It's the end of an era. Maybe not a great era, but an era none-the-less. Around the time that MTV started shilling to the tweenaged masses, they moved into their 1515 Broadway studios in Times Square. The year was 1997, the Real World cast was in Boston, and the network was only just starting to be criticized for their lack of, you know, music videos.
It's being reported that Viacom has been doling out more pink slips today. A tipster told Gawker earlier: "They are cleaning house at VH1/MTV right now. Like more than half the people involved with the website and the video just got laid off. Freelancers are being called in because when they hit their 9 month point they have to leave." Our sources tell us that "A few editors are being kept around for BestWeekEver.tv and the RealWorldDailies.com [ED.: PHEW!]. Everybody else in that group is gone. Thursday is the final Best Night Ever podcast. It is a shame people are losing jobs, and I guess let's blame the economy? But the podcasts were so cheap to produce, it's all sort of surprising considering how popular the iTunes podcast was and how other video content providers like the Onion News Network have been able to put ads into their podcast without much problem." Yeah, what gives, are companies just locked in a pink slip pissing contest at this point? We get it, we're all fired! ENOUGH!
Folks on Time Warner Cable, don't worry: You'll be able to see Double Shot of Love—and any other program on a Viacom channel like Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon—in 2009. After the possibility that Viacom would yank its programming from TWC today, over a dispute over subscriber fees (Viacom wanted a 12% annual fee increase—$39 million/year—but TWC said the economy wouldn't allow it), the two companies agreed to a deal to make sure they didn't piss off cable subscribers... or viewers.
Say goodbye to the Colbert Report, Spongebob Squarepants and yes, even The City (we hardly knew ye), Gawker is reporting that "From New York to Los Angeles, Viacom channels like Comedy Central are set to flicker off cable systems in the first minute of 2009." The two companies have been not-so-publicly negotiating for some time, and now the network is holding their channels hostage.
Incase you have any respect left for Viacom, prepare to surrender it! Gawker has been investigating the curious case of the missing paychecks over at the network. The site says many are out of luck trying to attain their hard-earned money this holiday season, "Including people MTV got charity money to support. The Knight Foundation, a philanthropic journalism nonprofit, gave MTV $700,000 to 'make possible' a 'Street Team' of 51 'citizen journalists' to cover the 2008 election. We've already heard from three of them. They aren't getting paid!" Welcome to journalism, citizens! But talk about getting Scrooged, some of these folks are out thousands of dollars so far and have noted that checks "got cut later and later as 2008 wore on" even though "contracts stipulated payment every four weeks." Is it time to make more LOLCat picket signs yet?
Kids, it's a cruel world out there. First they take away your TRL, and now this. Word is that Viacom has begun a "company-wide restructuring plan," which was announced via an email memo (after the jump) at 8:30 this morning, and means they're cutting down staff in all divisions. By the end of the corporate massacre, about 850 positions will have been eliminated. This shouldn't be too shocking considering the memos that led up to it and the fact that last year employees got royally scrooged when it came to holiday bonuses, and had to fight for their rights to insurance. But you're on notice, Redstone: Make any cuts to The City and we will cut you.
First, there was Laguna Beach, then came The Hills, and now spin-off numéro trois: The City. That's right, Manhattan is getting it's very own MTV scripted "reality" show, complete with Hills alum Whitney Port and some dude who says he's a "downtown hipster, i wear a fedora." A blurb about the series paints the picture of "a whole new world" for the 20-something, "as she packs up and moves to the bright lights of Manhattan...taking a huge chance at a brand new life." (Doesn't this just make you want to listen to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" at max volume?!) The network also divulges that she'll be working at Diane Von Furstenberg's design house, and her sidekicks will include "a best friend from her past and a guy she's head-over-heels for." Take a look at the trailer, which will surely make you long for the days of Sex and the City.
While the death rattle has been audible for quite some time, Viacom only officially announced Total Request Live's retirement in September, and yesterday they officially faded to black.
MTV is finally canceling their TRL (Total Request Live) series, after rumors have been circulating about its demise for over a year. Variety reports that the show, which has had a long shelf life as is—lasting over a decade—"will depart in mid-November with a two-hour Saturday-afternoon special. Its departure will coincide with the return of another music vid-themed show, Feedback New MTV (FNMTV)." The screams in Times Square have been slowly fading since the show's beginning, but will they now be muted forever?
