A Match made in Heaven

by Jessica Bernhard

"This is the best job in the world. I can't believe I get paid for this," admitted Brian Graden, President of Programming for MTV.

Choosing what goes on the air at MTV may sound like an easy job, but it entails predicting musical trends, and being on the "cutting edge" of the music industry. If that's not pressure, I don't know what is! Brian told me when I visited MTV, "The people that work for me must have good taste, they have to be able to hear something and know whether it will be a success or not." For the most part, he admits that they are right eight out of ten times!

In addition to overseeing the animation, the made for t.v. movies, and original series shows, Brian also oversees the Development Department which has the responsibility of coming up with concepts for new shows which are then researched and presented to him. Two to three times a year, staff members meet to brainstorm concepts for innovative programming.

There are a variety of methods MTV uses to test whether any of these show ideas will be popular. Brian spoke about focus groups in which 120 teens perform what he called a Dial Test. This requires turning a dial positively or negatively based on how an audience feels about the material that is presented. They also poll opinions from teens, hoping that they can help establish who the future trendsetters will be. This type of polling research is called "call-out research" and respondents can discuss how they feel about a video. There are other sources of information which Brian relies on, such as tracking the music charts and researching the ratings. However, he feels that nothing can make up for "gut!" If he has positive vibes about something, then it's a go!