• New Statesman, Thursday, July 6, 2006 12 PM

As the digital revolution increases its pace and the export of American culture becomes increasingly fraught, MTV is losing its cool, writes Viv Groskop in the New Statesman. And the Internet may well kill the video star--just like it did in the radio one in the hit Buggles song. "Video Killed the Radio Star" were the first words to be heard when MTV launched on 1 August 1981, and the playlist for the first hour featured videos by Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, The Who, and the Pretenders, Groskop remembers. But by the following year, 9.3 million people had subscribed, and in 1983, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video was credited with launching pop video as an art form. "On the eve of the channel's 25th birthday, however, a crisis is looming," Groskop says. The music industry has been transformed since MTV's launch, with new temptations of the iPod era hitting the target demographic--and ratings are up only 5 percent over the past five years, versus a 17 percent jump for sister channel VH1. "I've been deeply paranoid since the day it launched," says Judy McGrath, CEO of MTV Networks. I've always been afraid it's an Eighties idea. I don't know what the new company is going to feel like, but we'll be expected to grow and deliver." Of course, MTV's reach is still global an the company is a $7 billion-a-year operation that airs in 28 languages, and over 50 channels in 168 countries--reaching 440 million households. "However, outside the U.S., one of MTV's biggest competitors is now local programming," Groskop continues. "While it remains a huge brand on the global stage, MTV has to compete in every country with channels that are able to offer a small-scale, community feel. A secondary threat comes from digital media, which offer consumers the opportunity to exercise a level of control over their viewing and listening habits that MTV is unable to match. "

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