[Cont’d from Part 1]

Keeping the MuchMusic brand fresh needs constant innovation, but the channel also has also worked hard to achieve consistency in its voice and approach. This became more critical as music videos started to migrate to major online destinations like YouTube and Vevo, and Much had to fight harder to remain “the nation’s music station.”

So while its on-air VJs kept coming and going, MuchMusic strived for a consistent voice online, especially on blogs and social media, to keep in tune with the latest music and artist trends.

That style calls for the use of LOLs, winky faces and other emoticons to allow MuchMusic bloggers to converse with fans online as they speak or text in real life.

“It sort of works when you have that digital property and you can be there for the audience in the way they’re talking to each other,” Stockman says.

That consistency, he adds, is key when MuchMusic TV viewers routinely shift to second and third screens for social conversations.

The rub is, despite vast changes in the media consumption habits of young Canadians and Much’s attempts to keep up, the CRTC has compelled the Bell Media-owned brand to keep airing music videos as a condition of licence even as its target audience goes elsewhere for content.

“We’re the only channel that was mandated to air 50% content that our users could get for free elsewhere,” Swierszcz insists.

That includes music video content the rights to which MuchMusic can’t lock up, and content the channel can’t geo-gate or tear down if it ends up on YouTube.

The CRTC in 2010 denied a request by MuchMusic to air fewer music videos and reposition itself with more entertainment fare like Gossip Girl, The Hills and Degrassi due to reduced TV viewership.

The regulator said no to including up to 25% “lifestyle programming” in MuchMusic’s schedule, and to changing the number of music videos that air in the broadcast week.

So MuchMusic’s brand positioning remains as a music-based specialty channel, now at 50% music-video programming.

To accommodate its regulatory mandate, the channel increasingly airs music videos in commercial breaks, or as short clips teasing to longer online content, and to airing more videos in off-peak hours.

In primetime, that leaves more space for long-form content like Degrassi and other scripted series and reality shows. MuchMusic also continues creating shows around videos to retain viewers.

“We’ve found a way to make it work by creating shows around the videos to get viewers,” Stockman says, citing shows such as The Countdown and Video on Trial.

Another example of Much’s attempts to accommodate the radical shift in young people’s relationship to music videos has been increased partnerships with marketers looking to connect with Much’s still-sought-after young demo, in more high-tech ways.

In partnership with Microsoft, the MMVAs were streamed online in HD for the first time in 2010 from six user-selected camera angles.

One angle came via a Nokia smartphone held by a MuchMusic crew member on the red carpet that used QuickPlay software.

Also that year, fans could vote for the MMVAs on Facebook, where MuchMusic has 1.3 million friends, the most of any brand in Canada; American Idol followed with Facebook voting a year later in 2012.

And 2013 saw MuchMusic launch an audience loyalty program, MuchCloser, which has 200,000 members to date and offers rewards like concert tickets, meeting celebrities, exclusive online chats and event access. More significantly, MuchCloser also offers the channel key insights for more precise audience tracking.

“The insights we get from MuchCloser allow us to know so much more about our audience than 10 or 20 years ago. We know what they’re viewing and sharing and what’s doing well online,” Stockman says.

Better audience insights and targeting also enable the MuchMusic brand to more effectively tailor its voice for fans.

“The idea of having a generic voice is no longer something that people want. They want to be talked to directly,” Swierszcz argues.

The MuchMusic brand also has around 500,000 Twitter followers, and targets them before and during live events with specific hashtags, tune-in reminders and live tweeting.

“We continue to fulfill the idea of being interactive and in touch with our audience, and social media is the best way to do that,” Swierszcz explains.

With Facebook, that may mean sharing a comic photo or making pop culture references or comments, and all the while shying away from direct promotion.

“Whether fans come to our site or decide to watch our channel, if they’re connected with our brand, it will pay off somehow with more audience engagement and brand building,” Stockman says.