Is it too early to run an obit for Canada’s flagship music video channel?
Given the severity of the latest round of cutbacks and layoffs announced at Much on July 9, it seems clear that current parent company Bell Media intends to starve it of support until it disappears.
Bell Media is not responding directly to media questions, including those from NOW. Instead, company spokespeople are referring anyone with queries to an op-ed published in Media In Canada written by VP of specialty programming Justin Stockman last Friday, July 18.
In it Stockman tries to counter the widespread concern with the stock “Rumours of Much’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”
He asserts that the staffing reductions – 32 jobs at Much alone, including three of the station’s hosts – are really about “restructuring our production team to better position the channel for the future as it continues to evolve with its audience.”
But what kind of future is Bell Media imagining for the station when the only original programming remaining is Countdown and a handful of interstitial segments?
“I can’t fault them for doing what they did,” says Damian Abraham, lead singer for Fucked Up and, as host of The Wedge, among those let go. “[Much is] a corporate entity that is part of a larger corporate entity in a world where people just don’t watch music videos in the same way any more. I know this is something that needed to happen.
“But I got to live the childhood fantasy of being the Wedge VJ, and that was amazing.”
Even if there is a miraculous and unexpected transfusion of cash, there appears to be no realistic long-term hope for Much in the current market.
Video may have killed the radio star, but the internet and YouTube are the new game in town.
People do still watch music videos, but they want to see them on demand, not wait around glued to the tube hoping to catch their favourite acts by chance.
Growing up in rural Ontario in the 80s, I was always jealous of my suburban friends who had cable, mostly because it meant they had access to MuchMusic.
Compared to most commercial radio, MuchMusic was edgier and more exciting, and not just because you could catch your favourite pop stars.
Channel founders John Martin and Moses Znaimer had created something that felt far more grassroots than its American counterpart, MTV.
As the station grew up, it remained a key entry point to the Canadian independent music scene for up-and-coming bands and musicians. Appearing on The Wedge not only impressed your friends and proved to your parents that you weren’t wasting your time, but it also built audiences and musical cred.
Electric Circus exposed a wider audience to dance music, and Rap City helped legitimize hip-hop in a country that wasn’t always so receptive to the form. For a couple of decades, MuchMusic felt like a central actor in carving out this nation’s identity.
But the media consolidation of the last 10 years hasn’t been kind to the station.
Former owner CTVglobemedia tried in 2010 to get the CRTC to reduce by half the requirement that 50 per cent of the station’s content be music videos. That request was denied.
When Bell Media took over in 2011, it dropped “Music” from the name and in 2013 began rebroadcasting more content from the Comedy Network. That trend seems likely to continue.
Many felt hopeful, wrongly it turns out, when shows like The Wedge and Rap City were revived and Much saw a modest increase in subscription revenue and significant ratings increases.
But even those gains couldn’t offset the plummeting advertising numbers. By slashing almost all original programming, Bell is now signalling its belief that those advertising dollars cannot be lured back.
This leaves a generation of Canadian musicians wondering if they should even bother filling out grant applications to produce music videos, since it’s increasingly unlikely they’ll ever be aired to a television audience.
“[Much] gave up breaking new artists a long time ago,” says Abraham. “It became almost more of a farm system for a certain kind of artist. Once they’re launched and successful, it seems like they can stay in the Bell Media family forever. But that’s not right for most bands.”
Then again, maybe that’s not so important any more.
Youth culture hasn’t been defined by television for quite some time.
Maybe Much could have repositioned itself, but the window to save Canada’s music video channel seems now to have closed for good.
news@nowtoronto.com | @benjaminboles
