page_title: MTV
section_title: Recent reality programs
hierarchical_section_title: MTV / History / 2008–present / Recent reality programs
caption_attribution_description: Jersey shore guys, shooting in Florence, may 2011
context_page_description: MTV is an American multinational cable channel, launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks division of ViacomCBS, also headquartered in New York City.
  MTV was originally first tested on December 1, 1977 as Sight on Sound, but was officially launched in 1981, and originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys", but in the years since its inception, the network significantly toned down its focus on music in favor of original reality programming targeting teenagers and young adults.
  MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent, with approximately 90.6 million American households in the United States receiving the channel as of January 2016.
context_section_description: In late 2009, MTV shifted its focus back to Real World-style reality programming with the premiere of Jersey Shore, a program that brought high ratings to the channel and also caused controversy due to some of its content.
  With backlash towards what some consider too much superficial content on the network, a 2009 New York Times article also stated the intention of MTV to shift its focus towards more socially conscious media, which the article labels "MTV for the Obama era." Shows in that vein included T.I.'s Road to Redemption and Fonzworth Bentley's finishing school show From G's to Gents.
  The channel also aired a new show around this time titled 16 and Pregnant, which documented the lives of teenagers expecting babies. This had a follow-up show after the first season titled Teen Mom, which follows some of the teens through the first stages with their newborns.
  MTV found further success with The Buried Life, a program about four friends traveling across the country to check off a list of "100 things to do before I die" and helping others along the way. Another recent reality program is MTV's Hired, which follows the employment interviewing process; candidates meet with career coach Ryan Kahn from Dream Careers and at the end of each episode one candidate lands the job of their dreams. In 2012, Punk'd returned with a revolving door of new hosts per episode. Meanwhile, spin-offs from Jersey Shore such as The Pauly D Project and Snooki & JWoww were produced. MTV announced plans to re-enter the late-night comedy space in 2012, with Nikki & Sara Live, an unscripted series by comedians Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer. The program initially aired weekly from MTV's studios in Times Square.
caption: Pauly D and The Situation of Jersey Shore in 2011
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