Project MTV: Presenting Club MTV

 Writer's Note: I am not, nor will I ever expect to be associated with and employed by MTV and its parent company, Paramount Skydance. This is part of #projectmtv, a fan-made MTV rebranding project. This is not happening in any form, but it's fun to dream. - jh  

Prologue:

If MTV is the mothership, MTV Generation is the retro brand and a hub for music history, and MTV Palladia is the world stage and THE home of music, where would a brand like MTV 2 fit in this new MTV rebrand?

Simple.

It wouldn’t.

MTV2 has been a confusing mess for decades now. After being the lone MTV spinoff without the traditional logo, it always felt out of place. The two-headed dog used to represent rock and hip-hop, and MTV 2 was supposed to be the home to both.

Unfortunately, as the years passed, the direction of the channel deviated. Today, it’s a mess. More of the same old repeats that are on currently on MTV, even some airing in the same timeslots.

If MTV is considered a mess by most viewers, its initial spinoff is far worse.

It’s time to put the two-headed dog to sleep.

Step into the club. Welcome to Club MTV.

This is Club MTV, the culture of music. It’s a youthful spirit that has been somewhat lost on the current MTV mindset and missing from the programming. There have been a few glimpses of that, but it’s few and far between, but as it is, there’s a bit of a mess over the last couple of decades.

Plus, only focusing on the core demographic during the VMA season is the reason younger audiences don’t care about MTV now.

Speaking of the core demographics, I feel that Club MTV would be skewed more towards younger viewers, mostly teens and young adults. This is mostly the Zillennials microgeneration; that is, the younger half of Millennials and the older half of Zoomers. The audience who grew up with Nickelodeon in the latter half of the 1990s and throughout the 2000s who moved on to MTV and TeenNick when they got older. Before largely shifting on to streaming platforms. They’re the YouTube and TikTok generation.

So, how do you get them into the MTV brand? You reintroduce them to shows they grew up watching on Nickelodeon, TeenNick, MTV, and BET.

Typically, this audience has been catered to by the TeenNick linear channel, which has outlived its usefulness many years ago. Also, having dual brands aimed towards the same audiences seems rather self-immolating.

The TeenNick brand would sunset as a linear channel and a general brand in favor of Club MTV. Instead of being “Nick for Teens,” Club MTV would be closer to a predecessor of the network, The N, as well as Nickelodeon’s former teen-friendly block SNICK. Shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark, Roundhouse, Radio Free Roscoe, South of Nowhere, Caitlin’s Way, Zoey 101, Unfabulous, True Jackson, VP, Big Time Rush, House of Anubis, Kenan & Kel, and All That would easily fit into the Club MTV channel.

The Orange Couch would be that cozy home every afternoon.

Just don’t expect to see Henry Danger or The Thundermans on Club MTV. It’s literally not that kind of party.

Club MTV would also be the early evening home of MTV’s premiere animation block, Liquid TV. The block, filled with MTV animated favorites, some edgier Nicktoons like Rocko’s Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Invader Zim, Angry Beavers, The Legend of Korra, and As Told By Ginger, and some Paramount cartoons, including Duckman, Everybody Still Hates Chris, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. But no South Park and SpongeBob SquarePants. Those two shows are already on several channels and easily accessible across many linear channels and streaming platforms, so another outlet would see excessive.

There will be one major music video block on Club MTV. You can’t have a club without music, you know.

Introducing The Turntable.

The Turntable will have themed days throughout the week. Spankin’ New will have some of the latest hits as well as a few network premieres, Discoteca brings on the hottest Latin American music around, The Hook brings you songs that will be in your ears for days, The Round will have alternative music and lo-fi grooves, and Radiostar are those throwback tunes that still resonate.

The majority of programming on Club MTV will be non-music programming. Turntable segments will air on Club MTV throughout the day, but most of the programming will be library programming from MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET, Showtime, and CBS Studios.

Fan-favorite comedies like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Goldbergs, and Daria followed by lighter dramas like Charmed and Jane the Virgin will be prominent on mornings.

Primetime will skew a lot older with reality fare like Jersey Shore, Jackass, and other familiar scripted and unscripted MTV, Showtime, and Paramount+ shows like The Chi, Scream, Awkward., Clueless, and so much more, all of which will front-load the primetime and overnight slots.

Club MTV will also carry some encores from MTV throughout the week, including the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown, airing it in primetime on Sunday nights, as well as some concert highlights from live MTV Palladia performances a week later.

You're probably asking why I attached the Club MTV brand on a network that's mostly a non-music channel, especially when throughout the rest of the world, Club MTV is typically a dance channel. 

Well, here's the thing. With MTV Generation catering to Gen X and older Millennials and MTV Palladia being a concert and live performances outlet, Club MTV needed to be the place where the non-music shows could shine and thrive without clogging up the main MTV network as it has done for much of the 21st century. This channel honors that part of the brand's legacy. 

Club MTV would be aimed towards teens and younger adults and serve as an entertainment channel that fill a void other Paramount-owned channels don't whereas MTV would be more catered to 18-35 demo. It would also be more female focused compared to the other MTV brands. 

Plus, Club MTV would have a unique place in the MTV rebranding, and for the first time in nearly two decades, the channel formerly known as MTV 2 would have a pulse. It may not have the same kind of music background as MTV, MTV Generation, or MTV Palladia would have, but there is a focus on the culture music has created. Shows built up using musical talents, shows that feature soundtracks that reflect the audiences, and shows that present the kind of rebelliousness and swagger that music brings to the world.

Club MTV is a huge part of the Culture of Music.

As you have seen, MTV has firmly found a place on linear cable. But since the industry continues to change beyond cable, perhaps we should take a ride on the fast lane and see how expansive the MTV brand should be.