After Radical Revamp, MTV Enters Upfront With Its First Ratings Momentum in Years

It was exactly one year ago that MTV president Chris McCarthy unveiled his strategy for breathing new life into the struggling network with a mix of live and unscripted shows. While he projected confidence about the ambitious plan at the time, McCarthy now admits he wasn’t so sure it would work.

As his new shows rolled out on the network last spring and summer, “I had a pit in my stomach,” he admitted. “Are we actually going to be able to pull this off?” The answer came in June, which was “a turning point” as his new shows started to gain traction, and MTV reversed its five-year ratings decline.

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