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The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 160

Publication:
The Tennesseani
Location:
Nashville, Tennessee
Issue Date:
Page:
160
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

32 SiWay, September 25, 1994 THE TENNESSEAN SHOWCASE mi NASHVILLE'S OLDEST DO-IT-YOURSELF FLOORING CENTER Competitors pick up on MTV's beat New patterns and rich colors widths from 6-14 ft. Cuts with scissors. We Will Help You I Bring in your room sizes "If MTV is we want to fill that void." BILL BOBEK Cable station MuchMusic QjSq.Yd. we'll cut it for your FREE! We'll teach you how to easily move your stove and refrigerator. 'A Druco OH 3 Parquet una-aoc 1 Hardwood PnMtocted Vinyl Wallpaper vm EMytokntil -FaaKMDyfaLuitMFlnWi EawCm i rent' nnb SAM'S E.

JdW.ralt t.ran Inxal ovar Wood or ConoM up In Stock Mm Only 254-6537 1l 1913 NOLENSVILLE ROAD one Mode pasf he Fairgrounds fl By RENEE GRAHAMThe Boston Globe These days, it seems you can watch just about anything on MTV. There are the moronic cartoons Beovis and Butt-head and The Brothers Grunt; action-adventure with Dead at 21; unscripted video docudrama in The Real World; sketch comedy from The State; edgy animation on Liquid Television; home shopping on The Goods. Plus, fashion on House of Style, lip-synching game show madness from Lip Service; bad dancing on The Grind; sporting events from MTV Sports or Rock TV" Jock. Anything, it seems, but videos. Thirteen years ago, when MTV, the music video cable channel, first flickered across our screens, it was nothing but videos, videos and more videos.

So what if there were only 12 existing videos at the time? It was all videos, all the time, the world's first 24-hour music video station, and everyone wanted their MTV. Now MTV seems more like mTV as the channel diversifies its programming, leaving less and less time for music videos much to the chagrin of fans, artists and record companies. Enter the upstarts. An increasing number of video stations are vying for the viewers MTVs programming shift may be leaving behind. "What MTV does, it does very well.

But if MTV is shifting in a different direction, leaving a void in other services, we want to fill that void," says Bill Bob-ek, publicity manager for the Canadian cable music station MuchMusic, which began airing in the United States in July. "We don't see this as a competition," he says. "We just think the public still wants those services they might not be getting elsewhere." The stations include The Box, which allows viewers to call and select which videos they want to see, and MOR Music, which aims for a no-rap, no hard rock, 25-54 adult contemporary audience. There is also a 24-hour music channel proposed by several record conglomerates: Warner EMI, Poly-Gram, Sony and BMG. For their part, MTV executives insist they are not abandoning the music video format on which they built their formidable reputation.

Yes, there are more nonvideo shows on the air, but videos still comprise 80 percent of the channel's programming, maintains Andy Schuon, senior vice president of music programming for MTV and its less boisterous sister network, VH-I. On MTV, videos are most often on display during the morning wake-up show, Rude Awakening, and the evening's Prime Time. Others are often packaged according to genre in such shows as rap and rhythm and blues dur- I 1 I II BRASS BEDS do not buy before you shop with us. SOFTSIDE ing MTV Jams, heavy metal on Head-bangers' Ball and Alternative Nation for just about anything that doesn't fit neat-, ly into the station's mainstream format. "Videos might have been MTVs claim to fame, but I think programmers there realized that they had to offer more than just all videos, all the time," says Robert Raffoni, a New York media analyst.

"But what that has done is alienate some of the viewers who only want videos. The opening has been created for new music stations featuring MTVs old format." MuchMusic has been Canada's equivalent of MTV for 10 years. Previously, the Toronto-based station was available in America only by satellite dish, but moved onto stateside cable systems in July with regular programming in Boston and New York's Westchester County. This fall, the station will expand into other parts of New York state. "From my own point of view I think that as channel capacity expands for cable, music television is going to play a much more significant role," says Laurie Giddins, senior VP of Rainbow Programming, which partially owns Much-Music.

"If you look at the dial today, there are umpteen movie channels, umpteen news channels, sports everywhere. I think music is sorely underrepresented. "MTV is an incredible establishment. They're a highly recognizable brand name, but I think they're becoming less and less a music channel," she says. "That's what we're going after.

We want to be all music, all the time." Already, MuchMusic has distinguished itself by its diversity. The station plays rap, rock, folk, reggae, jazz, country and alternative videos. And, Giddins says, the channel gave the first push to artists such as k.d. lang and Crash Test Dummies, who later broke big on MTV. "MTV is really cool, it's really glossy," she says.

"We think there's a real de- mand for a music television channel without the gloss, just pure music." Yet, both Giddins and Bobek stop short of saying they are taking aim at MTV. "I think it's natural for people to perceive any new entry into the market as taking MTV on. I think MuchMusic can very peacefully coexist beside MTV," Giddins says. Competing with MTV "is not our mission. Our mission is to satisfy what we consider to be an unmet demand for music on television." iron beds WE WILL NOT BE waterbeds STUDENT AND SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT ON MOST ITEMS NO WE HAVE THE: LOWEST PRICES BEST SELECTION FREE DELIVERY HAUL OFF HONEST EXPERT SALES HELP INTEREST FINANCING SEALY PLUSH FIRM 15 YR.

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Pages Available:
2,721,938
Years Available:
1834-2024