8-14 year olds send 14.4 text messages and make 8.8 cell phones calls daily
This and other relevant factoids in, "Can MTV Stay Cool?" HT: Tony.
- MTV Networks is a $7 billion-a-year operation that raises our kids. Its empire includes kid- and teen-favorite channels Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central and reaches 169 countries in 28 languages.
- MTV tried desperately to purchase Myspace this summer because: "The exploding social networking community of 54 million registered young people would have been a perfect fit with MTV. Instead, for $580 million, it went to Murdoch, a steely competitor but hardly an arbiter of hip. The Murdoch deal was no mere acquisition; it was a red flag. In a rare stern message to her senior staff, according to one executive present, (CEO) McGrath warned that MTV could no longer afford to miss opportunities like myspace. Not when old business models were blowing up and every week brought a new outlet for doing what MTV had done so well for years -- capturing the niche."
- MTV has made its reputation as a trendsetter by:
"creating a space where people feel safe and unafraid to fail: 'Falling flat on your face is a great motivator. So is accident.' [McGrath's] mantra: 'The smartest thing we can do when confronted by something truly creative is to get out of the way.' That's pretty much what happened when two young producers came to McGrath in the early 1990s with a new idea for a dramatic series that didn't require hiring actors or writers. McGrath was intrigued. The idea was to film seven people living in a New York City loft over several months, following the soap opera of their daily lives and dropping a soundtrack of new tunes behind it. MTV's The Real World debuted in 1992, and reality TV was born. Its 17th season is shooting now in Key West."
posted by Jeremy Del Rio @ 2/16/2006 11:05:00 PM
3 Comments:
jeremy, here's a very public opinion that might should be made privately, but here goes:
you are a key guy to write a 600-700 word op-ed on all this youth culture, mtv myspace stuff, and send it to the wall street journal
i may (or may not) have a journal connection... but that's where your aggregated reflection (on this blog and elsewhere) might do needed service
Rudy, that's why I love you. You're always so encouraging and unafraid to suggest big ideas. Thanks for believing in me and championing the mission!
Rudy, that's why I love you. You're always so encouraging and unafraid to suggest big ideas. Thanks for believing in me and championing the mission!
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