PERFORMANCE/SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
(Updated as of August 25, 2008)
TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC:
Teens 12-17, Adults 18-34
JULY 2008 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
TOP PRIMETIME SHOWS:
A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA, LEGALLY BLONDE, AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW, REAL WORLD, FROM GS TO GENTS, RUNS HOUSE, SIN CITY, MADE, TWO-A-DAYS
SCHEDULING STRATEGIES:
Catering to the tween and young adult audience that can sleep in a bit over the summer, MTV premiered a lot of their primetime programs during the week in the 10pm slot.
Monday nights in July featured a variety of programming, leading into the main premiere at 10pm. (This month was LEGALLY BLONDE. Look for THE HILLS to premiere in August.)
Tuesday nights started with A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA, the transitioned into FROM GS TO GENTS midway through the month.
Wednesday night's lineup changed from week to week, with REAL WORLD making a few stacked appeaences, then RUNS HOUSE came in to close the month.
Thursday nights in July were all about AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW in the 10pm slot.
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays featured a variety of programming
PROGRAM/SCHEDULE CHANGES:
JUNE 2008 - JULY 2008:
PREMIERES:
**F'IN MTV premiered June 13, 2008.
**The MTV Movie Awards aired on Sunday, June 1, 2008.
**BUZZIN' premiered July 23, 2008, at 10:30pm.
FINALES:
**TILA TEQUILA finale aired July 8, 2008.
**THE REAL WORLD finale aired July 9, 2008.
JULY AND BEYOND:
PREMIERES:
**THE HILLS Season 4 premiered August 18, 2008.
YEAR AGO/BIG PICTURE:
July was a somewhat shaky month for MTV. The network saw a lot of finales and unfortunately, didn't have much on the agenda to fill the gaps. But with the premiere of the HILLS in August, and several new series in the works, we're speculating that they'll be bouncing up again in no time.
Overall, MTV was down 17% in viewer share. All key demos fell, and only Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursday nights saw moderate growth in overally share from July 2007. MTV can thank A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA, REAL WORLD, RUNS HOUSE, and AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW for the increases on those nights.
Who to blame for the loss? An Inconsistant schedule and not enough notable premieres.
JULY 2008 PRIMETIME RATINGS ANALYSIS:
A drop of 9% in overall viewer share since June 2008 echoes the woes of the year-to-year analysis. July saw many programs come to a close - namely TILA TEQUILA and REAL WORLD and didn't quite have the programming to fill the gaps.
Monday nights were down 10% from June. LEGALLY BLONDE performed above average throughout the month, and held onto most of its viewers as the weeks went on. Unfortunately, its lead-in programs in the 8pm and 9pm slots were haphazard, and couldn't pull in the same numbers.
Tuesday nights were flat from a month ago, but actually saw some nice increased among the key female demographics. A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA scored huge numbers with the finale. Interestingly, FROM GS TO GENTS, which took over in the 10pm slot mid-month, scored very well among the female demographics. (Guess gentlemen really are hot!) The night was MTV's strongest of the week.
Wednesday nights took moderate hits across the board. THE REAL WORLD scored big for its mid-July finale, but lost a lot of its viewers in the weeks after, despite a good effort with RUNS HOUSE and newcomer BUZZIN'.
Thursday nights grew across the board from June. For yet another month, AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW continued to pull in an audience. This month, overall share was up 9% and Men 25-54 were up a whopping 60%. It's pretty obvious that MTV has yet another hit on its hands.
Fridays in July performed below average for the network with a variety of programming and no clear-cut schedule. Saturdays also came in underaverage, despite some nice numbers from reruns of AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW.
Sundays in July fell 33% from June and saw losses across all the key demographics.
Despite the relatively slower month, we're eagerly awaiting the numbers for the August premieres. We have a strong feeling MTV is going to have a nice bounceback with some of the new programs on the horizon.
PROGRAM ACQUISITIONS:
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, BEAUTY AND THE GEEK
PROGRAM RENEWALS:
The 21st season of THE REAL WORLD will take place in Brooklyn, New York.
MAKING THE BAND will return for a new season beginning this summer.
PROGRAM CANCELLATIONS:
None announced.
ADDITIONAL SHOWS CURRENTLY AIRING:
TRUE LIFE, MADE, PARENTAL CONTROL
