Aside from the voice role in the movie, there were a multitude of other prizes that could be won, including: Participation trophies and goody bags were given to the participants who did not make the top three.
 * 1st Place: 100,000 dollars, autographed movie poster, iPad 9, drawing kit, gift card, mascot and host profile book
 * 2nd Place: 50,000 dollars, autographed movie poster, Razor scooter, mascot blind bags x5, mascot plush set
 * 3rd Place: 25,000 dollars, autographed movie poster, season 1 DVD of  , nut-free candy bowl

25 Days of Christmas contest
From December 1 to December 25, 2021, ViVaK is set to debut their 25 Days of Christmas contest, which viewers aged 7-15 can compete in. The objective is to use a virtual advent calendar to spot one or more of the mascots doing an activity associated with Christmas or winter in general, then report the mascot(s) involved to win a prize. The winners will be announced live during interstitial segments.