While MTV is keeping mum on the whereabouts of the upcoming Real World Brooklyn location, the borough is all wise to the fact that they're setting up camp in Red Hook (after not moving to Carroll Gardens or Downtown's BellTel Lofts). The Brooklyn Paper asked some residents how they felt about their new future neighbors, who will reside at Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street.
“I’d rather have another Ikea,” said John Varonian, who has lived in Red Hook for two years, and would prefer that MTV reopen and run the Laundromat down the street.Continue reading "Red Hook Talks Real World"
From a source who was over at the Pier 41 building in Red Hook earlier today, where the latest Real World cast is rumored to be moving, word of "progress" on the cast's living space comes in: "They're building them a cabana, and a sand pit right now." They also tell us that "somebody also did a short film shoot the other day down the block from the Pier 41 building, permitted/blocked off streets, possibly for MTV." Developing!
Carroll Gardens, you totally got Punk'd...the seven newest Real World strangers won't be moving to your quaint little neighborhood after all, instead they'll be moving to Red Hook. So says the latest rumor, which claims "construction of a make-shift apartment has begun on the upstairs end of Pier-41 (204 Van Dyke Street) as of last week. The space had most recently been used a few years ago when it was built-out as a bar/night club for the Will Smith movie, Hitch." Does this mean they're gonna have to hack IKEA's water taxi service in order to get anywhere?
Has MTV's The Real World faked out Brooklyn? First they're all but confirmed to move into Downtown Brooklyn's BellTell Lofts, with rumors of a Carroll Gardens residence quickly disappearing, but now an intern says the show "may not even film there because they were having some issues with the BellTel Lofts building with the location at 116 Third Place in Carroll Gardens as the backup." Residents beware! The Real Deal all but confirms the Carroll Gardens locale, saying that "equipment that will be used for the show's filming has been transported from BellTel to the new location." Curbed warns of the inevitable protests, message board madness, and dare we say riots that the show will be met with in the neighborhood. It's gonna be so real.
A judge ruled Google must turn over the logins and IP address of everyone who has ever watched anything on Youtube to Viacom, which is suing Google over copyrighted clips appearing on YouTube. Privacy advocates are criticizing the decision, but Viacom claims it will only use the information for its case, "It will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner." Google's lawyer said, "We are pleased the court put some limits on discovery, including refusing to allow Viacom to access users' private videos and our search technology...We will ask Viacom to respect users' privacy and allow us to anonymize the logs before producing them under the court's order." It is believed by some that "virtually every Internet user has visited YouTube."
As we mentioned yesterday, the writers' strike may be coming to an end. Michael Eisner leaked that we'd be hearing news of it this weekend, and the former Disney CEO was right. Today Variety reports that "the WGA has finalized its tentative agreement with the majors and will present details of the pact to members today in meetings in Los Angeles and New York."
MTV is getting all old school and reporting on relevant music! The channel traveled all the way to Brooklyn for a piece on bands closely associated with the Todd P scene. Best of all, they declare Manhattan's LES dead! Not a great way to promote their new vLES, we suppose.
Last night Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to their fake news desks, with picket lines outside of their studios and no strike beards in sight (however, a strike unibrow did appear). They were supportive as ever of the WGA though, in fact Stewart spent all 30 minutes discussing the strike, with only a lone joke or two about the primaries ("Cold white people have had their say"). He made it clear that "From now on, until the end of the strike, we'll be doing 'A Daily Show with Jon Stewart.' But not 'THE Daily Show.'"
As The Daily Show and Colbert Report are just moments away from filming their first shows in quite some time, picket lines are standing strong outside of their studios. WGA spokeswoman Sherry Goldman tells us, "These pickets will be against the media conglomerates – NBC and Viacom - and not the specific hosts who we understand were forced to return to the air without their writers who remain on the picket lines." Just because the hosts have returned, however, doesn't mean they'll have any luck filling their guest seats.
In some good news, the bigwigs at Viacom have heard the angry cries of their permanent freelancing employees, and today announced they were ready to concede. Just over one week ago the company Scrooged over a large portion of their workforce when they announced permalancers insurance benefits and their 401K plans would soon be a ghost of Christmas Past. Demanding equal treatment with full time employees (which the permalancers basically are), the group took...
