imediavillage.com
[UPDATE: CMJ reports that TRL has, in fact, not been cancelled, according to a statement from an MTV spokesperson.]
Total Request Live, the MTV video show which launched Carson Daly into our lives and which defined, or at least stood in for, a certain element of American pop culture for many years, has reportedly been canceled. Jossip broke the news. This is the latest event in a downsizing-full week at MTV, during which the company laid off 5.5% of its staff, in order to retool itself for the digital age. (Note that this week MTV also announced a YouTube hedging video-sharing initiative.)
Gawker has more rumors of specific departments and network-lets being cleaned out across the board. The gist: they're crystallizing their overall programming trend of the past few years. Fewer music videos, more teen and young adult-aimed reality, clip and magazine shows.
Five or even two years ago, the news that MTV was going to so dramatically reduce its music video content would have been a big problem for the recording industry, for which the network was a crucial marketing tool. Now, maybe less so—bands can build significant video buzz via YouTube and Myspace and so forth. (Like this one.)
