All things old become new again. In 2008, Total Request Live ended its decade-long run. Nine years later, MTV president Chris McCarthy wants to bring the show back this fall.
TRL's comeback will also usher the return of the show's famous studio which overlooked the middle of Times Square. “If we’re going to come back and reinvent MTV, the studio is a given,” McCarthy told The New York Times. “It is the centerpiece.”
After being stuck in a ratings lull over the last five years, MTV has experienced a bit of resurgence, especially in their core audience of 18- to 34-year-olds where the network has seen back-to-back months of ratings growth for the first time in four years. Much of their success may be attributed to revitalizing shows, like Fear Factor, and airing something like Siesta Key, which bears a striking resemblance to Laguna Beach.
It's difficult to say if TRL, the show which helped launch the careers of former VJs, Carson Daly, Vanessa Minnillo, and La La Vasquez, is a step in the right direction for MTV, but McCarthy believes in his track record. "I see that math, I see the shows we are about to green-light, I see that landscape for the next few months — we’re stable,” he said. “How do I know that? I could be wrong, but I haven’t missed an estimate in the 12 years I’ve been doing TV.”
McCarthy adds: “MTV at its best — whether it’s news, whether it’s a show, whether it’s a docu-series — is about amplifying young people’s voices. We put young people on the screen, and we let the world hear their voices. We shouldn’t be writing 6,000-word articles on telling people how to feel.”
It's going to be nostalgic first seeing TRL back on MTV and causing mass mayhem in an already hectic Times Square. But only time will tell if the show can sustain its success well after the honeymoon period has worn off.
