MTV---Rembember when it was cool?

[mattcolville]

Obviously most of the people here posting about how cool MTV was are not the target audience for the channel.

The target audience hasn't changed, we've just all gotten older.

Now, MTV is what they call a "lifestyle" channel. In the early days, they didn't have that many videos, didn't know what would work, and so experimented. But as time has gone on, they've become as successful as anyone could hope to be at what all stations want; selling ads to corporations.

Now, they're extremely effective at targeting a narrow demographic, and selling products and lifestyle to them.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Obviously most of the people here posting about how cool MTV was are not the target audience for the channel.

Not so much we're not the target demon.... Wait I AM in the key demographic (males 18-34). And I don't watch MTV anymore. Nor MTV2. Nor VH1 (don't get MTV Hits anymore, I really liked that one).

Reality shoes are cheap. If only a few people watch them, the network still makes cash.

That's why no execs REALLY talk about how good their shows are. They don't care. As long as enough people watch that they charge advetisors enough to make a decent profit, that's what they are going to do.

It's no longer about putting on the best you can do (that's expensive and risky; and requires ACTUAL talent). It's all about how cheap can we make something, yet still find enough advertsiers willing to pay X.

It's not even about making as much as you can (after all you have to risk a lot to make a lot), its about squeezing every last penny out of the horse turds you proudly put out every season.

Thus sucky = some profit without risk.

I return you to ENWorld 8, where we have dwarves wrestling elves in jello and the orc just had a ability score transplant.

Heck, CMT isn't airing videos anymore. Just Dukes of Hazzard & Cowboy U.

They all suck. (When Beavis & Butt-head; the characters, not the writers, are more brillant, thoughtful, and interesting than anything on your schedule, you might want to re-think you title of Executive Director & replace it with crap director).

 

[reveal]

I was there when it went live. I loved watching it and used to tape the audio with my tape recorder so I could listen to songs later. The last time I watched it on a regular basis was back when I was in the AF. My roommate and I would turn on the top 20 countdown every morning as we got ready for work. This was about 1995. I haven't watched it regularly since. It's crap and has been crap for a long, long time.

 

[CrusaderX]

MTV was cool way back in the 80's. They had nothing but music videos and then had a game show called Remote Control. It sucked after that.

I was going to say the exact same thing. Though a young Kari Wuhrer was hot. But the channel definitely went downhill from that point on.

 

[fett527]

I can remember when MTV didn't exist. When HBO only ran shows for a few hours a day. But I'm old...

I do wish that MTV and MTV2 would play more and a greater variety of videos. While I realize that rap and hip hop are legitimate musical forms, I tire of seeing nothing but those genres on the channels.

ahh the days of Headbanger's Ball and Hard 30 (then Hard 60 then back to Hard 30 and then....)

 

[Staffan]

Glad I have digital cable. It has music channels that play nithing but music, no videos just the music.

That's what we old farts like to call "radio."

 

[reveal]

That's what we old farts like to call "radio."

What is this strange "radio" you speak of?

 

[Kanegrundar]

I remember the good ol' MTV. I haven't watched anything on MTV since Jackass went into sporadic re-runs. (There's something inherently funny to me to watch idiots hurt themselves...) Now, I listen to Yahoo Music, VH1 Classic, CD's, or the radio (though that's been on the local sports talk station non-stop since baseball started up for the season).

Kane

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I didn't have cabel as a kid, but I loved MTV. I stopped liking it after "Downtown Julie Brown" started introducing "rock blocks" of two songs by the same artist. That didn't really qualify as a block in my book. When I first got cabel I watched MTV because it had a cartoon on I liked called "The Maxx", which was about a woman's superego and id coming to life and battleing it out, it was a pretty trippy show and I liked it. Other than that I haven't liked anything on MTV.

... with the possible exception of Spice Girls videos, but they were always on mute ...

 

[Lord Rasputin]

I remember when I considered MTV "cool." 1987. Played the damn station constantly. (That and CNN.) I was in junior high.

Then I realized two things:

1) Music videos are truly an awful idea. When I listen to a song, I want to have my own images.

2) The commercially produced music of the 1980s was pretty damn awful. And it only got worse from there.

Within a few years I was a complete progger, and haven't really changed since. As most of the bands I like either broke up or started sucking around 1980, I have no desire to watch MTV. The Internet has all the pictures of Mariah Carey I'll ever want, and I don't actually have to listen to her "music" to look at them.

I'd actually consider watching MTV if the other programming was cool. I liked Remote Control. I loved Beavis and Butt-head (huh-huh).