Tony DiSanto doesn’t look a thing like Jesus, to paraphrase a lyric from the rock band “The Killers,” but he could very well be MTV’s savior.
Since becoming MTV’s programming head in September, DiSanto has developed a string of hits, including “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” “America’s Best Dance Crew” and “The Paper,” that have re-established MTV as an arbiter of cool among its target audience aged 12-24.
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“Tony is fearless and that’s key for a programmer,” said Michael Hirschorn, who held DiSanto’s position at sister network VH1 before leaving recently. “Once you lose the guts to make big bets, you’re toast. Tony has lots of guts.”
The results are in the ratings: MTV’s audience has ballooned 18 percent in primetime and 39 percent during its featured “10 Spot” hour among 12-34 year olds in the nine months since DiSanto got the job, according to company data.
While sipping Scotch on the rocks at Midtown’s Charlotte Bar, DiSanto, 39, talked about his programming strategy for MTV, the rivalry with VH1, and growing up at parent Viacom.
“Our shows burn bright, then burn out, so we can’t fall back on the same thing over and over again,” said DiSanto, a 20-year veteran of the network who got his start there as an intern on “Totally Pauly.” “Our audience expects us to continually be evolving.”
Among the changes that DiSanto has implemented: trimming the time between show cycles and using a mix of pilots, straight-to-air series that debut without a pilot and special events to keep the production pipeline flowing.
He orders fewer shows but demands more and longer episode runs, airs more live programming and builds upon popular shows by extending the brand, like he did with “The Hills After Party.”
During MTV’s recent slumber, Web sites like Facebook and rival cable networks such as E! rose up to snatch away the pop culture zeitgeist. Hirschorn’s VH1 ranked as the biggest encroacher, going straight for MTV’s jugular with its “celeb-reality” programs.
“There are a lot more people going after not just our audience, but our producers,” DiSanto conceded.
But while DiSanto, who co-created the hit show “TRL,” applauded VH1’s “celeb-reality” branding, he was quick to note that MTV was the antithesis of its sister channel.
“MTV is about diversification and having total balance,” said DiSanto. “Our brand gets hurt if we have too much of one thing.”
Part of DiSanto’s charm – and success – stems from his identifying more with MTV’s viewers than its executives. He still subscribes to horror movie magazine Fangoria, for instance, and his boyish face lights up like a teenager when talking about new MTV shows like “G’s to Gents” from Jamie Foxx or “Legally Blonde,” which premieres Monday.
“Tony doesn’t have an MBA, but he lives and breathes the MTV culture and has the same creative blood as its viewers,” said Ben Silverman, co-head of NBC Entertainment.
At the same time, DiSanto is unaware of the Machiavellian politics that make up Viacom’s corporate culture. While there is no doubt that he is appreciative to MTV for his promotion, he doesn’t seem to realize he’s been thrust into the most visible programming role at the most iconic channel within MTV Networks, a division that accounts for more than 50 percent of Viacom’s bottom line.
Such naivete can be dangerous at a company with a reputation for jettisoning executives with all the efficiency of a hired assassin. But the truth is that MTV might need DiSanto more than he needs the network.
Last week, Hollywood was abuzz with a false rumor that DiSanto was jumping ship to go run programming for The CW, sources said. And his name has been turning up on the coveted lists of overseas production houses looking to make inroads in the US.
“Tony is MTV’s most underutilized asset,” said longtime friend and former Sony Records CEO Tommy Mottola. “He’d give a tremendous competitive edge to any network, and I believe this experience will lead him to shine on a much larger platform.”
For his part, DiSanto says he’s committed to MTV and has no plans to leave. peter.lauria@nypost.com