A conversation with Adam Ware, C.E.O. of Mnet Media (@MnetLA)

Let’s face it, very few channels have the quality of programming that could capture our attention for many hours at a time. While we all have our favorite stations, how many of them warrant that special place where if you were to leave it running all day you wouldn’t feel the urge to turn away? It’s like having that total album experience, where you see every song from top to bottom as part of a whole (read: Rhythm Nation 1814 or Jay-Z’s American Gangster).

I have a few television channels like that: MSNBC, HGTV, Food Network…

…and now… Mnet!

Mnet began broadcasting this past December and features a variety of programming focused on subjects including music, fashion, anime and drama.

I had a chance to fire off a few questions to Adam Ware, President & C.E.O. of Mnet Media. I was able to ask him about what makes Mnet unique, where he sees it in five years and what music is he rocking nowadays. Check out the entire conversation below:

How does Mnet plan to distinguish itself and set itself apart from other available Asian-themed programming?

There is not a whole lot of English language Asian themed programming available on tv today. G4 has some Japanese competition shows. There is anime on adult swim and other places. Wipeout on abc, but that’s a format show, not an import.

And when it comes to tv networks there is only one…Myx TV. And they tend to focus on Northern California as they are based in the bay area. Also, there programming is almost exclusively music themed.

There are a ton of “in-language” networks on TV, but their programming appeals to ex-pats or for people that speak that particular language. They ignore English and as a result can’t cross over.

I’ve always found this odd. There is BET, TV One, Si-TV, mun2, MTV Tres and LATV. All dedicated to emerging minority groups and in English. But, when it comes to Asian Americans the immediate assumption is that they don’t speak English and if they do they are probably already watching FOX or MTV.

If you think about it, Hip Hop was shaped by the mainly inner city experiences of African Americans, Latino culture is a mix of second gen audiences in New York, Miami, Texas and California.  And these youth culture trends have crossed over to other ethnic groups. From the city to the mall and beyond.

Asian pop culture is huge. Movies, toys, fashion, gadgets, TV and now music. And it is fueled by the next generation….young English speaking Asian Americans.

Mnet is a network that reflects all of Asian pop culture.

It is made here…in LA…100% English..

We are nationwide…some 28 cities and growing…

We have movies, music, dramas, anime (only network offering live action anime with Blood Hound and Great Horror Family), comedy, etc.

And we are producing three original series that premiere later in 1st quarter.
- BEATS PER MNET (daily series that is part Tosh.0 – part TRL – and part Talk Soup
- short notice (short films straight from the festivals and made by the most innovative Asian American film makers on the scene)
- A talk show with James Kyson-Lee from Heroes

Finally…there is the management. We’ve been in US TV for a while. Have launched 7 networks and produced many TV networks. We do this because we are passionate about the space. This isn’t just another “library” channel for us. We really believe that we are building the next MTV.

Who would you say is Mnet’s target audience? Can you describe a typical Mnet watcher?

Asian Americans and fans of Asian pop culture. Somewhere between 18 and 34, men and women. Want a channel for them. Mnet’s tag line is “a channel for me”. Our mantra is: where Asian pop lives.

Mnet's Current Programming Service Locations

How do you plan to incorporate social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) to further engage with your audience?

More to come on this…but our new site launches in early February. Being designed by somethingmassive.com. Check out their site. The whole point of our site is to connect fans of Asian pop culture to each other and the content they prefer. We don’t want to just build a site that streams our shows. That’s all pretty boring and played out with YouTube, Hulu and the rest.

As someone who’s never run a channel, can you tell me what your day-to-day operations are like?

Wake up. Eat something healthy. Make sure the iPad and iPhone are fully charged and 12 hours later you are getting ready for the next day. Seriously….it is everything from figuring out why our logo looks so pixilated on music videos, making presentations to advertisers, convincing distributors to carry us, looking at promos, casting, budget meetings, etc

There’s some great music-based programming, but personally what music are you listening to and enjoying?

I’m all over the place, but right now I’m loving The Black Keys and Eminem’s latest.

Where do you hope to see Mnet in 5 years?

I want to Mnet in 50 million homes. We are in 9 (million) now. And I want people to look at the Asian pop culture space as something more than those wacky game shows from japan. I want us to stand toe to toe with the networks that define American youth culture.

For more information about MNet, you can visit their current website or follow them on Twitter.