MTV's Brian Graden tapped to revitalize VH1

MTV's Brian Graden has been upgraded to president of entertainment for MTV and VH1, in the hopes that the openly gay executive behind The Real World and The Osbournes can bring the oomph he gave to MTV's ratings to its sister network as well, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Over the last year VH1's ratings have been in steady decline, particularly in its core 18-49 demographic. "VH1 is definitely a big job right now," says Graden. "I am a big believer in constant, aggressive development. The first challenge is to get program ideas in motion." Graden adds that the network already has a number of projects in development that he "really believes in" and that "we will endeavor to get new content on, even if it's under the guise of specials or events throughout the course of this year. I hope for a lot of really exciting series next year."