Do you want your MTV?

From the brand that forever changed the lexicon of music and music programming, MTV Canada’s launch has landed the station right where it wants to be: in front of the pack. “Since we were starting from scratch, we looked at the market with fresh eyes and wanted to create something that didn’t need to slowly evolve. We wanted to launch something unique and make an impact,” says Brad Schwartz, senior vice-president & general manager of MTV Canada.

 

On air as of March 21st, MTV’s second kick at the Canadian can needed to be more than just another channel at the upper end of the Canadian dial. Staff are housed at the illustrious Masonic Temple in downtown Toronto, known for its ties to rock’s royalty like The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin. Creating flagship show MTV Live, the Canuck version of MTV Total Request Live. added the daily fan & band element of excitement to the new channel. The decision to launch broadband channel Overdrive simultaneously with the channel was a way to make MTV immediately stand out in the pack said Schwartz. “Canada is the first country outside of the US to launch Overdrive. We didn’t want to create a conventional website,” explained Schwartz.

 

Forging ahead of their competitor MuchMusic with the launch of the broadband channel, Overdrive lives at MTV.CA. Encompassing a library of 10,000 music videos, viewers can satisfy their on-demand lust for vintage Eurythmics or the latest from rockers Billy Talent. Overdrive provides access to special programming, complete seasons of Laguna Beach, The Andy Milonakis Show and Homewrecker, live concerts and aftershows with outtakes, cast interviews and and behind-the-scenes action on The Hills, Cheyenne and The Real World: Key West.

 

 “Overdrive is the home of the music.  Fans can create their own video playlists and share the list with friends via email, the 2006 version of the compilation cd,” says Schwartz. “As Overdrive grows, the ability for fans to search for more information on their favourite musicians will expand to include interviews, special appearances and live performances,” says Schwartz. Fans can watch excerpts of specials such at the MTV Movie Awards to replay the sweet vision of Jessica Alba or the hilarity of comic actor Steve Carell. At three months, Overdrive garnered three million video streams in three months as well as clocked an average 23 minutes of time spent per viewer.

 

MTV’s beginnings in Canada were not the traditional take no prisoners break out style that typified its entrance into Europe and other countries. In November 2000, Calgary-based Craig Media received a category one digital license from the CRTC and launched Connect, a youth-oriented tv channel. The condition of the channel was that it could not devote more than 10 per cent of its schedule to music videos, to avoid direct competition with CHUM’s MuchMusic. Craig Media quickly struck a deal with Viacom to carry MTV programming and changed Connect’s moniker to MTV Canada. From October 2001, Canadian audiences watched Punk’d, TRL and The Real World as well as Canadian content such as Pepsi Breakout, Versus and MTV Select. CHUM’s complaints to the CRTC about MTV Canada forced Craig Media to change the music-related programming, which was a moot point when in December 2004, Craig Media was purchased by CHUM Limited for $265 million and MTV Canada disappeared. Fast forward to Fall 2005, MTV struck a new deal with CTV which led to MTV Canada inhabiting the space of Talk TV. With this partnership, MTV Canada must adhere to the license restrictions of Talk TV, providing 71 per cent Canadian content in peak hours and 68 per cent as a rule overall.

 

MuchMusic, who has commandeered the Canadian tv airwaves since 1984 without competition, has been compared to MTV and followed a similar path of expansion with the creation of now defunct Much America and into South America with popular MuchMusic Argentina. Much launched its broadband channel MuchAXS in June, featuring similar bells and whistles to MTV Overdrive, with the ability to view original programming such as Intimate & Interactive, MuchonDemand, and The New Music as well as offering its video library and unique ringtones to both PC and Mac users.

 

MTV History:

 

The illustrious history of MTV starts with the change in music from an aural sensation to an audio and visual allurement. Playing The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” on August 1, 1981, MTV was integral to the change in the music industry in the 1980s. Popstars Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Duran Duran took on the challenge of the music video and made it into a popular marketing platform. Creating a channel with the majority of its content coming from multiple sources for free seemed like a television producer’s wet dream. MTV’s push for subscriptions via the anthem “I want my MTV” was a youthful call to arms and a key marketing ploy for MTV to convince young viewers to ask their parents to add it to their cable package. Now a family of 51 channels in 171 countries, MTV’s brand strength is in the big leagues with Nike, Coca-Cola and Sony.

