Even MTV is preparing for war

OK, now it’s serious. The prospect of war with Iraq suddenly ranks up there with drug abuse as primary preoccupations for MTV viewers. So the network, like other specialty channels, is scrambling to pound out its own particular drumbeats of war.

MTV, along with PBS, A&E;, the History Channel, Nickelodeon and others are among the non-news channels that have decided war is enough of a possibility that programming must address the subject, and contingency plans need to be drawn up.

MTV announced last week it will step up its news reporting on the Iraq situation, in response to recent MTV polling that shows its viewers are now getting interested in the topic. MTV’s corporate sibling BET has a Thursday special planned. PBS is juggling its lineup of shows, such as the science-themed “Nova,” to reflect the news. Local public stations, looking a couple weeks from now, are pondering how -- or if -- March pledge-drive specials such as “Rhythm, Love & Soul,” on R&B; music, will play if the bombs are dropping.

Since November, MTV’s regularly scheduled “What’s Going On?” segments have tackled such basics as “Who Is Saddam?” and “What Is Iraq?” This week, the network will go a step further, with a prime-time special on Thursday and added reports in its daily news packages.

The “MTV News Now Special Report,” at 8 p.m. Thursday, will examine how a war would affect the network’s largely young adult audience. MTV News anchor Gideon Yago will travel to Kuwait, and MTV’s daily news packages will feature reports on how the international community is reacting to the threat of war. The network’s cinema-verite series “True Life” will feature young soldiers preparing to ship out to war.

The new programming resulted from polling in which young adults said their most important concern is the possibility of a war with Iraq, equaled only by drug abuse. “We started with polling, we always do,” said Stephen Friedman, MTV’s vice president of strategic partnerships and public affairs, in explaining how the network reached a decision that the topic warranted an MTV attack.

Despite nonstop newspaper, network news, cable news and public radio reporting on the topic, more than half of the 600 surveyed in MTV’s recent national poll by Peter D. Hart Associates said they were “uninformed” about the Iraq situation. Friedman explained that while, “yes, there’s a lot of information out there, I just think they didn’t feel it was quite speaking to them.”

According to MTV’s research, Friedman said, “our audience is feeling like they’re hearing all kinds of things but not getting the answers they’re looking for. We saw an opening to speak to them, and speak to them directly about how this will affect them,” addressing such issues as a revived draft.

BET is also starting to look at how it will address the war issues. The topic is likely to be front and center in a one-hour question session between an audience of high school students and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, airing at 8 p.m. Thursday, opposite MTV’s own special. “BET Open Mic: Secretary Colin Powell Speaks to Our Youth” will be moderated by Ed Bradley, a “60 Minutes” co-anchor from BET’s other corporate sibling, CBS News.

CBS News said it is exploring how it will work with both BET and MTV on other war coverage.

Next week, A&E;’s “Biography” series will program a “Front Page” theme week, with profiles of key players in the conflict, starting with Powell on Monday.

If war breaks out, however, the network is expected to air its regular programming, absent any inappropriate titles.

A&E;’s sibling the History Channel is planning a “Defending America” special, focusing on the history of homeland security, for March 1. And if war breaks out, their contingency plan is expanded use of newsman Arthur Kent, the “Scud Stud” from the Gulf War in 1991.

Other outlets are making plans to essentially not change their plans. Both Nickelodeon and PBS will maintain their regular children’s programming (PBS’ during the daytime only) to provide, in their words, a “safe-haven” for children, as they did during the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Local PBS stations, however, have the option of going their own way, and some are expected to pick up BBC reporting should war break out.

In primetime, PBS’ “Frontline” on Thursday has a regularly scheduled program on the White House policy battles that have led the Bush administration to pursue the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime, while “Nova” made a last-minute schedule change to add shows on “dirty bombs” and bio-terrorism for Tuesday. If war does break out, “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” is planning to expand its evening reporting for at least the first few days, as will “Washington Week.”

But a bigger issue could be the March pledge drives, scheduled to run from March 1 through 16, almost the exact window that many war-watchers are predicting a conflict could start. If one does, PBS is advising its stations to pause their pledge drives, which provide a crucial portion of their already crunched funding, and many are expected to do so. In that event, PBS will also provide a schedule of repeat programming for stations to use at their discretion.