As its core audience demographic increasingly abandons television as its primary media choice, MTV has had to redefine itself for a new media world, according to the New York Times.

That redefinition includes multiple initiatives across not only the internet but also mobile devices and more in an effort to achieve brand ubiquity, which hopefully leads to brand loyalty. The network has created multi-platform executions for reality shows such as "Laguna Beach" and other content that originally started on TV.

Other Viacom-owned properties that operate under the MTV Networks umbrella, such as VH1 and Comedy Central, have had less trouble adapting to the times since they lack MTV's history of defining the cultural times. The content they create can adapt more easily, and they can try riskier channels because there isn't so much riding on the success of their ventures.

One of the biggest and most documented shifts MTV has undergone is the reliance on reality programming and the subsequent abandonment of music videos, which are now relegated to a few specific dayparts.