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MTV Still Looking To Become The MTV Of The Internet

from the keep-trying dept

Thu, Aug 10th 2006 5:10pm — Mike Masnick

Over the last year or so it's been quite obvious that Rupert Murdoch and Fox Interactive have been working hard to build this generation's equivalent of MTV, buying popular properties like MySpace and IGN. But what about the actual MTV? While Fox was gobbling up all the hot properties, MTV was pretty much caught napping. Earlier this year, they tried to talk a good game about how they were uniquely poised to be the "MTV of the online world," but their vision of the world was uniquely old media. Rather than understanding that the internet is about communication and interaction, they claimed it was all about "video," which they had more of than anyone else. Then, rather than realizing that everyone at the company needed to "think digitally" they assigned that task to one guy -- who quickly discovered that without any real power, no one else was thinking digitally and the whole strategy failed. The company is still trying -- and just signed a deal with Google to share some video. Today, though, they took another step by buying Atom Entertainment, another video site that's been around for years, but never could figure out how to become YouTube. Again, it's the same "old media" thinking at MTV. Atom is much more about distribution of video than about sharing and interacting with video. Until MTV recognizes that the internet isn't just television with a mouse, they're going to have difficulty being "the MTV of the internet."

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25 Comments

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Barry Goodknight, 10 Aug 2006 @ 5:49pm

ew
MTV ruined music, can they please leave the internet alone?
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LordVader, 10 Aug 2006 @ 5:56pm

Video
As long as they go back to airing music videos online I think this would be a good thing, but they need to stick to music videos and leave "The Real World" in the toilet where it belongs
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Huh?, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:07pm

Re: Video
music videos?
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Sean, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:14pm

It's Not TV
Guess they haven't figured out that music videos were cool, because TV was cool. Now the web is the big thing. What works on TV doesn't work on the web.

Geez.. and I thought they were all forward thinkers or something.
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Proxy, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:26pm

Re: Re: Video
Yeah, a looong time ago music channels like MTV and VH1 used to air these things called music videos. They were, like, music... set to video. ;)
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CrazyPunk, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:42pm

OMGwhattodo!!!!
Oh come on. I'm living in a place where we have no cable tv. I've noticed that there are a lot of commercial tv stations that have put a stream online, not to mention the loads of regional tv streams...

MTV networks NL already put streams online from their Nickelodeon and TMF (The Music Factory) channels. But no MTV stream as yet.

Why make things so difficult? Why wanting to become the next YouTube? Why copy the already invented?
Just put the damn stream online and see what happens.

A lot of people do not even seem to know it is possible to hook up your tv to your pc. And there is nothing difficult about going to a website, clicking a button, dragging your media player to the other screen and making it fullscreen.

I've been doing this since I discovered Shoutcast TV about two years ago...I've seen the internet tv streams boom, and it's only getting better for now...so untill they suddenly decide to encrypt the streams and make it pay-only, let's enjoy it.
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Chris, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:54pm

Why they'll never succeed
When it comes to the drones of masses that take in anything new and popular, injest (sometimes regurgitate), and then crap out the other end the remnants of something that once looked appealing, these sages umongst men obtain their sweet nectar from pretty much the same source. More importantly because they've not branched out nor cared to enlighten themselves enough to deviate from the pipeline they're so accustomed to. So for anyone who cares to be concerned that the internet is going to hell in a handbasket becuase MTV had some insight 10 years too late, don't let it go to your head.
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Dan, 10 Aug 2006 @ 7:07pm

Re: ew
Well said.

MTV should leave the Internet alone and die with the little dignity! At least as much dignity as the playing of four minutes a week of music videos brings them!
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Steve, 10 Aug 2006 @ 7:41pm

MTV use to be good back in the old days when they first came out. Nowadays they should be called GTV (Garbage Television). Cause 99.9% of the garbage they show is just that, garbage.
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Wifezilla, 10 Aug 2006 @ 7:44pm

Re: OMGwhattodo!!!!
"A lot of people do not even seem to know it is possible to hook up your tv to your pc."

20 years ago when I hooked up my cable to the stereo, people acted like I was a voodoo priestess practicing the black arts.
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Ok...., 10 Aug 2006 @ 7:50pm

Not only via TV....
But now they want to turn us even more into mindless, retard consumers, buying nothing but total CRAP on the web as well?

Lets take a look at why MTV exists.

MTV exists, mainly, to keep the slave trade alive. Sure, these "niggers" get paid this time around, but you think they have ANY freedom? ANY real friends? Where will they be in 30 years time when no one remembers thier 2 album streak they had for a couple years?

Fiddy Cent anyone?

I already despise MTV with a mighty passion, there's absolutely no reason for them to be fucking with my internet time as well. MTV, let your slaves go and maybe start pimpin some muslims this time. I think us black folk are catching onto your little "White man in power over the black talent" bullshit that's been going on toooo long in sports, music and well, any other way YOU people think of to exploit us.

