MTV's 'No Music' Strategy Pays Off With Soaring Ratings

In February, MTV dropped "Music Television" from its logo, and voila, viewership has gone up. A lot. According to the Street, MTV just posted its largest annual ratings increase since 1999 -- 1999, that halcyon time when there was Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys and "TRL"!.


"The people who watch it today, they don't refer to MTV as music television," MTV's marketing chief Tina Exarhos said in the no-duh statement of the decade when the network made the logo switch -- its first such major redesign in the channel's 29-year history. And, no duh, the highest-rated show this year was "Jersey Shore." Which means more non-music shows are on the way..

"In 2010 we've seen enormous ratings growth as a result of the process we began almost two years ago to reinvent MTV for a new generation," MTV general manager Stephen Friedman told the Street. "We look forward to a strong 2011 when we'll further diversify our lineup with new scripted series 'Skins' and 'Teen Wolf' alongside returning hits like 'Jersey Shore' and 'Teen Mom 2.'
Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:21am PST by Caryn Ganz
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