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Monday, July 31, 2006

MTV aging well?

Source: Forbes

Louis Hau says that YouTube is a lot like MTV 25 years ago. MTV "got its start airing music videos 24 hours a day - programming that it received for little or no charge from major record labels." Now the music industry knows that videos aren't just promotional items to sell CDs and MTV creates its own programming. But both are reeling from not being the dominant force they once were. So is MTV aging well? Its new strategies include launching a user-generated channel in the UK called MTV Flux, narrowcasting to niche audiences like MTV Desi (for Indian-Americans) and MTV Chi (for Chinese-Americans) and further exploiting its sizable library of original programming. Don't count them out. "It's the cornerstone of a cable-channel empire that generated $6.76 billion last year." And it can still move pop culture - witness the star-making of Jessica Simpson.