MTV might be on the verge of its biggest challenge since Jesse Camp. After more than two decades of music-themed TV dominance, the youth-oriented cable powerhouse is reportedly about to face their most serious competition ever. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Universal Music Group is considering launching a 24-hour cable music channel, partnering with EchoStar Communications, the owner of the digital cable provider Dish Network.
If launched, this station would immediately pose the most major competition for MTV in music programming outside the Viacom family. Viacom is corporate parent not only of MTV, but also of VH1, Black Entertainment Television and CMT: Country Music Television. Cable music competition outside Viacom is limited, including considerably smaller outlets like the Fuse Network.
Universal Music Group, meanwhile, owns labels including Def Jam, Motown, Island and Interscope. Artists under the Universal umbrella range from Eminem to Johnny Cash to Toby Keith to Lindsay Lohan to Marylin Manson to U2. Universal currently owns seven of the albums in the Billboard Top 50, including last week's chart topper, Eminem's Encore, and the presumptive champion for next week, U2's How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
\That's a powerful combination when you own the content and the delivery,"" said Jack Mitchell, UW professor of journalism and mass communication. ""There will be, I suppose, some question of antitrust if you're both producing and the main distributor. But certainly from a business point of view, it makes perfect sense.""
The possibility of a viable competitor for MTV is welcome news to the network's critics.
""I think that's a really good thing,"" said UW junior Scott Colson. ""MTV tends to move away from music in general ... Pop culture excludes a lot of great music. Having large competition for MTV could really give more attention to some of the talented musicians already out there, and be an avenue for new artists who still need their first exposure.""
According to Mitchell, though, the biggest problem facing the new network might be reaching audience's TV sets.
""One of the problems it will have is getting on to the cable systems, because most local cable systems are pretty filled up. And it's very hard to get new organizations to get in, and often they have to pay big bucks to get on to cable systems,"" Mitchell said. ""[With Dish Network,] they're definitely going to have satellite access ... Maybe they're not planning to use cable, but that's certainly where most of their customers would be right now.""
But if Universal and EchoStar's music network does get off the ground, one thing is clear: MTV will be in for a much bigger competition than the ""Real World/Road Rules Challenge.""
