HEADBANGER’S BALL TO BE REVIVED IN 2010 WITH JOSE MANGIN AS HOST?

First SMNnews.com reported that Jose Mangin revealed in a Metal Injection podcast that Headbanger’s Ball will return to MTV in 2010 with him as the host. Then the sleuths at Metal Insider contacted Jose himself to ask him about the situation. Mangin denies any official full-time launch of the show or his place in it, but he does promise that some plans are in the works for Headbanger’s Ball in 2010. Sounds to me like Mangin is at the very least in the running for the host job but perhaps spilled the beans a bit too soon.

But here’s the thing: can Headbangers Ball even be relevant anymore? In 2009, a TV show about metal hardly seems like it will, or even can, matter at all.

Don’t get me wrong; it’d certainly be cool to have a TV show devoted to metal. We’ve met and hung out with Mangin a few times here in NYC and he seems like a cool and knowledgeable dude who’d be perfect for the role of host. But how can a weekly TV show that plays 10 music videos possibly relevant when it’s competing with the Internet, where an infinite amount of music videos are available on demand any time I want them?? Music videos and band interviews are updated on the Internet constantly from dozens of quality sources and they can be turned around in a matter of hours; what role would a weekly TV show serve? It’s hard to imagine what any TV show could offer that we don’t already have in plentiful abundance?

I can hear the record label promo staff already: “We can debut music videos there and reach a huge audience!” True. But then what? Why not premier a video on the Internet where potential fans can watch, re-watch, send to their friends, post to their social networking profiles, etc? A TV view is a one-way transaction that shuts down interactivity and potential new fans outside its immediate reach from the get-go.

At this point I feel like any yearning for a metal TV show is actually redirected nostalgia for what Headbanger’s Ball meant during our formative years. At that time it was incredibly important; it was how we found out about new metal, heard our favorite songs, and saw what our heroes looked like. We couldn’t get that stuff anywhere else, but now we can get all of that instantly, and more importantly today’s generation of teenagers are growing up relying on the Internet for music discovery. A metal TV show just seems archaic to me. Why would I watch it? Give me one good reason. Doesn’t matter who the host is or what’s on it.

-VN