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. 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.
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.
Programming
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, 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.
Awards
Woodie Awards
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. 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. 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.
Awards for students
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.
List of mtvU VJs
Carly Henderson (current)
Kim Stolz
Dana-Sky Faison
Gardner Loulan
Josh McCutcheon
Sarah Messer
Sara Baiyu Chen (former)
Taiwan Brown (former)
Michelle Yu (former) (now a TVG Network Reporter)*
References
External links
mtvU.com
mtvU Woodie Awards
mtvU VIDEO PREMIERES
Category:MTV Networks
Category:Music video networks
Category:Television channels and stations established in 2008
Category:English-language television stations in the United States
Category:Companies based in New York City
Category:Viacom subsidiaries