Chris McCarthy

It’s a good bet MTV will look somewhat different a year or two from now —and McCarthy and Diaz will be the chief architects. The network got the backing of Viacom chief Bob Bakish as a flagship network despite having lower viewership than VH1 in 2016, but Bakish wants to scale back on scripted programming and return to the net’s nuts and bolts of reality and, drumroll, music and live events. VH1 will continue full steam ahead, with a combination of unscripted and scripted series, including new music-themed “The Breaks” and “Daytime Divas.” The network also already benefited big time from an internal shift. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” drew nearly 1 million viewers for its VH1 debut after it jumped over from Logo last month.

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