To not sound like a complete guy-in-his-early-40s cliché, however MTV was a lot higher once I was a child. Yeah, yeah, everyone knows the story. MTV broke limitations, modified music, and revolutionized popular culture within the Nineteen Eighties. “I Need My MTV.” Groundbreaking. Iconic. Yada yada yada. Let’s be sincere: the late Nineties and early 2000s had been the true golden period of MTV. The community’s peak as an leisure model and a worldwide cultural drive.
Contemplate this:
On any random weekday in that period, MTV’s programming lineup was an ideal storm of music, chaos, and persona. Mornings and early afternoons had been filled with music movies, main into the cultural juggernaut that was Carson Daly’s “TRL.” Then got here the night marathon of must-watch originals that outlined a technology, together with:
- Cribs
- Singled Out
- Highway Guidelines
- The Actual World
- Laguna Seashore
- Pimp My Trip
- Teen Mother
- True Life
- Making the Band
- Beavis and Butt-Head
- The Tom Inexperienced Present
- Loveline
- Jackass
- The Osbournes
After which there have been the MTV Awards Exhibits—stay, unpredictable, and infrequently legitimately stunning. Again then, something might occur on that stage. Not a “deliberate controversy,” however actual, unscripted chaos—on-air feuds, weird pranks, and jaw-dropping moments that immediately entered popular culture historical past.
Oh, and in the event you had been watching when the display screen immediately reduce to black and Kurt Loder’s critical face appeared after that typewriter clack-clack “MTV Information” intro, you knew one thing world-changing had simply occurred. These moments had been seismic.
MTV right now… sucks. It isn’t solely their fault. Younger individuals watch music movies on YouTube and doubtless have by no means had cable of their total lives. However a part of MTV’s present state of suck is definitely self-inflicted. Their content material lineup is laughable. What I am about to point out you nearly appears faux. I picked a random day subsequent week, November 5. Right here is MTV’s ACTUAL programming schedule:
- 12:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 12:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 1:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 1:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 2:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 2:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 3:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 3:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 4:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 4:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 5:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 5:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 6:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 6:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 7:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 7:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 8:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 8:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 9:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 9:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 10:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 10:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 11:00 AM – Ridiculousness
- 11:30 AM – Ridiculousness
- 12:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 12:30 PM – Ridiculousness
- 1:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 1:30 PM – Ridiculousness
- 2:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 2:30 PM – Ridiculousness
- 3:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 3:30 PM – The Problem
- 5:00 PM – The Problem
- 6:30 PM – Ridiculousness
- 7:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 7:30 PM – Ridiculousness
- 8:00 PM – Ridiculousness
- 8:30 PM – Ridiculousness
That is 16.5 hours of Ridiculousness out of twenty-two broadcast hours. The lineup does not present what occurs after 8:30 pm. I believe they play films.
As it’s possible you’ll know, “Ridiculousness” is hosted by Rob Dyrdek. Rob is a former skilled skateboarder from Ohio who someway turned a scrappy skate profession into one of the quietly profitable TV empires of the previous 20 years. How large of an empire? Because of a lawsuit, we really know the true particulars. And they’re… ridiculous.
(Picture by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
A Ridiculous Fortune
After making a reputation for himself within the mid-2000s with MTV hits like “Rob & Huge” and “Fantasy Manufacturing facility,” Dyrdek pitched the community on an thought he described as a “cool, fast-paced model of America’s Funniest House Movies.” That idea turned “Ridiculousness” – a half-hour present the place he, co-hosts Chanel West Coast and Steelo Brim, and a rotating forged of movie star company watch and touch upon viral fail clips.
What started as a modest filler present quietly grew into the cornerstone of MTV’s total model. Its components was low cost, versatile, and infinitely repeatable: countless web clips, fast edits, and Dyrdek’s calm, deadpan humor anchoring all of it. Earlier than lengthy, “Ridiculousness” wasn’t simply one other present—it was MTV itself.
In the event you’re a fan, there’s some dangerous information. Earlier right now, MTV formally introduced that “Ridiculousness” has been canceled. The excellent news? The community produced a staggering 46 seasons and almost 1,700 episodes over its 14-year run—sufficient content material to maintain airing in syndication for a few years to return.