 

Senior VP & GM Brad Schwartz is key to the MTV Canada’s future. A Torontonian with international experience  (a die-hard devotee of The Tragically Hip and occasional spin as a dj when his current 2am end of day launch schedule allows), Schwartz had been MTV’s Director of International Marketing Partnerships for MTV Networks International, responsible for worldwide marketing and sponsorships. Schwartz’s knowledge of the global trends within in television, online and music industries put him at the front of the pack to help make MTV Canada’s second debut unforgettable and as a Canadian, he sees the boundaries of the station’s license as a welcome challenge. “Creating new programming and mixing it in with established programming from the US will give viewers a taste of what they know with access to something new and unique.”

 

Canadian programming is necessary for the channel as well as being a source for MTV’s other channels. “MTV Canada has started to create Canadian programming like MTV Live and E2, our version of CTV’s ETalk Daily,” says Schwartz. “We’ve also created Diary with… first debuting with Canada’s own Nelly Furtado and soon with Hedley and Bedouin Sound Clash as well as Live at the Concert Hall with Sam Roberts.” Both Roberts and Furtado are hot properties around the world and Schwartz forsees MTV Canada’s ability to produce Canadian product the MTV world wants due to the strength of Canada’s music scene. Polaris Music Prize nominee K’Naan’s social documentary of the people and sounds of Kenya as part of the “4Real” series, produced by Direct Current Media, will air this fall an interesting addition to the pride of MTV: reality tv programming.

 

Beginning with granddaddy, The Real World, MTV has succeeded with its vast array of reality programming such as Pimp My Ride, 8th & Ocean, Making the Band or past hits such as Road Rules. Self-avowed MTV reality tv junkie Melanie Woodall explains that she loves MTV because of her ability to live vicariously. “One of the main reasons I like the MTV shows is because I would like to do some of the things that the cast gets to do. I think MTV knows what the teenage demographic wants, showing people like themselves in fun or difficult situations.”

 

New singer/songwriter Cheyenne Kimball is a perfect example of a teen cognizant of the power of MTV. A winner of America’s Talented Kid competition, Kimball signed a record deal and started a three year process to work on her first album. Approached by MTV to do a reality show focusing on her in the time period prior to her album launch, Kimball already knew the benefit of MTV. “All my friends freaked out when I told them I’d be on MTV. It’s a big deal!” She explained that with the power of MTV behind her, it has enabled her to not only tour within the US, but to be able to gain recognition. “I did a show in NYC and couldn’t believe the response when I left the theatre, since many girls told me they had seen me on MTV.”

 

MTV Canada’s march into the 21st century is fueled by multiple formats and platforms. “I’d love to see MTV Canada become a tv version of what’s happening on My Space, with viewers chatting, blogging and emailing – sharing information and making MTV Canada their own,” says Schwartz.

 

 

 

 

Sidebar:

 

Unlike traditional network schedules, MTV introduces new programming all year long, and is currently pumping out The Hills, Cheyenne and Room Raiders (all seen on Overdrive). For the fall months, viewers can look forward to the 18th season of The Real World: Denver,  third season of BH 90210 vs Big Brother series Laguna Beach in early September as well as new series Two-a-Days in late August, a documentary on Hoover, Alabama’s highschool football squad, their lives, loves and pressures.

 

Other Series (airdates tbc)

 

Moves  - executive produced by triple threat Jennifer Lopez, Moves will show the daily grind of dancers wanting to make it big. Six dancers in six interconnected stories will live through the pressures of auditions, work and making the rent with JLO making cameo appearances in the series.

 

Juvies – a taut drama/reality series showing what happens with teens in their first brush with the law. Teens are shown in detention centre and in the courtroom, with unprecedented access to the fine line between freedom and prison for teens on the brink.

 

24-7 – a group of 20-somethings all focused on their future, with hopes to succeed in L.A.’s entertainment industry seek out any way possible to get ahead. Through their A-list connections and parties, the boys try to advance their careers and admit their hopes, dreams and dealings with temptation along the way.

 

Rolling Stone – six young wannabees get the opportunity to write for Rolling Stone Magazine, working with editors, pitching stories and hoping to land a full-time writer gig with the music mag that launched the careers of Cameron Crowe and Hunter S. Thompson.

 

Published in Access Magazine, September 2006