MTV network freelancers took their beef to the streets yesterday in protest of changes to their benefits plan; about two hundred of the workers spent the afternoon picketing outside the Times Square headquarters of MTV's parent company Viacom. According to Gawker, an initial chant of “What the fuck?!” was revised into the catchier “We care about our 401(k)s!” after a reportedly winsome young rabble-rouser climbed atop a garbage can and helped brainstorm new chant...
Sumner Redstone, who as majority shareholder still calls the shots at Viacom, has arranged a special holiday treat for his already well-exploited “permalancers”. (The term refers to the practice favored by Viacom and other companies of employing workers full time but classifying them “freelance” to keep their sneaky hands out of the insurance jar.) Though Viacom permalancers had previously been eligible for healthcare benefits after a year, new rules dictate that insurance will only be...
British comedian John Oliver has become an indispensable fixture on The Daily Show, where he’s found a highly receptive audience for his particularly earnest style of fake reportage. But millions of viewers accustomed to their nightly laugh therapy have been going through heavy withdrawal since the Writers Guild strike put the kibosh on new episodes. At issue is the guild’s demand for a taste of the loot being raked in from new media outlets. The...
The Supreme Court essentially upheld an Appeals Court ruling that said New York City must pay the private education of disabled students. The twist is that the students and their parents don't even need to try to see if the public school programs are adequate for them.
Just last week Jeremy Blake's body was identified after being found off the coast of New Jersey. In July he and his girlfriend committed suicide one week apart from each other, and since then stories of their lives, fears and final days have surfaced.
Senator Barack Obama made the most of his NYC visit. He had three fund-raisers all over Manhattan, plus his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman brought up Obama's biggest rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, and asked if he'd join her on a presidential ticket, to which Obama said, "Which order are we talking about?"
There have been rumors about TRL ending its run this year (most likely by the summer) and now comes news that MTV will cut 250 jobs and invest in digital. By now we're all aware that the firing spree started yesterday.
Long Island City may be losing MetLife, but now it seems like media conglomerate Viacom is considering a move to LIC. The Sun has a very interesting article about how the a move east would help reduce Viacom's cost (and improve its bottomline) if its various occupancy costs went down:
The company currently leases 1.4 million square feet (or 78%) of the space in the building run by S.L. Green (which, incidentally, is also bullish on Long Island City) at 1515 Broadway, the former headquarters of W.T. Grant. Insiders say they believe the executive and corporate offices would remain in Manhattan, at rents of about $80 a square foot when its lease is renewed in 2008.Continue reading "Viacom May Move to Long Island City"
Gothamist is very grateful that we didn't have to witness Bloomberg's Hip Hop Press conference yesterday. OK, well, actually we kinda do wish that we'd been there, if only to see Bloomie chatting it up with Ice-T and Russell Simmons, but considering some of the soundbites that made it into today's papers we suspect that even that charm would have quickly worn off ("Welcome to City Hall, or my crib, as I like to call it... Not everybody here understands our language.").
Sometimes there are fun subway ads, like the Bronx Zoo ads. Sometimes there are bizarre ones that become a part of your brain's fabric, like the Dr. Zizmor ads. And then there are the unbearably lame ones, like the Mitchum Man ads that try to appeal to men's machismo or something, with phrases like, "If you're pretty sure you could kick out the window in the event of an emergency, you're a Mitchum Man." And the NY Times confirms that the ads flout the MTA's own rules. Now, Gothamist believes in some MTA rule flouting, but after seeing some of the other Mitchum ads, like "If menage a trois is the only French you know, you're a Mitchum Man," we're pretty pleased that the MTA is now annoyed that Viacom (which handles their advertising) let the ads through. The Times breaks down that the "if you've ever hurdled to get the subway" ad is problematic because slips and falls are 74% of the accidents reported in the subway (and we're sure the MTA gets lawsuits all the time) and the window kicking ad is "almost certainly be illegal, and taxpayers, who pay about $2 million for each new subway car, may not take kindly to a window-kicker's choice." But this doesn't mean the MTA is exempt from stupid advertising: Check out this photograph on Flickr. And join the NYC Subway Photo pool on Flickr!
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