Forrester Forum: MTV and I are not BFFs

The way that MTV looks at its audience is that they are BFFs, and with the understanding of that, that tastes change and that BFFs do have fall-outs. They recognize that not everyone is going to enjoy the shows, but they do want to have that relationship with their audiences.

While teens are "beyond televisions" as the single medium in their life. It's an important part of their life, and MTV has adapted to be more than just a channel. On the service, it is the bands that is the message for MTV. And, it is about integrating advertising messages in a new way, in a different way. It's a way for the advertisers to connect with their audience - it becomes a part of the show.

So, listening to MTV, all I can think is ... wait. This is just exploitive in a way marketing to people that are not mature enough to differentiate between content and advertising. It's taking advantage of kids that are not mentally mature enough to understand what they are seeing (because, let's be honest - the MTV audience is tweens, not teens.) It's a total lack of transparency, lack of caring of the community - and that is what the audience will eventually sniff out. Or, the fact that MTV is all about exploitation (Real World, Road Rules, The Hills, Super Sweet Sixteen ... and on and on and on.)