| mtvU | |
|---|---|
| Network | MTV Networks |
| Owned by | Viacom |
| Picture format | 480i optimized for 16:9 widescreen televisions in strech mode |
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Closed-circuit on U.S. college campuses, digital cable |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Formerly called | College Television Network |
| Website | mtvU.com |
mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages. It provides a more targeted alternative to MTV, and gives advertisers and music promotion companies access to college-age viewers, access that universities offer in an attempt to attract students to on-campus housing.[1] The music played on the station is primarily indie rock, pop punk and hip-hop.
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MTV Network's proposal for a channel targeting college students, tentatively called MTV University, became public in February 2002.[1] According to The New York Times, the channel was seeking to compete with Burly Bear Network, which was on 450 campuses and attracting nearly a million viewers a week, along with College Television Network (CTN) and the most recent entrant at the time, Zilo.[1] CTN began as a venture that installed video jukeboxes on campuses.
Seven months later, after CTN was in financial trouble and National Lampoon had just acquired the defunct Burly Bear, MTV Networks acquired CTN for $15 million.[2]
In February 2008, MTV Networks discontinued VH1 Uno, a sparsely-viewed Spanish music video channel, and it replaced that channel with mtvU, to expand the channel's distribution further into regular cable homes.[3][4]
| Part of a series on MTV MTV channels |
According to its promotional materials, mtvU broadcasts exclusive content dedicated to aspects of college life, including music, news, and on-campus events. The channel was the first MTV network to stream all of its content online. On-campus events include the Campus Invasion tour, featuring up-and-coming bands; the GAME0Rz Ball tour, which brings new video games to campus; and Tailgate Tour, which provides mtvU with a presence at campus tailgates. mtvU shows include Dean's List,[5] the mtvU Awards, and mtvU Spring Break.
mtvU plays a mix of music with an emphasis on emerging artists. (mtvU VIDEO PREMIERES) Each hour, mtvU broadcasts news updates from ABC News (formerly CBS News, changed in late 2006 in the wake of the Viacom/CBS separation), including international news and college-related news. Twice an hour, MTV News airs stories on subjects such as music downloading, and musical artists under promotion by mtvU.
Additionally, mtvU airs several original programs produced by and featuring college students. The Freshmen features three rotating student panelists discussing new music videos and is hosted by Kim Stolz; Stand-In brings celebrities and intellectuals into college classrooms to teach for a day, and has featured people as diverse as Nobel Laureates Elie Wiesel and Shimon Peres; Madonna; John McCain; Marilyn Manson; and Jhumpa Lahiri.
It has also started a social networking site "Meet or Delete" along with Hewlett Packard.
mtvU has its own annual awards show, the Woodie Awards, which they say recognizes "the music voted best by college students." Previous winners have included 2005's Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Afters; 2006 winners include 30 Seconds to Mars, Plain White T's, mewithoutYou, The Subways and Gnarls Barkley. The 2006 ceremony was also notable for Jared Leto's altercation with Elijah Wood and Scott from the music blog Stereogum.[6] The 2008 awards had a huge fan voting for the Best Music On Campus award, where The Bride Wore Black won the award and Chasing Arrows came in right behind.[7] Winners at the 2008 Woodie Awards included Paramore and There for Tomorrow. Winners at the 2009 Woodie Awards included Green Day, Kings of Leon, Matt & Kim, NeverShoutNever, Tech N9ne and Hotel of the Laughing Tree.[8]
The online game Darfur Is Dying was developed as part of an mtvU contest, and other Sudan genocide coverage won mtvU two Emmys, including the 2006 Governors Award. mtvU also provides grants for student activists, giving away $1000 a week to various student groups. Currently, mtvU is also cosponsoring the ecomagination Challenge with GE, which aims to empower college students to solve environmental problems on campuses. mtvU also sponsored the Film Your Issue competition, a competition designed to encourage college-age filmmakers to make short political pieces, and aired the winners.
Other opportunities mtvU provides for college students include Digital Incubator grants, which award students who are pioneering the future of broadband content, and the Student Filmmaker Award, which provides the winner with the chance to receive a development deal with mtvU and collect the award at the MTV Movie Awards. Besides these competitions, mtvU makes efforts to use student work through its programming.
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