MTV Plays 'Ridiculousness' Enough to Last Us a Lifetime
Published April 27 2021, 6:24 p.m. ET
MTV has gone through a bunch of different eras over the years. Back in the day, the channel was all about music. Then after the artform of the music video changed, MTV switched over to all kinds of reality and competition shows. Now, even though a lot of their original shows are still popular with their fans, it seems like there has been another big shift for the network.
One of MTV's original shows, Ridiculousness, plays all the time. Like, every day, all day. For a lot of us, it feels like we have to see the hosts Rob Dyrdek, Chanel West Coast, and Sterling Brim at least 20 hours out of a 24 hour period. No offense to them, but it's a lot, and it almost comes off as if MTV refuses to play anything else.
Why does MTV play 'Ridiculousness' so much?
Don't worry, you're not the only person to notice that Ridiculousness is always on. Back in July 2020, Variety reported that in a 168-hour block of time in June, the show played for 113 hours. MTV hasn't spoken about why this is, but a lot of people have their own thoughts about what's going on over there.
For one, many people feel like MTV has just given up on itself and its original content. A few years ago, MTV was known for all its crazy shows that had teenagers and young adults cast as the main attraction. Shows like The Real World, True Life, Next, and more are all popular in their own way at one time. True Life showed the various struggles of people all over, and The Real World and Next gave us different levels of drama to keep us hooked.
It's not clear what exactly is stopping MTV from making shows like that, but it almost seems like the network refuses to try. There are plenty of reality shows that are still made today with big followings. Just one example is 90 Day Fiancé, which has done more than many other shows to contribute to the archive of memes so many of us pull from on a regular basis.
Sure, MTV still has The Challenge (sort of) and Teen Mom, which has been experiencing plummeting ratings, but original reality content just doesn't seem to be MTV's goal anymore.
Streaming services have changed the TV game.
Another reason why MTV may not be the same is that there are so many streaming services taking up the network's thunder. Netflix, Hulu, and more are all just a few bucks a month on their own. Granted that having subscriptions to all kinds of services does add up over time, you still have to subscribe to a few of them to equal the cost of a cable subscription.
MTV is under the umbrella of ViacomCBS, which technically means that it does have its own streaming service: Paramount Plus. However, MTV shares the app with all of ViacomCBS's other properties, like Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
But with ViacomCBS recently deciding to launch the newest The Challenge season, All-Stars, on Paramount Plus only, it might suggest that MTV as a channel isn't ViacomCBS's priority at the moment. Hence why they're not spending money on new content for the channel and why we only ever see Ridiculousness.
Hopefully, with Paramount Plus's launch, MTV could follow along with Disney Plus and use all the nostalgia of people's favorite shows from back in the day to draw in subscribers while they work on original content so many of us are hoping for. This isn't to say that Ridiculousness is a bad show or that the channel should stop playing it, but play it a little less. Please and thank you.
