[LINK] "No 25th b'day bash for MuchMusic; execs say audience doesn't care about milestone"

[rfmcdonald]

While I understand the reasoning--as I type I'm listening to a Fischerspooner song on YouTube complete with fan video--but this still makes me sad. MuchMusic used to be so much more.

As MuchMusic marks its 25th anniversary this month, there will be no stylishly produced retrospectives, no neon-splashed '80s videos from the vault, and no nostalgic appearances by former VJs.

In fact, representatives from the network - which has survived by keeping a finger firmly on the pulse of young people - say they will not mark the milestone at all, arguing that their audience just doesn't care about it.

"We will be doing absolutely nothing for the 25th anniversary," said Brad Schwartz, senior vice-president and general manager of Much MTV Group.

[. . .]

Schwartz says MuchMusic was the No. 2 network for 12-to 34-year-olds last year, behind TSN. Overall ratings steadily increased until 1997 and have held steady since, despite an increasingly competitive landscape and the fact that music videos - once Much's lifeblood - are now available at the click of a mouse.

Schwartz remembers when viewers had to stay glued to their sets to watch the latest offering from their favourite artist - and even sit through videos they didn't like to get to videos they did.

"Remember, when MuchMusic was playing music videos, it was the only place to get music videos," Schwartz said.

"You couldn't get them anywhere else, so you had to tune into MuchMusic and watch the countdown. If you wanted to watch the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' video, you had to watch videos six, five, four, three, two and then finally get to it.

"Today, you don't need to do that. If you want to watch the 'Thriller' video, you go online and you watch it, you watch it 10 times in a row. ... Today's music is so on-demand that you don't need to watch a Beyonce video to get to a Britney video, you can just go straight to a Britney video."

As a result, videos have largely been pushed to the margins of the network's programming. Meanwhile, Much has found higher ratings with in-house fare such as "Video on Trial," in which comics poke fun at popular videos; reality shows including "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Pimp My Ride;" and with teen dramas including "One Tree Hill" and "Degrassi."

Much still devotes 50 per cent of its programming to music videos, as per the requirements of its CRTC licence. But once-beloved Much mainstays such as "The Wedge" and "Rap City" have been relegated to late-night airings - where the network tends to tuck much of its video-centric programming - while "The NewMusic" was cancelled outright in 2008.