MTV Says ‘TRL’ Isn’t Canceled, It’s Expanding
Despite initial reports that MTV was cancelling its newly debuted TRL reboot, the network says the franchise will actually be expanding.
MTV president Chris McCarthy spoke to The Hollywood Reporter following a post from TMZ that claimed the show was getting the ax, telling the outlet that not only is the show "thriving," but that by summer, they'll begin airing three versions of the program. The already scheduled afternoon edition will return April 9 as planned, with morning and late-night offshoots to follow.
"TRL has delivered incredible growth on linear, and we've experienced two to three times the growth in our video streams, and TRL is a big piece of it — and that's why we're expanding it; we want more," McCarthy explained.
MTV has already begun piloting a late-night version of the franchise, Total Request Late-Night, which launched February 19 and has been airing twice a week at 11 p.m. It will expand to four nights a week come summer, McCarthy said.
The half-hour series is currently helmed by Girl Code alum Nessa, but is expecting to add other rotating hosts. Amy Pham, D.C. Young Fly, Erik Zachary, Lawrence Jackson, and Tamara Dhia lead the afternoon iteration. A host for A.M., which will run for an hour, has not yet been determined.
The late-night version will serve partially as an aftershow for MTV tentpoles like Jersey Shore, as well as include music, live performances, and celebrity guests. Total Request A.M, meanwhile, will be a commercial-free block of "pure music play," McCarthy told THR, and feature a more traditional video countdown with music performances.
“We have no plans of not having TRL on our linear network,” McCarthy said. “There won’t be a time when we don’t have it on. The show has been killing it for us.”
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