MTV to Put a Bit More Music Back, in the A.M.
By BRIAN STELTERPublished: March 29, 2009 MTV is adding more music videos to its schedule — at 3 a.m.
On Monday the network starts “AMTV,” a six-hour block for music and advertising experimentation. From 3 to 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday, it will show music videos, news, interviews and performances, harking back to the network’s origins as a 24-hour home for music videos.
Now, of course, the network is more synonymous with unrealistic reality shows like “The Hills” than with music. Over the years the network, a unit of Viacom, has relegated music videos to its less popular digital channels and intermissions between shows.
But the network says that by carving out a new space for artists in the mornings, it is rethinking how it programs music. Stephen Friedman, the general manager of MTV, said the new schedule “creates more sampling opportunities” for viewers.
“It gives us a much wider palette to experiment,” he said.
The network is bringing back “Unplugged,” its series of acoustic performances by artists. Mr. Friedman said the mornings would always be “complemented by a prime-time connection,” when the network sees its highest ratings.
“If we take ‘Unplugged,’ which our audience still knows and loves, and do a four-minute version after our highest-rated program in prime time, and then we say, ‘You can get it all immediately on MTV.com or see the full thing for the next four days in the morning,’ we’re going to have a lot more people watching,” he said.
Critics of MTV say that its music brand is all but irrelevant now, since countless music videos and songs are only a click away on YouTube and other Web sites. The network canceled “TRL,” its long-running video countdown, last fall after years of sagging ratings. Mr. Friedman acknowledged that music had not always drawn “the level of viewership we hope for,” but nonetheless he said, “we know our audience wants more of it.”
The “AMTV” hours will not be measured by Nielsen’s ratings service. MTV is calling the morning block a laboratory for advertising partnerships; sometimes a company could sponsor all six hours, and other times it could insert its brand into individual segments.
“We’re trying to move as the audience moves with their consumption habits,” Mr. Friedman said. BRIAN STELTER
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