VH1 Aims to Match News Credibility of . . . MTV

There was a lot of snickering in the music industry in 1986 when Rolling Stone music editor Kurt Loder resigned to anchor MTV’s fledgling news programming. What was he going to cover? The hair styles in Motley Crue videos?

But MTV News had enough juice by the early ‘90s for President Clinton to credit the channel with helping him get to the White House.

Now MTV’s sister channel, VH1, is hoping to build its own news credibility by hiring Rolling Stone senior features editor Anthony DeCurtis and Musician magazine editor Bill Flanagan.

Don’t look for VH1 to host a Clinton-Dole debate there next year, though. Rather than motivate voters, the hope is to motivate viewers to take seriously an outlet that has existed in MTV’s shadow for more than a decade--both in terms of programming and ratings.

“VH1 has done a great job of grabbing people as they channel-surf by,” says Flanagan, who will join VH1 as off-camera editorial director in June. “Now we have the opportunity to create programming that will make people plan their time around it.”

The difference between the two channels’ news needs is the difference between their respective audiences, says Linda Corradina, VH1’s senior vice president of programming and production.

For MTV, covering presidential politics and other hard news has been a valuable service for viewers in the 12-24 age range who may not get much news from other sources. But it would be redundant for VH1’s viewers, who are in the 25-49 range.

“Our audience actually watches CNN and reads the newspaper,” Corradina says. “When Oklahoma City happens, they’ll turn to CNN. We, though, can do sidebar stories that will be relevant, such as if there are plans for a benefit concert or something.”

DeCurtis, as editorial director of VH1 News, will be an on-screen correspondent and commentator and will oversee the editorial content of the news programs. Flanagan will primarily develop “long-form” projects, including artist-oriented specials and performance shows.

But just because they won’t be going head to head with CNN, DeCurtis says, doesn’t mean that VH1 News will be soft.

“With an audience as sophisticated as what VH1 is going for, you can speak pretty straight to them,” he says. “Coming from Rolling Stone, music has always meant politics and cultural issues to me and that will be reflected here. But it may be a while before we’re doing interviews with the President . . . except maybe as a saxophone player.”