We know of at least one of the top 10 MTV advertisers not about to be swayed by the Parent's Television Council's just-released list of the "Top Ten Corporate Sponsors of MTV Sleaze," otherwise known as the music channel's top advertisers.
That's number five, Viacom, which owns the network. Viacom corporate had no comment on the list, released Wednesday, save to point out that they were themselves on it and it would be curious to expect them to stop advertising on their own channel.
PTC sent letters to all 10 advertisers during MTV Spring Break programming in 2004, asking them to justify their patronage of the network, which has long been on the PTC's hit list for sex, violence and profanity. "These companies must be held accountable for underwriting this material,” said PTC President L. Brent Bozell.
As with all other cable and satellite programming, subscribers have to pay to get MTV--and most do. But a growing number of content critics argue that basic cable has become something of a lifeline service, which would appear to be something to crow about on the cable side except that it also means critics want to apply the same content standards as broadcast TV.
They argue that viewers in the 85% of households receiving their TV via satellite or cable do not distinguish between the channels, broadcast and pay, they get as part of bundled programming tiers over which they have little control.
