MTV's laying off 250 folks this week. That story contains a sentence that shocks me: "It's understood that VH1 Classic and MTV2 will not be going off the air." Wtf?

Here are some TRL ratings numbers.

MTV/Viacom is also trying to 'work around' YouTube. [More]

Some brand new news on EMI: EMI issues profit warning as US sales collapse then Fresh takeover hopes put EMI back on track plus, for what it's worth Warner Music Falls on EMI Warning and finally Cat put in charge of label restructuring :)

         

From Forbes: "[MTV's] representing a medium that's no longer as relevant to this generation as it was to previous generations,'' says Rich Hanley, assistant professor of interactive communications and director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "If you're tied to any legacy media, you're naturally behind. I know [Viacom Chairman Sumner] Redstone says they're not, but clearly the fact that they're restructuring says they are."

         

when does the suck stop?

         

Good Riddance. Now is the time for Specialten.tv to shine.

         

It is a bummer. Not because the content was any good, but it kept a lot of people alive plying their craft at whatever level. 250 people is a lot of people.

         

as cats go, at least nora's got credentials.

         

part of me thinks "Good, that's what you get for not showing videos" - but not showing videos was a way to get higher ratings.

I wonder what would happen if MTV never expanded into original content, and stuck w/ video shows. It probably wouldn't have gotten as profitable as it did in its hey-day but then it's overall operating costs would have stayed so low.

But as people say, we're only a few years away from Internet tv stations that play like flipping channels - I know stuff exists now but it's not till EVERYONE has it that it really gets rolling. I can't wait.

         

Dear Viacom, www.onetipaday.com Love, The internet

         

There's a site somewhere that's like an internal MTV thing where all their staff voted on their favorite music of the year. You can see each staff members picks.

A lot of blanks in the "best videos" part of the poll. And several "where can I watch videos".

It sucks when people are put out of work, but this is their own damn fault. They're branded music television but are a reality network. They have so much sway they can enforce every band needing to play nice with them. It didn't help they stopped helping to break bands and would rather develop their own shitty low budget programming featuring telegenic idiots getting drunk and fighting... And then wallpaper them with bands that have already broken or use the bare minimum bars of a song to get out of cheap royalties.

When in the meantime they enforce everyone to play by their rules for videos when they barely show them and their rules are arbitrary and idiotic.

You mean to tell me the shot in my Decemberists video of a chainsaw covered in spikes and a time bomb straight out of Looney Tunes is more damaging to youth than another soap opera about ludicrously wealthy morons swapping STDs?

This is the worst part of making videos right now for major labels: everyone wants a video for MTV. But that's 1% of videos and their content rules are so boring and static and conservative.

But it's their own damn fault that their online service was top heavy, difficult to use, shut out mac users, and partnered with Microsoft (yeah the people behind the Zune are a good synergisitic partner).

Likewise, ratings were low for music videos but that's because music videos eschew the whole point of Nielsen ratings. I know a marketing manager at a major label who loves Fuse despite its ratings because he knows exactly what demographic it will hit for certain bands. The channel should've never trusted ratings, but they needed to once they were folded into the Viacom family.

And while their original programming may have gotten better Nielsen ratings it's made the channel a joke. Even their most successful shows in a pop culture impact sort of sense were known for their utter stupidity. No one takes it seriously, which means a lack of relevance.

Ever notice how the winners are always present at their awards shows?

I grew up on this channel and have fond memories of it, but I hope this is the nail in the coffin for the channel. Good riddance. They've been the biggest hindrance to music video as a legitimate artform there is. I'd much rather take a gamble on the wild wooly world of the internet with its transparent metrics and immediate reactions...

Every video director out there should be aiming to make the best work they can to show online, cause that's where people watch videos now.

I think the OK Go video wasn't just the most deserving of the Grammy. It was the most important video of the year. Because it was made by the band outside the label system since it wasn't an MTV video and the channel had to catch up with its success.

I feel bad for all those out of work (and will sadly miss Wonder Showzen) and have nothing against them, but the executives who let the channel become this should've seen it coming. As for what it signifies for the channel as a whole, it's deserved.

         

Of course, I think MTV does suck a lot of the time - but those shows I don't like are not for me anyway. Getting mad at MTV for immature programing is like being mad at a Chinese restaurant because you want a burger.

'Ville types rip on MTV (and labels and other entities of "the man") for not keeping up with the changing world. Then, when MTV does change, Villeians freak out. If television is completely outmoded as a delivery system for music videos - why are we so pissed at MTV for not showing music videos?

MTV is not our parent. They owe "us" or the music industry nothing. If the audience is not there for music videos, they air reality shows. What else should they do? Viacom are not nuevo-boho-hipsters. Their goal is keeping their job, not being relevant.

MTV was/is a corporate sell-athon masquerading as a hip place by/for teenagers. Music videos are largely the same thing, no?

         

It's really simple to me. Music Television. So in other words, I and a lot of teenagers expect some music television. The teenagers I talk to think the channel is a joke. They don't owe us anything. I mean to say, they're responsible for ruining their brand.

         

Viacom changed the spirit of the sell-a-thon, that's all. But things should smooth themselves out in a couple years (re: Specialten). I'm getting tired of watching these things at my desk. You can't sit back and relax on this damn Internet thing. No wonder this place is so tense.

Otaku: MTV's excuse was that they incorporate music throughout their reality shows, from Remote Control to The Real World to, er, Date My Mom.

         

If the influence on MTV has waned, usurped by the power of mypace, youtube, or whatever, it will only serve to remove the creative shackles (aka commercial realities) that video makers have had to live with for the last 10 years. I've gone back to basics, and started working in the way I did when I first started making promos. The money is inevitably crap, but it's worth it not to be self-censoring the whole time. We should make the most of this window we have, before the corporates move in and start arbitrating taste in new media, which they inevitably will.

         

well said nick. i'd much rather make a ridiculous ten minute video and fail while i have the chance because someone thinks we need additional content than a video where andy slater issues a memo on how my shots should be framed.

i know what mtv's excuses are, but i just think teenagers (which i am no longer and cannot totally understand) are canny enough to know that they think MTV is a sham even if they watch their shows. all i'm saying is they diluted their brand themselves and that's what they're stuck with. For all their cease and desisting going on at youtube and attempts to catch up, if I were a video dept head at a major label i would much much much rather have front page placement of a video on youtube than mtv any day.

         

Re: MTV

Altmusictv found some more info on this. An article here says that VH1 Classic (with VH1 Soul, MHD) and MTV2 now have no general managers, most of the VH1 Classic staff and all MTV2 staff producers are gone, says Gawker.

Meanwhile, over on this side of the fence: "The Wall Street Journal reported last Monday that Viacom might end up hiring 500 people to staff acquired and developed digital-media businesses."

And from Gawker: Here's Judy McGrath's e-mail announcement, and Gideon Yago's farewell e-mail from 3 weeks ago

TRL stays, says MTV pres Christina Norman

Wall Street Shrugs at MTV Bloodbath

         

Re: MTV

NYTimes on MTV's current position: Do They Still Want Their MTV?

         

viacom goes joost (what'd i tell ya, k?) bboing; wsj (paid subscrip. req.)

         

in related news, warner sends emi valentines.

         

Viacom news: It just got ugly