Mtv's World: Mando-Pop. Mexican Hip Hop. Russian Rap. It's all fueling the biggest global channel

Media moguls can babble on about the global village, on how CNN or BBC can reach out and touch the world. But those news shows are bush league operations compared with MTV's global clout. Thanks to the roaring success of its subsidiary, MTV Networks International, the music channel and its sister operations, VH1 and Nickelodeon, reach 1 billion people in 18 different languages in 164 countries. Eight out of ten MTV viewers live outside the U.S. CNN International reaches an international audience less than half the size of MTV's. Its impressive global reach has earned MTV membership in that tiny elite of such globally transcendent brands as Coke and Levi's. MTV seems not to have missed a beat as turmoil roils the executive ranks at parent Viacom, whose board in late January called upon CEO Sumner Redstone and Chief Operating Officer Mel Karmazin to cease feuding. The stock is down almost 20% since early January, but analysts say the strife should have no impact on operating units like MTV. MTV Networks International makes buckets of money year after year from a potent combination of cable subscriber fees, advertising, and increasingly, new media.