‘MTV Juvies’ to infest Masonic Temple

The hoisting of the MTV logo on 888 Yonge St. finally supplies the Masonic Temple with some external identity – despite remaining a production outpost for CTV, the 1918 structure was going through another phase as a cryptic hunk of history across the road from Canadian Tire. Right before the designated building was snapped up the home for Mike Bullard’s exercise in late-night hara-kiri, its 30-year on-and-off heritage as a part-time concert hall – first dubbed The Rockpile in 1968 – an application to plunk 19 storeys worth of condo lofts on top was shouted down by the Toronto Historical Board. Now it’ll be pitched to teenyboppers as a midtown MTV, essentially replacing the lame duck discussion-based talktv cable station – which went into all-rerun mode in mid-2002, collecting $4 million per year in basic cable subscriber fees to facilitate classic episodes of Camilla Scott. CTV’s stringent license forbids this MTV from focusing on music content, something which the Chum Limited bean counters running MuchMusic are vowing to monitor with a vengeance. But who needs rap ‘n’ roll when you’ve got text messaging? “We’re creating Canada’s interactive social network for television,” promised programming boss Brad Schwartz amidst the sign mounting ceremony. “Viewers’ opinions count: it’s not our network, it’s theirs.” Sure, until they go online, at which point the MTV mothership intends to gouge out their eyeballs. This scheme ain’t a slam dunk, either. The cover of Business Week was asking Can MTV Stay Cool? for good reason – focusing on their loop of short attention span reality shows kept MTV from being a player online. Belated announcements of a “digital Marshall Plan” to remain relevant can be executed by buying a bunch of properties with Viacom money, but bafflegab about targeting teenyboppers through “highly-integrated ecosystems” seems almost apocalyptic. Their summer 2006 schedule is highlighted by a reality show, filmed inside an Indiana detention centre, called MTV Juvies.

Journal: Masonic Temple [infiltration.org]