MTV

Who needs MTV when we have Snapchat and YouTube? That’s what I wondered when I read Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman’s comments regarding the impact of digital on his entertainment conglomerate, which includes entertainment channels such as MTV. “That transition has now taken hold across the industry, creating disruption, but also spurring action and real momentum towards solution,” he said. He was referring to the negative impacts on his company related to its younger audiences.

“Real momentum towards solution” is an interesting choice of words, especially when you juxtapose it against the current media reality: the fight for attention. Instead of lavishing MTV and its siblings all of their attention, the youth of today, who have grown up with the omnipresence of the other network — the internet, both wired and wireless — are faced with a cornucopia of choices on how to spend their time. Snapchat and Instagram are two