It doesn’t matter that 50 Cent is on your iPod. And it makes no difference that you’ve filled your closets with retro garb from Izod. MTV will remind you today that you’re old.
   More than a few gen-Xers are grumbling that one-time music network MTV has lost its way. Shows like “Newlyweds” suck, they complain, and “Real World,” recently renewed for five more seasons, pales in comparison to the original New York version that brought reality to television nearly a decade before sister network CBS rolled out “Survivor.” 
   And baby boomers, sentimental as they may be about their generation's pop icons, lambaste the network’s uncomfortable third round of the “Osbournes.”
   But deep down even the most ardent MTV hater knows the network continues to skillfully, remarkably, tap into the current interests of teenagers and college kids who in a few years will bemoan the sad state of the network they once loved. Indeed, going into the upfront ad-selling season, MTV will have no trouble proving that it still excels at tapping into the interests of young people.
   MTV, with a median viewer age of 21.6 years, is the top-rated network in the 12-24 demographic it targets with primetime shows like “Real World” and “I Want a Famous Face,” which kicks off its second season later this month, and its afternoon show “TRL.”
   “There is a giant amount of intuition that goes into [developing] our programming,” says Brian Graden, president of entertainment at MTV Networks Music Group. “We have programmers here at MTV who live and breathe youth culture. They are motivated by their own DNA to find what’s next.”
   MTV always has a constant slew of programs in development that are hoped to become the next thing fickle teens want to watch. To that end, the network will premiere the travel show “Trippin’” with “Charlie’s Angel” Cameron Diaz on March 28 and reality show “Meet the Barkers” with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker in April. And “Newlyweds” gets a spinoff with Nick Lachey.
   The network also picked up reality show “My Super Sweet 16” and reality-drama “Laguna Beach” for second seasons.

The network's identity
    MTV is more than a cable network. It’s an easily identifiable brand that advertisers know reaches the coveted but tough-to-find young adults the broadcast networks have for years struggled to attract.
   “MTV has a great story because they pretty much own the young-20s college-age niche,” says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “They obviously got away from music videos, which was their bread and butter when they first started. But there are other places to get that. People are streaming them from the internet, and Fuse network is now what MTV was when it started.” 

The network's target audience
   MTV, its music-focused offshoot MTV2, and its online site target people 12-24 almost to the exclusion of other demographic groups. Still, MTV is a high-rated network in most other demos.
   “Our notion is to stay perpetually young,” says Graden. “Viewers at a certain time in their life may watch a lot of MTV and then perhaps move on to other things. That is why our median age has stayed around 21.”

The network's ratings
    MTV isn’t merely a targeted cable network. From the perspective of viewers, it’s simply a network like Fox and the WB are networks.
   In fact, MTV shows such as “Real World: Philadelphia,” the series’ 15th installment, and specials like “They Wanted a Famous Face” pull ratings among 18-24s that are comparable to those for programs like Fox’s “The Simpsons,” the WB’s “Gilmore Girls,” UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model,” and even CBS’s “Survivor: Palau.”
   In the week of March 7, MTV had three shows, including top-10 ranked “Real World,” among the 30 highest-rated cable and broadcast programs in the 18-24 demographic.

The network's competitive set
   MTV is the highest-rated network among people 12-24. But it stands on top, not alone. Other networks are competitive in the demo, including the comedy-focused TBS, Comedy Central, Nick at Nite, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, Spike TV, USA, BET and ABC Family.

What’s new for 2005/06
  MTV will continue to roll out new shows pretty much all year round and it has annual events like its Music Video Awards and the MTV Movie Awards.
   Graden says MTV’s new and upcoming programs are moving beyond pure unscripted reality shows.
   “Our next wave of programs tend to be adventurous. Some are reality hybrids with integrated writing and acting along with reality elements,” he says. “'Laguna Beach' was shot like a drama, so it blurred the lines between reality and drama. We try to not to repeat ourselves.”

The network's upfront outlook
    MTV’s story this upfront is likely to be a familiar one. And that’s not a bad thing.
   The network will focus on its young viewers, hot new shows, good ratings and the seemingly endless cross-promotional deals offered by its parent company, Viacom. MTV will offer advertisers packages with MTV2, which has a slightly more male skew than the flagship network, and its online site. But there are many other deals available with Viacom’s other properties, including VH1, Comedy Central and young-skewing broadcast network UPN.

The final prognosis
   On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent: 4.5.
   MTV is sitting pretty. It has strong ratings in a demographic advertisers are hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Moreover, several of its new shows, like “My Super Sweet 16,” have generated some of the network’s best ratings.
   Still, MTV faces minor challenges as it meets with media buyers this upfront. Its current lineup is heavy on female-targeted programs, tipping its typically even balance of male and female viewers. And media buyers say because the network is constantly burning through programs there’s often an uneasy sense that the next step MTV takes will be the one that trips it up.