Music and Youth
MTV US floats mobile media division
MUMBAI: With a view to building upon its wireless initiatives and its efforts in creating original content for mobile US, broadcaster MTV has created MTVN Mobile Media.
This new unit is dedicated to growing the company’s mobile entertainment business.
MTVN Mobile Media will be responsible for managing mobile partnerships and content distribution for the company, and will support the teams at the individual MTVN brands in developing a wide portfolio of mobile content and applications–including personalisation, entertainment, information and messaging products.
The unit will be led by Greg Clayman, who has been promoted to MTVN Mobile Media senior VP. MTVN Mobile Media reports into MTVN Global Digital Media, led by its president Mika Salmi, and MTVN Affiliate Sales and Marketing, led by its president Nicole Browning.
MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath says, “Connecting with our consumers on every platform they love is at the heart of our digital strategy. MTVN Mobile Media will help our brands take it even further in distribution and product development, and it will expand our global wireless footprint even more, so the communities around our brands can access our content anywhere.”
Salmi says, “Our audiences lead an on-demand lifestyle and our brands deliver the best pop-culture, music, comedy and entertainment programming on the handset. With MTVN Mobile Media, we’re poised to deliver even more compelling mobile content and further deepen our connection with our viewers.”
MTV says that it publishes more than 600 clips and 30 hours of video per month in the United States alone, across all major carriers and leading MVNOs. Globally, the company has partnerships with 68 carriers and connections with more than one billion subscribers, making MTVN the largest wireless content provider of any entertainment company.
Browning says, “We are clearly primed to take our programming to the next level, and as we build on our fast-growing mobile video business and add more channels, more content, and more distribution around the world, we will continue to focus on mobile games, personalization products such as ringtones and graphics, and mobile web site development.”
The MTVN mobile programming spanning every genre of entertainment and engaging nearly every demographic includes:
• Original made-for-mobile programs, including MTV’s Sway’s Hip Hop Owner’s Manual, Comedy Central’s Clip Joint and VH1’s Celebhead.
• Extensions from such television franchises as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Laguna Beach; SpongeBob SquarePants; VH1’s Best Week Ever; Logo’s Noah’s Arc.
• Original animation, such as Usavitch and Lightman from Flux in Japan and MTV International’s “Wulffmorgenthaler”;
• “Making of,” behind-the-scenes and after-shows developed exclusively for the wireless medium;
• MTV, VH1 and CMT music video premieres and exclusive music performances from such franchises as VH1’s Live@VH1.com and CMT’s Studio 330 Sessions and simulcasts of tentpole properties like The MTV Europe Music Awards;
• Content highlighting social issues important to MTVN audiences, such as MTVN International’s HIV/Aids prevention campaign, Staying Alive;
• The largest selection of stand-up comedy on mobile, made available by Comedy Central.
MTVN also has forged new ground with a number of notable industry firsts: Nickelodeon was the first kids’ television network to offer text messaging promoted on-air. Spike TV Mobile, in partnership with Amp’d Mobile, was the first network to stream a sporting event live on the handset. VH1 is defining the standard for television/mobile integration with Mobile Junk 20, an extension of the “Web Junk 20” television show that seamlessly migrates viewers from the television set, to the handset and back to the television. And Neopets introduced the first entertainment-based web-to-wireless application of its kind, letting Neopets members engage with their Neopets characters, stories and activities on their handsets just as they would online.
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
