MTV Networks' Judy McGrath: "Part of a Lunatic Fringe"

quotOne of my proudest moments was when someone accused me of being an engine of social destruction I thought it was a great name for a band and I also realized what a compliment it wasquot MTV Networks Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath told me during our recent Lunch at Michael39s quotThe gift of our company and of music is that they keep you forever young and in touch with social issues and culture Our networks are diverse which threaten some people It39s eclectic and fun I always want to be near people who are inventing pop culture and being responsive to social issuesquotAs her Cobb Salad arrived chopped mixed and light on dressing and as Priscilla Presley chatted at the next table with CBS39 Jack Sussman Judy reminisced about sitting with her dad listening to Earl Hines Sarah Vaughn Count Basie Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald quotHe taught me about the power of personal expression in the creative arts Both my parents were social workers and gave me a real sense of social responsibility so I always think of music and social responsibility in the same sentence and still believe music is a way to a better lifequot Judy remains committed to imparting those values not only to her own tenyear old daughter but to generations of MTV Networks39 viewers around the globeWhen Judy graduated from Cedar Crest College near her home town of Scranton Pennsylvania her dream was to write about music for Rolling Stone magazine but instead she landed at Conde Nast39s Mademoiselle where she was hired to write about food quotWhen they hired me I was using my oven to store my sweaters I39m the single worst cook on the planet For years when our doorbell rang my daughter would yell 39the food39s here39quot she laughed quotI was in the job for a few months and I turned in a story with a recipe that included 10 pounds of lard a slight error so they suggested I move over to fashion I wasn39t much better I39d wear white shoes with black stockingsquot But it worked well enough for Judy to become Senior Writer and to move to Glamour as Copy Chief where she spent four years quotediting stories about model39s party tips and why some women like men who don39t like women and whyquotIn 1981 Judy was organizing her resume and portfolio to again approach Rolling Stone but two friends who worked for a startup TV company called The Movie Channel told her about a new cable network they were planning called MTV quotIt was November 1981 and the channel had gone on the air in August It wasn39t available in Manhattan and I39d never seen it I interviewed with promotion director Fred Seibert and took a writing test I compared waiting to get MTV in Manhattan to Waiting for GodotquotquotFred offered me a job anywayquot Judy smiled quotand promised he would rid me of literary pretentiousness At Conde Nast they had an established voice and point of view that had worked forever We weren39t there to challenge the status quo At MTV I saw possessed people an antiauthoritarian attitude and they were inventing something I thought might be fun When I resigned at Glamour my editor told me 39cable is so tacky MTV will never last39 But I was creatively oriented and the MTV crew were consumer oriented and we were trying to find a business in the margins Everybody loved music and saw the emerging power of music on televisionquotquotEven back thenquot she continued quotI remember the conversations were always about brands We knew that MTV needed to remain meaningful even after Martha Quinn left which was unthinkableamp8230 and that was very different for television identitiesamp8230 which were pretty staid at the timequot Judy recalls working with The Who39s Pete Townsend on a promotional shoot and thenpromotion director John Sykes who is now developing new channels for MTV Networks convincing an unconvinced Townsend to say quotI want my MTVquot on camera quotPete would growl something else and Sykes would say 39that was great now say 39I want my MTV39 And the talent inevitably always didquotquotWe realized MTV was succeeding when Tom Freston called from Texas and told us Duran Duran who had a video on MTV but wasn39t being played on the radio was selling out at record stores in the Texas towns that had MTV And then we staged our first annual New Year39s Eve Rock 39N Roll Ball on West 44th Street and we invited tons of people and they actually came We walked in and there was Keith Haring Jean Michel Basquiat Bow Wow Wow and John Belushi Together There were people from the East Village arts scene the music scene and the SNL crowd There weren39t that many places where art culture and music came together and there still aren39tquot A year later Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd hosted the black tie MTV Music Video Awards at Radio City Music Hall where Madonna sang quotLike a Virginquot in a wedding gown quotFast forward ten years quot Judy recalls quotand young people were coming to work at MTV with the same feeling I had toward Rolling Stone We became sort of like OzquotJudy credits Seibert Freston Bob Pittman and several others for MTV39s success but especially credits quota lot of very good women who don39t always get recognition for their contributions like Marcy Brafman Gail Sparrow and Joan Meyers We were all part of a lunatic fringe that created a unique phenomenonquot Today Judy oversees the MTV Networks empire that includes 100 MTV networks globally Nickelodeon VH1 TV Land Comedy Central Spike TV CMT Nick at Nite the new LOGO channel serving gay and lesbian consumers MTV2 The N and MTV and Nickelodeon Films and the company39s online and digital businesses She has succeeded in combining her passion for music with social responsibility through the award winning quotSave the Musicquot campaign at VH1 the quotChoose or Losequot campaign quotRock the Votequot quotFight for Your Rightsquot series and prosocial initiatives at each of her networksShe39s equally active in the local community serving on several boards and Judy and her husband Michael Corbett they39re from the same hometown are especially involved in and passionate about the work being done by their daughter39s school the Stephen Gaynor School on Manhattan39s Upper West Side Developed for students with learning disabilities the private familyrun school is building a larger facility that will offer free afterschool access to children in the neighborhood who require but cannot afford the school39s servicesJudy acknowledges the challenges for the music industry today noting quotmy ten year old daughter and her friends think music is free flowing out of a computer and for them personalization is a way of life The N is the most brilliant new network we have because it reinforces that young people understand the world and have a lot to say about itquotJudy strongly believes quotspecial interests should be represented in the mass culturequot believes in Air America and quoteven Fox Newsquot hopes Al Gore39s new channel is successful and is convinced new media technologies are empowering global creativity In an quotunusualquot week during which she would see a taping of VH139s Storytellers with Coldplay at the Brooklyn Academy of Music attend both the U2 and Bruce Springsteen concerts and help honor Viacom cochairman Tom Freston at a River Keepers39 fundraising event with a special performance by Elvis Costello Judy was glowing with enthusiasm quotI have the best job in the worldquot she told meHer personal tastes in entertainment tend toward the quotliterate and wordyquot a preference she called attention to by naming her Havenese dog Beckett Judy quotwatches too much TVquot her favorite recent movie is quotCrashquot and her musical favorites include Neil Young alltime favorite Lauryn Hill one of the greatest records of all time Nirvana exciting and influential Tom Waits Keith Urban the Shins Ryan Adams Mary J Blige The Arcade Fire JayZ Steve Earle and Public Enemy Judy39s musical tastes confirm she39s stayed in touch with the cultural mainstream even as she39s moved up the ranks at MTV NetworksI39m sure she39d be proud to still be considered quotpart of a lunatic fringequot that39s in touch with social issues and culture possessed with reinventing television and media and constantly challenging the status quoTo contact Judy McGrath send an email to contactmediavillagecom

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MTV Networks' Judy McGrath: "Part of a Lunatic Fringe"

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MTV Networks' Judy McGrath: "Part of a Lunatic Fringe"

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