MTV SHAKEUP: ATKINS OUT, VH1'S MCCARTHY TAKES OVER

Hours after MTV President Sean Atkins VH1’s President Chris McCarthy was given the reins at MTV. Less than five months after being upped to president of VH1 and Logo TV, he becomes President of MTV as well, continuing to report to Doug Herzog, President of the Viacom Music & Entertainment Group.

Deadline reported that Herzog had decided to give McCarthy oversight of MTV, leading to Atkins deciding to leave.

“Chris has infused every brand he’s led with creativity, strategic clarity and distinctive talent – driving results that defy this extraordinarily competitive landscape,” Herzog said in statement. “MTV is an iconic brand full of opportunity, and Chris has demonstrated the vision and ability to grow its expansive reach and powerful cultural impact.”

With a new leader, Herzog is again attempting to end MTV’s ratings slide among adults 18-49. It has been five years since MTV was a Top 10 network—it’s lucky to get into the Top 30 now—and for the last several years its audience is less than that of VH1 .

Atkins is stepping down after just a year in the job, staying on as a consultant through January. Having started to put music back into MTV, he oversaw the makeover of MTV News and launched new series such as Mary + Jane and Loosely Exactly Nicole. Like many a former MTV president, ratings at the cable network continued to slide. Variety reported that in the nine weeks from late August through mid-October, MTV’s ratings in the 12-34 demographic were down an average of 17% from 2015.

In an email to staff, Atkins wrote: “I will leave it to Doug to fill you in on the details, but suffice it to say this was in no way an easy decision for me. This has been an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience, and I thank every single one of you for that. … We’ve moved aggressively to recapture music as our muse with projects like Made in Compton, Wonderland and Virtually Famous just to name a few. We’re taking the time and care to do smart thinking around the brand and vision for MTV, including bringing in new media and creative agencies to back our new brand campaign. We’ve continued to invest into our future with the successful growth of our Snapchat Discover channel, social footprint and MTV News. And we’ve continued to be an incredible social voice with our Elect This campaign and launch of our new documentary unit. This tremendous creative effort is a recipe for success and it will pay off.

“You will all be in very good hands as I move on, I assure you. And I promise I will be watching and cheering as you continue to build up from the great foundation we created together.”