Roughly two weeks ago, I waxed poetic about AOL shutting down dial-up internet finally.
Well, we can add the loss of MTV channels to the list of unexpected evolutions in pop culture programming.
Now, those losses don’t kick in until the last day of this year and I find that a bit odd really.
Announced on Oct. 10, MTV is nixing MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live while the company’s main channel – MTV HD will remain.
You might wonder what that means exactly.
Basically, they’re not even going to air the big New Year’s Eve ball drop to homes in UK and Ireland!
After that, channels will be pulled from France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Australia and Brazil.
So, I suppose that means we have nothing to worry about in the U.S. right now, right?
I’m just always a little leery and wary of companies that pare down their products in such a sweeping move.
I get the need to consolidate and cut costs, but how many other ways can we share our music culture with the world if we’re not airing artists on MTV?
The internet is great for a lot of things, but if someone is new to a genre or curious about something, where would they also get their latest music news?
Maybe they just have better internet service abroad than what I’m used to surviving on here at home.
Still, I mean, the company hit the airwaves in 1981, which was a few years before I was born.
And, over the years, its programming has been shifting away from its founding services.
But, off and on through my teen and young college years, MTV had grown beyond simple music videos.
MTV had taken to pushing reality shows and original fiction with several movies geared toward young adults.
We’re not even going to discuss the number of controversies and censorships!
After all, I think we all remember the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show with Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” that shocked audiences around the globe.
Plus, that incident was deemed indecent by the FCC – Federal Communications Commission – and featured a $550,000 fine levied against CBS.
I didn’t know this until I was researching this column but apparently CBS challenged the ruling in 2006 and lost.
However, federal judges reversed the fine in 2008!
I still remember how my classmates were buzzing about the incident and while the reactions varied across the board, which was still an experience we all seemed to share together and have a memory of.
Losing music or content channels just seems like waste to me – kind of like pants or shorts without pockets.
Regardless, I wonder if they’re planning to scale back here in the U.S. as well.
I read a comment online where someone said that while “video killed the radio star, the internet and streaming was suffocating video companies.”
I don’t know if I put much stock in that, but it’s a powerful and sobering reminder that pop culture moves forward and is evolving right alongside our technology and if you didn’t see it before – maybe you do now.