Oh, and don't even get me started on BET.... what a damn dissgrace towards the TRUE black community.
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thelospher, 10 Aug 2006 @ 8:49pm

Re: ew
Amen
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Frink, 10 Aug 2006 @ 9:13pm

You are just about the most racist being I've heard from in quite some time. If you really are a black person you are a disgrace to your race. The best thing you could do for the true black community would be to keep your mouth shut and your fingers off the keys.
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Riiiight, 10 Aug 2006 @ 9:48pm

So....
You're telling me MTV and BET are accurate representations of our people? Are you high?

All these channels do is make us look like money hungry whores working for the true wealth, "The White Man".

Why the HELL do you think Dave Chappelle stepped out of Hollywood? HE COULD SEE THE DAMN TRUTH AND WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

I just hope it's not too late for you.
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Also..., 10 Aug 2006 @ 10:20pm

My Bad....
Didn't mean to turn this into a racial debate, I just have a deep-rooted disstaste for certain corporations, one of which being MTV....

Sorry if I came off as a troll.

Eitherway, keep MTV off the freaking net and on the channels that no one watches already.
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John, 10 Aug 2006 @ 10:33pm

music VIDEO?
I didn't know they even showed those anymore! I expected clips of the Real World.

As for the whole racist thing, personally, I think a lot of the distaste comes from what we see on that channel (BET or MTV alike), especially the music videos which time and time again seem to be some rapper pimpin, but for our perceptions to change, don't let your video turn in to a softcore porno.

Anyone ever see "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre?
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Yups, 11 Aug 2006 @ 1:22am

But it's also....
Shows like Cribs. It's one thing to take pride in your success, to share with those close to you and go to sleep at night knowing you did something for yourself that put you in a better situation....

Then Cribs comes along and all that show's really about is having "celebs" flaunt all the stuff they've purchased (or leased, who knows.) It definately makes us look shallow in the long run, especially since it's the younger (usually white audiance) watching this crap, thinking that's the way to go about making thier lives...

Ugh, I gotta stop here or I could go on for about a 20page rant on WTF is wrong with living a materialistic lifestyle, but maybe that's because I have buddhist tendecies. Make what you need to survive, cause for all you know, it could ALL be gone tomorrow.
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duh, 11 Aug 2006 @ 1:51am

I think you're all retarded.
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Washinton, 11 Aug 2006 @ 2:22am

Re: Not only via TV....
True brotha....True
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Sanguine Dream, 11 Aug 2006 @ 7:45am

The message is lost...
Years ago MTV was on the forefront of music television. If it wasn't for all those "reality" shows the music vids would still be playing. How can you call a netword Music Television when you only have about 8 hours of music related programming (and thats actually 4 hours played twice) a day? What bothers me is that MTV spawned MTV2 which actually did play music videos and now even that station barely plays videos

And BET? That network has gone to crap since it was bought by Viacom (I think) a few years ago. There used to be a few shows, a few hours of mixed music (rap, hiphop, R&B, jazz, and gospel), and actually news shows that focus on black culture. Now its just as bad as MTV.
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LOCO, 11 Aug 2006 @ 10:00am

MTV is the devil
MTV is the reason I started watching TV non-stop... ALSO, they were the reason I STOPPED WATCHING TV.

The post about the "N****s" being used by MTV is 100% true... but not for blacks, the young generation that are CONFUSED about their own world get fed "Real world" junk of a totally distorded image of our world.

The young people of america are the real "N****rs" of MTV. They use(d) us to make money, that's all it is. I stopped watching TV because I realized that all those 'cool people' I saw on TV were nothing but sellouts and ASS-CLOWNS talking and singing about how money they have (yeah... until the video is over and execs tell them, bye bye ma' nigg4 and they have to now work on McDonalds OR degrade their existence doing things a normal human wouldn't do.

F U MTV!... Your BS will not work here.... you will not imposse crap onto our throats and make us like it cause it's "COOL".... I repeat, Fk Y00!
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PJ, 11 Aug 2006 @ 12:17pm

"Sharing"
I keep hearing that Web 2.0 is about "sharing" but you must remember that the Internet is the community, not the script. You don't need Myspace or a fancy script to "share" online. All you need is hyperlinks.

If you didn't have this comment box, or even trackbacks, I could just as easily comment on this post from my own blog, link here, and you would find the "backlink" via Google, Yahoo, your stats, or whatever.

You're not Web 2.0 as long as you freeload on somebody else's domain. Myspace is just like TV. The artists lose control. Myspace users don't own their URLs. Myspace.com/whatever is not yours! You have no claim to it, at all. Register your own URL! Spend the $8 and register a domain.
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Rob Poitras, 11 Aug 2006 @ 2:46pm

They should only support IE like they do on mtv.com vids.
That would rule fo sho!
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turbopidar, 23 Apr 2008 @ 11:31am

MTV
You can find the files shared on uploading sites that the other crawlers miss here megaupload files
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Charlotte, 24 Apr 2008 @ 3:39am

MTV ..
I Like MTV .. But If They Take Over The Internet .. Then They Can Basically Do Anything.
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