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I want my MTV! MTV aired its first music video, The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," on August 1, 1981, and neither music nor television has been the same ever since. To get cable companies to pick up the channel, rock stars like Mick Jagger and David Bowie promoted the "I want my MTV" campaign. Over the years, the cable network has aired some of the most avant-garde and influential video programming anywhere. Owned by media conglomerate Viacom, MTV currently does much more than air videos. The network currently produces many of its own top programs, building on the success of shows such as Beavis and Butt-Head and The Real World. While highbrows have blamed MTV for everything from increased drug use to decreased attention spans, the network has earned industry respect, and its "Choose or Lose" political awareness project has even won praise from politicians. Total revenues for the network reportedly totaled $617 million in 1998, marking a yearly increase of 21 percent. The MTV empire Today MTV is only one part of MTV Networks - which also operates M2, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite's TV Land (a Nickelodeon spinoff), and Comedy Central (which is jointly owned by Viacom and HBO). The company has been expanding rapidly around the globe, and has also branched out into major motion pictures and Internet programming. Profits at MTV have skyrocketed over the past three years, and the channel has been able to raise advertising rates about 10 percent each year. Nickelodeon is consistently rated as the No. 1 children's network in America, and its profits have been growing at a rate of over 30 percent since 1994. Spurred by viewer requests to put the "M" back in MTV, the network launched M2, a channel devoted to the 'all music, all the time' ideal. Surprisingly, few cable companies have added it to their lineup. Launched in 1996, Nick at Nite's TV Land is one of the fastest growing networks in America. The "Classic TV" network features reruns from the 1950s to the '80s - from Happy Days to Hill Street Blues, as well as the most memorable commercials of each era. By 1999, TV Land reached 38 million of the 72 million cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S. New adventures of Music Television Company execs want everyone plugged in, and have thus expanded - MTV Latino now enjoys a large viewership, and revenues at MTV Asia are picking up. MTV's efforts to further globalize its audience took another step when it launched its Russian channel in September 1998, now present in 15.7 million households, followed by the debut of MTV Scandinavia. Currently 23 customized MTV channels run in 84 countries. MTVN is planning a channel for older music lovers, who may think they have outgrown the teen-oriented music video genre. Also in the works at MTVN is the company's foray into Digital Television, which includes a 10-channel digital package. Included is a commercial-free kid's network called "Noggin" (a joint venture with the Children's Television Workshop), and a group of six music-video networks called "The Suite from MTV and VH1." MTV has also grown into the film genre, producing the low-budget Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the high school-centered comedy Election. MTV releases its films through sister company Paramount. MTV's latest film, "2gether", about a made up boy band, actually made a cross-over into real life as the fabricated band of actors is slated to open several shows for pop sensation Brittney Spears in 2000. what's-with-MTV.com? Oddly enough for a network that is sustained by trendiness, MTV has lagged behind the world online. By the year 2002, music is expected to be the Internet's most popular business, accounting for 28 percent of all transactions and presumably proceeding with or without MTV. As a result, the network made a deal with AT&T in May 1999, agreeing that the high-speed Internet provider of Excite@Home will carry MTV for the next 10 years. On the front burner are plans for Web Riot, an online trivia game; a music destination called Qwert.com (formerly known as The Buggles Project); cable music videos on demand; and a music news site. MTV's online factions were recently combined under the auspices of MTVi, which covers MTV.com, VH1.com, and SonicNet.com The fate of MTV in new media will be crucial to its fate in the real world (the real real world, that is). Real World happenings Parent company Viacom's $30 billion takeover of CBS Corp. brought two new music channels to the MTV Group, CMT: Country Music Television and TNN. MTV's newest priority is overhauling TNN, which will move away from its country music roots and will soon be home to WWF wrestling.
MTV's employment Web page, located at www.mtv.com/jobs.html, lists current career offerings in the online department. The Viacom web site provides information on other jobs, as well as relevant contact names and addresses for each particular job. Resumes must be e-mailed to the appropriate address, and each position has its proper e-mail address. Applicants must be prepared for an in-person interview in New York City. Entry-level positions are available in production, editorial, advertising sales, and marketing. Call the MTVN job hotline. Insiders say it helps your case if you know someone inside the company who can recommend you. After you send your resume, call to make sure they received it, they advise. Getting a job at MTVN invariably requires serious persistence. Interviews are generally casual – one applicant says the company even asked her not to wear a suit: "They said to dress casual but nice." The company expects applicants to be interested in media and to know about the company, but "they're not going to ask trivia like 'What year did MTV premiere'" notes one insider.
