MTV Breaking Through the Net

MTV wants to party like its 1999—back in the late 90s, MTV was synonymous with youth culture, defining style, music and social attitudes. But today, television is no longer the outlet where young people turn to discover these cultural norms; rather, people turn to the Internet. MTV Network has lost that pull that they had in previous years with this important demographic, so they are turning online in order to recapture the youth generation. The network already has 150 Web sites online, but they are preparing to create thousands more along with three interactive online communities— Laguna Beach for teens, Nicktropolis for kids and Virtual Hills for young adults. They hope that by creating these digital gateways, they will encourage viewers by allowing them to watch shows, generate feedback, re-edit its television shows and contribute to the MTV channels.

The network has already began MySpace-esque communities, up-to-the-minute message boards where viewers can simultaneously watch MTV on the television and comment on the show online and personal profiles. The expansion into audience-segmented communities will only offer users a place that is more specifically geared towards them, and will be more effective for the user and for MTV as well. The communities will be a tool to discover what it is exactly that this youth demographic desires.

The move online is a smart move for the company, which created controversy in February in response to their demand that the MTV and Viacom content would be removed from YouTube. Consumers were frustrated that they wouldn’t be able to access content online (a venue where young consumers absolutely are turning to find content). They will be able to use feedback from the users as tools to improve their stations along with giving the consumer the easy access to content that they desire.

Despite criticism, MTV Networks have reported that since the removal of content from YouTube, their own sites have received 55% more traffic than this time last year. By creating interactive websites that take into account their audience (the three communities will be focused to audience demographics in content and aesthetic appeal), MTV has a chance to regain viewers that have been lost in the last ten years. Viacom expects that the move online will help double their revenues from its digital services to $500 million next year, and I think that if they successfully capture their audience, the capabilities of the expansion to the Internet community are endless.