The End of TRL and Music Television:

            MTV’s Total Request Live is quickly becoming a thing of the past.  David Bittler, the station’s spokesman, has denied that the show is on the “chopping block,” but you’d have more luck teaching your dog (or Britney Spears for that matter) algebra than keeping this show on the air.

            The show made its living on getting kids to call in and vote over and over with the hopes of getting their favorite music videos played.  It gave kids a sense of satisfaction when their favorite song got played, but it wasn’t long before TRL wasn’t even playing the videos.  In all honesty, you could just look online and find the top 10 videos on any number of sites.  And there’s the rub: online.

            If there’s one thing consumers want (and are getting more and more of) it’s control.  Why would anyone watch an hour-long television show riddled with commercials in order to see a 30-second clip of their favorite song/video?  The answer is they wouldn’t, not when the video is online at YouTube, MySpace, and pretty much anywhere you’d want it to be.  MTV cannot provide the content consumers demand with the same amount of immediacy as its online competition.  What’s worse is that MTV has done little-to-nothing to satisfy consumer’s online needs.  Seriously, when was the last time you went to MTV.com?  It’s a joke.

            So why am I writing this now the show has been a lame duck for months?  Well, apparently TRL is trying to gain viewers by premiering the new Britney “white-trash” Spears video, “Gimme More” on the program tomorrow.  This video (and anything short of a miracle) won’t save TRL.  The show is dead in the water and has no chance of being resurrected.  MTV needs to stop pretending, drop music videos entirely, and just change their name to something more fitting of what it actually is… something like SBTV (Spoiled Bitch Television).  Yeah, I know, not as catchy, but a lot more honest.

Written By Tarek.