MTV’s ‘TRL’ Reboot Isn’t Canceled—It’s Actually Expanding!
After word spread Wednesday that MTV was canceling its Total Request Live reboot following low ratings, the tides have changed. TRL isn’t just coming back, it’s growing!
“It’s thriving. We’re expanding the franchise and will have three TRLs by summer,” network president Chris McCarthy told The Hollywood Reporter.
He continued, “TRL has delivered incredible growth on linear and we’ve experienced two to three times the growth in our video streams and TRL is big piece of it—and that’s why we’re expanding it; we want more.”
Specifically, the show is adding morning and evening editions to the lineup. MTV has been airing TRL two nights a week since February 19, and the summer agenda will up the ante to four nights a week.
McCarthy also revealed that the morning version will be pure music and commercial-free.
“We’ve always had the March hiatus planned,” McCarthy said. “We’re expanding to target different demographics and day parts… All three [versions of TRL] will be airing by June. We have no plans of not having TRL on our linear network; there won’t be a time when we don’t have it on. The show has been killing it for us.”
TRL premiered in October 2017 in its new studio in Times Square, New York.
