Should MTV be sold off?

[OldSkoollCITV]

MTV is not a youth entertainment powerhouse it was. The main MTV channel in the US is full of same few shows every day. I think ViacomCBS should sell off MTV (and VH1) globally to another company who might morph it into something else.

[Action Newsroom]

MTV is not a youth entertainment powerhouse it was. The main MTV channel in the US is full of same few shows every day. I think ViacomCBS should sell off MTV (and VH1) globally to another company who might morph it into something else.

I really don't think it should sold off.
True it's not the same network anymore (and hasn't been for a long time Yada Yada Yada), but thanks to YouTube and music streaming platforms (and going back to the 90s, changing tastes in TV shows), MTV had to change itself or else it wouldn't survive. It still has a big brand presence, still makes the company money and the original shows it airs now (obviously not watched by you and me) are still actual hits watched by lots of other people. Spinning it off wouldn't change or benefit anything or anyone, and if all-day reruns is a reason to call for a network's demise, then literally every other cable network in the U.S. should get the axe. We all may have reasons to keep on saying "Drop MTV", but at this point, no reason is strong enough for ViacomCBS to actually do it. Same with VH1.

[SB678]

MTV is not a youth entertainment powerhouse it was. The main MTV channel in the US is full of same few shows every day. I think ViacomCBS should sell off MTV (and VH1) globally to another company who might morph it into something else.

What a load of ridiculousness.

Literally. https://twitter.com/MTVSchedule/status/1...44837?s=19

[RR]

There's nothing to stop anyone else launching a new music based channel in competition with the Viacom channels. In the real world such channels have been closing in the streaming age, and the youth market has tended to move elsewhere.

[MrBiggieSMLZ]

MTV, without a doubt, is one of ViacomCBS' core brands (especially as it has expanded into the MTV Entertainment Group, which includes channels like Comedy Central), so I would say it would be madness for a company of that scale to divest it to someone else.

[WillPS]

Profit will be the guiding factor. If MTV ceases to be sufficiently profitable, and if somebody is willing to pay a considerable sum for the brand (perhaps for a purpose other than a linear-led TV service) then it might happen.

I can't see Viacom letting it go for a song tho.

[London Lite]

Not a chance that ViacomCBS will sell MTV any time soon. It had to adapt to survive, people who watch music videos are more likely to watch them on YouTube than on a linear music channel.

[RegularCapital]

I think that ViacomCBS should at least exit the music video channel side of MTV's business, the productions side and the main channel still has value.

Although, if a channel depends on a show such as Ridiculousness which features viral internet videos, it's kind of pointless, I might as well go to the trending section on YouTube. However the UK version of MTV doesn't depend on this show that much compared to the U.S. or other international versions of MTV.

[Larry the Loafer]

I just think it's a shame to see a name that was so iconic in our younger days turn so sour and frowned upon. Like Rolf Harris.

[JetixFann450]

I'd argue MTV is doing pretty well online than it's cable network, as if you check their Twitter account (The US feed), while they do promote their cable channel and their youth entertainment, obviously, they talk a little more about music and host a "Friday Request" stream on YouTube which similarly feels a lot like TRL. So I feel that MTV, the brand itself, isn't fully lost and it's core value to bringing music to new audiences is still there, hell they did a BTS episode of Unplugged and that got thousands of viewers, so I wouldn't say the music side of MTV is dead.

[Blubatt]

I don't think selling it to someone else will really 'fix' MTV. It might change things a bit on screen, but at the end of the day, what they're doing has an audience, even if that audience doesn't necessarily include you or your tastes. However, that doesn't mean that I don't think MTV, as a channel, should have a hard reboot, in terms of programming. Mix it up a bit, with some music, some scripted reality, and other stuff. I think that will be a good sell, but MTV cannot just 'go back'

[onetrickypony]

The young generation now only know MTV as an entertainment channel, the rest of us hark back to music videos on repeat.

MTV isn't broke. It adapted to entertainment shows and the odd music specials and that seems to have worked, in the UK at least.

[faizkizlan2000]

The young generation now only know MTV as an entertainment channel, the rest of us hark back to music videos on repeat.

MTV isn't broke. It adapted to entertainment shows and the odd music specials and that seems to have worked, in the UK at least.

Well, in Asia, MTV is still airing majority blocks of music videos before primetime, last time I checked that majority of its schedule are now simulcast from MTV Live HD. Just very odd that American one are going insane with almost of its schedule are now filled with Ridiculousness.

[benzj]

Although, if a channel depends on a show such as Ridiculousness which features viral internet videos, it's kind of pointless, I might as well go to the trending section on YouTube. However the UK version of MTV doesn't depend on this show that much compared to the U.S. or other international versions of MTV.

Per an interview with a US executive at VCBS, Ridiculousness rates consistently and it keeps people coming back to MTV repeatedly, several times a week, for reruns, so it seems to be working well for them. As a viewer of the show, I can also personally attest that the show is less about showcasing viral internet videos these days (as it was at its beginnings, when the show and the concept of viral videos was more novel) and more about the personalities of the show's talent and guests, and how they react and joke around to what's been put together. It's less 'look at these videos' (in the way, say, a You've Been Framed might be) and more like 'watching something together with your friends' these days. They've nailed the concept down to an art at this point (to the extent they feel comfortable producing spinoffs with other TV stars as the talent -- see Deliciousness and the upcoming Adorableness).

For its part, MTV UK seems to be quite reliant on Catfish: The TV Show -- probably due in part to different management, possible differences in local taste, and watershed rules -- so it may just be a case of glass houses.

[ArthurVX]

MTV Latin America seems to be reliant on the "Shore" and "Ex on the Beach" franchises