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Internet Killed the Video Star
In a Web world, will kids still want their MTV?
Nearly every review of last night's MTV Video Music Awards has the same lead: Britney Spears tanked. Nearly every review then goes on to express the same sentiments about the show itself, which this year had a new location, in Las Vegas, and a new format, with more performances and a promise that MTV wouldn't air it in future reruns. It's enough to make you wonder if the network executives set Spears up.
In a way, the network faces the same problem as the star: reinventing itself for a time when the center of pop culture cannot hold. The obvious knock on MTV is that the music videos it once focused on are now widely available on the Internet, as is the teen titillation it offers in the form of shows like The Real World.
But that's only one of MTV's problems. The second is that, after decades leading pop culture, the network now seems to follow it. One of its new programs is A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, a dating show where the star will choose among men and women. But Tequila rose to fame on MySpace — where she scientifically proved that attractive women who don't wear much will make lots of friends – and then hosted a show on Fuse, a rival video network. One can't help but wonder whether she's just pretending to be bi and MTV is just pretending to care.
MTV's third and most intractable problem is one shared by Spears and the traditional TV networks — and how often do you hear all of them mentioned in the same sentence? Consumers simply have too many choices, and the economics of producing programming for a mass audience are in danger. By its nature, MTV broadcasts its take on pop culture, which is watched by many and beloved by few. So is Spears, who few people seem to genuinely love but everyone seems vaguely curious about. And the same goes for traditional network television, which used to be watched by many people who had only a casual interest in it. Some people simply watched MTV because it ran videos, listened to Spears because that's what the radio played, and tuned in sitcoms because that's what was on TV at the time.
In a way, the network faces the same problem as the star: reinventing itself for a time when the center of pop culture cannot hold. The obvious knock on MTV is that the music videos it once focused on are now widely available on the Internet, as is the teen titillation it offers in the form of shows like The Real World.
But that's only one of MTV's problems. The second is that, after decades leading pop culture, the network now seems to follow it. One of its new programs is A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, a dating show where the star will choose among men and women. But Tequila rose to fame on MySpace — where she scientifically proved that attractive women who don't wear much will make lots of friends – and then hosted a show on Fuse, a rival video network. One can't help but wonder whether she's just pretending to be bi and MTV is just pretending to care.
MTV's third and most intractable problem is one shared by Spears and the traditional TV networks — and how often do you hear all of them mentioned in the same sentence? Consumers simply have too many choices, and the economics of producing programming for a mass audience are in danger. By its nature, MTV broadcasts its take on pop culture, which is watched by many and beloved by few. So is Spears, who few people seem to genuinely love but everyone seems vaguely curious about. And the same goes for traditional network television, which used to be watched by many people who had only a casual interest in it. Some people simply watched MTV because it ran videos, listened to Spears because that's what the radio played, and tuned in sitcoms because that's what was on TV at the time.
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17:09 EDT, 11.Sep.07