Issue 3, vol. 2 - February 2006

Spring is sprung and change is in the air; and what’s more profound than the launch of the MTV brand in Canada starting today. From here on in, the Canadian music television marketplace will never be the same and all eyes are on the Masonic Temple where a global television behemoth meets a new Canadian audience.

But is it really the battle between Queen & John, and Yonge & Bloor? Frankly, we don’t think so. If the invisible hand has taught us anything, it’s that the arrival of MTV as a made-in-Canada broadcaster is a welcome change. Competition reinvigorates the entire marketplace, and we expect the addition of MTV to the Canadian TV sphere will only encourage innovation, inspire creativity and renew a commitment to customers to serve up quality programs for young Canadians.



MTV is not MuchMusic and the two are not interchangeable. Much of this comes from MTV’s CRTC license which prohibits airing music videos and states that about 70% of aired content must be Canadian. While the Canadian broadcasting industry typically has a black mark from our own country in terms of production standards and quality, MTV is driven to create quality programming their brand is world-renowned for while keeping it local and appealing to Canadians.

The focus on original MTV programming like Cribs, Laguna Beach and 8th and Ocean, instead of video flow ultimately means that an MTV audience is not a cookie-cutter Much audience, which opens the door for more adult-target brands to find a place here.

Instead of the US or THEM mindset, why not both? We see the launch of MTV as another effective channel for anyone vying for the attention of young Canadians.

MTV Live, an interactive show that airs 6p.m. Monday to Friday is the cornerstone of MTV Canada and presents marketers and advertisers with an option of partnering for unique promotions, contests, and sponsorships. We hope MTV’s need to reach out for initial sponsors will help them push the envelope and encourage MuchMusic to leverage its considerable resources in a comparably innovative manner.

How Canadians will react to MTV and how MTV will develop as a Canadian brand are exciting questions that can’t be entirely predicted by looking at strengths and challenges. For all that matters, there has never been another participant that owns youth culture to the same extent of MuchMusic. It’s a waiting game and all of Canada is watching.

Youthography worked with MTV to help develop the brand and to better understand the Canadian market. What we found was a very popular and recognizable brand and a great deal of enthusiasm from respondents to its arrival in the TV marketplace. We heard stories of their favourite MTV shows and respondents were able to recall distinct brand traits that showed little residual affect from the previous launch of MTV in Canada.

Young Canadians like the types of programs we’ll see on MTV in the next year. The reality programming trend, the core of the MTV broadcast schedule, make up three of the top nine shows young Canadians are watching according to our Ping research study in winter 2005. Another trend helping MTV is the rise of TV shows on DVD. This way of watching TV means that shows like Viva La Bam or Laguna Beach may already have audiences waiting for them. And finally, that pesky Internet has been helping college students to send their favourite Johnny Knoxville gag around the web for years.

In all, there are a good number of factors that are helping MTV hit the ground running upon their launch.