Lawsuit Reveals Wage & Earnings
“Ridiculousness” is not simply hosted by Rob Dyrdek, it is also produced by his personal firm, Superjacket Productions. For years, Superjacket operated as a quiet revenue engine inside MTV’s ecosystem, churning out tons of of episodes yearly whereas holding prices low and margins excessive. However final month, the corporate filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety, citing what it described as “vital monetary pressure brought on by lowered funds from MTV and ongoing disputes with lenders.”
In accordance with Superjacket, MTV’s determination earlier this 12 months to change its manufacturing orders and fee schedule dramatically reduce income, leaving the corporate unable to service its debt. Lenders, nevertheless, accused Dyrdek’s group of mismanagement and pushed to grab management of the corporate, setting off a high-stakes authorized battle over the rights to “Ridiculousness” and its profitable manufacturing contracts.
Quick ahead to right now, and a brand new submitting in that chapter case has revealed simply how a lot cash Dyrdek personally earned from the present — and the numbers are staggering. Courtroom paperwork reviewed by Bloomberg Information present that MTV has been paying Dyrdek a minimum of $32.5 million per 12 months and that it was on observe, earlier than the cancellation, to extend his wage to $45 million yearly below renewal choices that will have prolonged manufacturing by way of 2029.
This is how Dyrdek’s pay construction breaks down:
- Government Producer Charge: $21,000 per episode
- On-Digital camera Charge: Begins at $61,000 per episode, rising to as a lot as $101,000 close to the top of the contract
- Efficiency Bonuses: $2.5 million every time MTV orders a brand new 168-episode batch (usually twice a 12 months)
- Fairness Participation: 12% fairness stake in Superjacket’s enterprise worth above $210 million
- Insurance coverage Coverage: $200 million “key man” life insurance coverage coverage
On that final level: Key man insurance coverage is a coverage an organization takes out on an government whose demise or incapacitation would trigger extreme monetary hurt to the enterprise. Rob Dyrdek is taken into account so important to Superjacket’s success that the corporate carries a $200 million key man coverage to guard towards the monetary fallout if he had been ever to die or change into unable to work.
So simply how profitable has Ridiculousness been for Rob?
If you complete all of it up, even with the smaller wage he earned in earlier seasons, throughout 14 years and almost 1,700 episodes, Rob Dyrdek has earned round $300 million from the present. An quantity that rivals a few of tv’s most iconic syndication windfalls.
$32.5 million per 12 months minimal! $300 million complete earnings! From Ridiculousness! Now you may perceive why we at the moment peg Rob Dyrdek’s internet value at $200 million. Now you know the way Rob has been in a position to purchase not one, however THREE houses within the ultra-exclusive Mulholland Estates gated neighborhood in Los Angeles. Rob has spent greater than $25 million buying properties in Mulholland Estates, which is residence to celebrities reminiscent of Kendall Jenner, Christina Aguilera, Vanna White, Paris Hilton, Huge Sean, and DJ Khaled. Rob’s first Mullholland Estates buy occurred in 2015, when he paid $10 million for an undeveloped 3-acre lot, the biggest lot in the neighborhood. It stays undeveloped as of this writing.
However this is my favourite reality about Ridiculousness…
Theme Tune Royalties
Rob and his castmates are usually not the one individuals who have made a fortune off “Ridiculousness.” The present’s theme tune is “Uncontrollable Urge,” by the Nineteen Eighties synth pop band Devo. The tune wasn’t a lot of successful when it was launched in 1978. It was written by Devo’s co-lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh. As the only songwriter, Mark will get paid a royalty EVERY TIME “Ridiculousness” airs. And as you may see, “Ridiculousness” airs… lots. In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this 12 months, Mark pulled again the curtain on these tune royalties. Mark’s LIFETIME Spotify royalties quantity to round $150,000. Not simply “Uncontrollable Urge,” for all of Devo’s catalog. In a mean 12 months, Mark has made $1 MILLION in “Ridiculous” royalties 🙂
