MTV has denied reports it has cancelled TRL. In response, network chief Chris McCarthy assures THR the reboot will return for April in expanded form, airing three versions (morning and late-night, to accompany the afternoon edition):
Network president Chris McCarthy (who also oversees VH1 and Logo) spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about his plan to expand beyond the current afternoon edition — which, contrary to reports, will return in April as planned — as well as morning and late-night offshoots. All told, a version of TRL will air three times a day on the linear network starting this summer, McCarthy says.
“It’s thriving. We’re expanding the franchise and will have three TRLs by summer,” McCarthy tells THR. (The revival’s October premiere drew just 166,000 live same-day viewers.) “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.”
The Total Request Live renewal will serve as Season 2 (Season 21 overall).
Earlier, TMZ reported the show’s now rejected cancellation:
We obtained an email sent to employees informing them the series is being canceled once again. As you might know, TRL was brought back to the network in October, after being off the air for nearly 9 years.
According to the message … TRL will not be returning April 9 as it was scheduled to after going on hiatus in February. Instead, the afternoon show will “pivot to short form content that will be featured on social and digital platforms.”
Stay tuned as we now monitor the renew/cancel status of TRL Season 3…
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