Getting your foot in MTV's door A good way to get your foot in the door at MTV, insiders say, is through an internship or as an in-house temp. Those in the temp program float between departments, working on specific assignments or manning reception desks. After a few months, some temps get permanent positions, or long-term freelance assignments. Temps get paid from $8 to $13 per hour depending on experience, insiders say. Another good reason to join the temp pool ? the company publishes an internal list of job openings, and "only people employed at MTVN" can apply. Freelancers work project-to project, and get paid by the day. Summer Associate Program As for internships, insiders say that the best one offered at MTVN is the Summer Associates Program. It's a paid, 10-week program open to College and MBA students. Four days a week you work in a specific department; and on Fridays, all of the summer associates meet for business classes. The summer hires break into groups and have to go through the process of developing a new business venture ? whether it be a new show or spinoff business ? and present it to bigwigs in the company. "It's an excellent opportunity," reports one veteran. "There's a lot of responsibility, and what you learn is invaluable. Plus, it gives you a leg up in terms of getting a full-time job with the company." The program is run at MTV's NY headquarters, and you can apply to the program through the Human Resources department. The lucky few get to play with giant orange beach balls MTV Networks "young, hip, and trendy" corporate culture strives to keep its finger on the pulse of its audience. "Any MTV-generation kid will fit right in," one employee comments. Insiders say MTV's headquarters, located on Broadway in midtown Manhattan, are "colorful" and "modern," with "lots of light." Each network has its own design flavor, and is designed to match the network's content. "The Nickelodeon floors look like playgrounds - lots of giant orange beach balls and Rugrats made of Floam. The VH1 offices are more mature." The MTV offices are full of TV monitors, with "young and hip" furniture. There's also "free soda on every floor" dispensed by fountains. The headquarters also has a subsidized cafeteria, and an ATM machine in the building's basement. And the cafeteria's not like the one in your school dorm, either: "The breakfast is so good, it's all fresh fruit and cereal. It's really well done. For lunch, there's always Chinese specials and Mexican specials. It's really good variety." Oh my God, there's Bill Bellamy! There's also not a bad variety of people at MTV headquarters. "I saw Bill Bellamy," reports one former intern. "Sometimes you just see celebrities walking around. Whenever the VMAs (Video Music Awards) are around, you'll see people around. You see them in the lobby, sometimes in the elevator." As far as getting tickets at these choice shows? "Intern on the VMAs you'll get it," says one insider. "You could offer to help out, and kind of negotiate your way in" otherwise you have to be high up. What happens is people will give you tickets, not everyone gets them, but you get them from people in production and development and other people working directly on the event." Not all of MTV's events require such schmoozy maneuvering, though. "When there's a premier of something like a movie, everybody goes," says one insider. "And the company-sponsored Christmas party's really big, people just party all night." Employees also get "discounts to (amusement park) Great Adventure and discounts on things like watches." In the summer, the company picnic rents out a summer camp in New Jersey for a day so employees can enjoy "swimming, free food, and little paddle boats." "They bus everybody there on a weekday, like a Wednesday, and bus everybody back," says one employee. "If you don't go, you're supposed to go to work, so everybody goes." Don't get too excited about pay The pay scale at the network may be "disappointing," and "it's hard to get benefits," but most employees say "just working for MTV is a perk." Employees share the "MTV mentality" and must sometimes meet the pressure of difficult deadlines, but the casual atmosphere allows them to express their individuality. They call MTV Networks "a wildly open-minded company" and also point out that the network boasts "one of the most diverse workforces around." One female employee remarks that "there is a 'glass ceiling,' but it seems more fragile than at most companies." Employees are happy to report that the company recognizes talent and rewards hard work. The high turnover also contributes to increased mobility. As one MTV insider explains, "you can move up faster than you could at a major network or even another cable channel." "However," he notes, "it doesn't matter what your title is, everyone's salary is on an annual scale." MTV Networks is also notorious for its reluctance to hire workers full-time. It's not uncommon for employees ? especially in production ? to freelance there for several years. MTV: do it for the experience Insiders say that the company's greatest perks are access to the latest equipment, and the opportunity work on shows that are aired on major cable networks. Some employees even say their experience there is like going to graduate school. "You'll sacrifice salary and benefits and your social life to work here," says one insider, "but you come out with a title and experience you would not get anywhere else."
Human Resources
ABC;CBS;NBC;Fox;UPN;WB More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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