2012 January | Chicago catering service

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January 30th, 2012 admin Comments off

Cable Channel MTV Turns 30 Today And I Believe It’s Not Likely That Any Article Noting The Event Will Be Well Placed To Withstand The Urge To Incorporate Some Rant About The Absence Of Music Videos On The Network.

Cable channel MTV turns 30 today and I believe it’s unlikely that any article noting the event will be well placed to resist the urge to incorporate some rant about the absence of music videos on the network.

In theory, I understand the beefs. I watched the network from its earliest days and there was something spellbinding about discovering some artist or song thanks to the video. As MTV turned into a commercial success, it created a huge number of stars whose careers would’ve been wholly different without the exposure. Sure, performers such as Paula Abdul owe their careers to MTV, but it is difficult to imagine what the careers of musicians such as Michael Jackson would’ve been without the video exposure.

But from the earliest years of the network, MTV pursued a tactic of creating original, non-musical programming. And when they made that call, it was inevitable that the success of that programming would push the music off the main MTV Network.

There are good business reasons for opting not to play music videos on a channel that was originally branded as a music network. No wire channel wants to be in a position where their success is contingent upon access to content being created by third parties. In much the same way that HBO and Showtime started making original programming as a way to offset the aggressive dealmaking of the film studios, MTV moved toward original programming so they would not be dependent on the whims of the music labels.

I think things could have been slightly different if MTV had been owned by a media company that also owned a music label. But without assured access to music videos, MTV had no alternative than to move toward original programming.

Granted, MTV failed to necessarily have to choose the programming mix that it did. But because it’s owned by Viacom, which approaches its multiple wire channels the way Clear Channel programs its radio stations, programming decisions are often as much about playing to the network’s target demo as anything else.

That pressure from the sales side is also why you see things such as Viacom-owned movies pop up in primetime slots. Their cost is close to free, and its easy for a sales staff to sell a block of films airing across all of the Viacom Networks.

At the end of the day, MTV is a business. And it’s difficult to prove with the premise that whether it airs music videos, it’s been a remarkably successful network. So while I ache for the videos (and the VJs), I’m a decade past making snide remarks about the lack of music on MTV.

But as MTV turns thirty, I do fret about the corrosive effect its programming has on kids.

Fretting about such things likely seems old fashioned to most audiences (and TV critics) at this juncture. MTV glaringly has got the right to air what it wants, how it wants. The incontrovertible fact that many of its shows are successful illustrates there’s an audience for them.

But because rumpus sells, MTV has created this vision of American kids that often highlights the very worst of what we will be. MTV isn’t airing Teen Mom because they hope to persuade teen spectators not to conceive. Actually the essential message of the show is “hey, it will be okay.” Seeing girls who have made an appearance on Teenager Mom splashed across magazine covers at the local superstore is morally wrong on so many levels I could write a book about it and still just scratch the surface. The incontrovertible fact that versions of jersey Shore air across the world makes me more sad than pleased with the network’s programming prowess.

What concerns me as MTV turns thirty is that for many American children, Viacom has as much influence on their lives as school or friends. From Nick Jr’s preschool programming through Nick’s animated shows through Teen Nick and MTV, Viacom dominates the popular culture landscape of America’s youth.

I won’t claim anyone is evil. The majority of the programming calls have more to do with sales opportunities and audience share than cultural impact. But at age thirty, MTV should be pondering such things, and it seems clear to anyone who watches the network the morality of what they air is scarcely a concern,writes tagza.com.
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