Mtv Networks Inc

When "The Real World" premiered in 1992 on MTV, it created a standard in reality television: It cooped up Mormons and gay people and crude bike messengers and splayed their tiny culture wars on TV. From the beginning, "Real World" participants sought to give voice to their political and personal agendas.

Max Abrams had no idea that he was being dragged into a multimillion-dollar corporate war between two media giants when he rolled into the Sherman Oaks headquarters of his father's company, Sober Vacations International, on Wednesday morning. But the first clue that he was caught in the middle of something ugly came in voicemails left overnight on the company's phone answering system. "This one person was mumbling, 'Don't take my Nickelodeon away, you dummies,' " Abrams said in an interview.

If there is one thing that every studio, network and cable channel has in common these days, it's that they are all frantically obsessed with finding the Next Hot New Thing -- i.e. a compelling pop culture concept or phenomenon that will spawn a new hit franchise.

Brian Graden, the MTV executive who shaped pop culture by shepherding such boundary-breaking hits as "South Park," "The Osbournes" and "Pimp My Ride" onto television, is leaving when his contract expires in December. The executive, although not a household name, had an influential job overseeing programming for several Viacom Inc. signature cable channels: MTV, VH1, Country Music Television and Logo. His position will not be filled, MTV said.

cairo -- It was a boyhood of miniskirts and stern-faced imams. As Ahmed abu Haiba grew into a man, he felt a kinship with the clerics who recited the Koran in badly lighted television studios, but he feared they didn't stand a chance against the new Western temptations of pop divas pouting about carnal pleasures and broken hearts.

On FIRST blush, MTV's "The Paper" (10:30 p.m. Mondays) is a sort of penance. It airs directly after "The Hills," the semi-scripted docu-soap that has become the network's defining show, thanks to its stars' insidious infiltration into the world of actual celebrity. "The Hills" may air for only a half hour each week, but in the way of TMZ, parental love and running water, it is always on. By comparison, "The Paper" should be a palate cleanser.

A high-profile executive at MTV Networks is leaving the company as part of upheaval among Viacom Inc.'s executive ranks, a Viacom spokesman said Thursday. Michael Wolf, a former McKinsey & Co. managing partner and a well-known media strategist, will step down as MTV Networks' president after spending a little more than a year at the company. Nicole Browning, president of affiliate sales and marketing at MTV Networks and a 20-year veteran, also is leaving the company, Viacom said.

Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks will cut 250 jobs nationwide to focus more on faster growing digital entertainment, according to an internal memo circulated Monday. The layoffs represent about 6% of the company's 4,500 worldwide workforce, and are expected to cut across the company's operations. MTV Networks operates well-known television channels such as Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and Spike TV.

On Thursday at 10 p.m., MTV will premiere a series about some Southern folks who strike it rich, load up their vehicle and move into a huge L.A. mansion to live the good life. No, it's not another version of "The Beverly Hillbillies." But it could be called "The Bel-Air Blingbillies."

Though it might appear that shows like "Laguna Beach," "The Real World" and "The Hills" have defined young people better than any others, MTV is moving away from high-gloss and into homemade. In an attempt to reconnect with young audiences that have drifted from the channel recently, MTV will begin to roll out series that showcase the best of the Web, require heavy viewer participation and feature the lives of real teens.