MTV's music utopia stems from great projects and funding. Where did all of this funding come from? Advertising. It's brilliant because advertisers know where to market products aimed at teens and young adults:their most popular television channel!
MTV is selective about who their advertisers are. They have a department that views commercials in advance to make sure that they are appropriate for their audience. Strangely, most commercials are for movies. And, don't complain about too many commercials interrupting "TRL" or "Daria." "I know it's bad," admits Judy. "But the amount of aired commercials has actually gone down."
Speaking of advertising, as TeenSpeak staff walked the halls of the Viacom building at 1515 Broadway, we saw posters plastered on the walls for upcoming MTV products. One of these anticipated projects is MTV's first made for TV movie, called "2GE+HER", which is about a fired music executive trying to create a Backstreet Boys band in a matter of days. Having aired in late February, I heard quite the positive reviews from my friends. "It was hilarious," reported 8th grader Christina Kompar. "2GE+HER" was one example of Judy's desire to create new ideas.
New shows are always in the works, but Judy volunteered no specifics. For now, watch and/or play along on MTV's Webriot, the first live online/on-air game show ever, or watch "The Tom Green Show", a more outrageous and unique version of Jim Carrey movies.
Judy and I concluded the interview by discussing how to accomplish and get what you want. She gave excellent advice, "I've seen people with one goal which they never achieved because they weren't open-minded about the path they took to get to it." Basically, she said that you should have a goal, but you should also be mindful of the steps off the direct path in order to achieve your goals.
As I walked out of her office, I looked quickly at the pictures of her with various music idols of today. Since Judy McGrath climbed the ladder from recipe writer for Mademoiselle to President of a significant corporation in today's society, I strongly advise you to take her career advice seriously.
