MTV
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
MTV, or Music Television, was the first American cable television network to be solely dependent on music and music videos for its content. MTV premiered at 12:01 a.m. on 1 August, 1981, with a rather obscure but portentious song by the Buggles' called "Video Killed the Radio Star." From these humble beginnings, MTV has blossomed - some say sank - into a repository of pop culture: a crock pot for the late 20th century, influencing everything from music and fashion to politics and sex.
Before MTV, pop and rock artists relied on radio to reach their audiences. But by the late 1970s, radio was quickly losing ratings and audience share to television, especially cable television, which could target specific audiences and more effectively hold their attention. The music industry needed a way to tap into the television market. In the early 1980's, as the trend toward cable television gained momentum, record labels and pop/rock artists alike began to see TV as a new medium for reaching the masses. Wouldn't it be great if audiences could actually see their favorite bands performing their greatest hits? The concept of music television was born.
When MTV first premiered, only a fraction of American households had access to cable television. But most of those who first saw it loved it, and MTV was a hit. To compete with MTV, several other cable and network TV channels began airing half-hour and hourly shows featuring music videos by the most popular artists. These shows, like NBC's "Friday Night Videos" and TBS' "Night Tracks" quickly caught on with America's youth - the consumers of popular music. When the parents of these children got cable TV, MTV was there to act as a surrogate babysitter and cater to kids' musical tastes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
While some critics thoutht it would fail, record companies complained, and more and more parents' groups fought to have it censored, no other network could match MTV's targeted musical content and original variety. The first team of MTV "vee-jays" - the disc jockeys of the TV age - became popular media figures in their own right. The ubiquitous MTV logo evolved into an animated caricature of itself as the music videos streamed into millions of American homes.
Several targeted niche shows were developed and aired, with heavy metal music video shows targeted towards young headbangers up all night, and news programming geared toward a broader audience. It didn't take long for corprate sponsorship to come aboard, with Kraft creating the first made-for-MTV commercial in 1982.
As the pop rock musical decade of the 80's progressed, so did MTV. MTV both influenced and was influenced by the youung generation. In 1983, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" videos premiered, insping a generation to moonwalk. Cultural icons like Madonna and Jackson sprang from the televion to invade every corner of America...and soon the world. People everywhere adopted celebrity trademarks like the single sequined glove worn by Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper's tie-dyed hair. The punk rock movement , a worldwide rebellion against mainstreme culture, influenced bands who went on to make millions of mainstream dllars with the help of MTV. In August of 1987, MTV Europe brought music television to the old world, and MTV Asia extended the media underdog's reach to virtually the rest in 1997.
But MTV's original audience started to grow up. America's youth became cildren who were born never knowing a world without MTV. While MTV's main course had always been music videos, news, and the occasional special, Viacom, the corporate giant who had swallowed up MTV Networks one year earlier, in 1986 began to broaden MTV's programming. Game shows, live on-location Spring Break marathons, and hormone-inducing, calorie-buring dance workout shows suddenly seemed to dominate MTV' airwaves. Ever-sexier music videos captured the media's attention. Presidintial candidate Bill Clinton hosted the 1992 MTV "Choose or Lose" forum. That same year saw the debut of Beavis, Butthead, and the original cast of "The Real World." The original concept of music television soon began to fade into the cosmic background noise of the past.
To capture a younger and fresher audience, MTV had abandoned the audience that weened it. Viacom launched several MTV ofshoot channels to fill the musical needs of the original MTV generation, including the more adult-oriented VH1, and MTV2 to play only music videos. MTV viewers now spanned generations and continents
Today, MTV Networks produces high-rated television series, big-budget movies, and blockbuster stars. The music industry has reached its highest profit levels ever and MTV is still in the upper echelon of the cable television lineup. Millions of fans across America watch live as Carson Daly hosts "TRL" while the global information network carries MTV's influence into every corner of the globe. Can someone say "I want my MTV?"
Before MTV, pop and rock artists relied on radio to reach their audiences. But by the late 1970s, radio was quickly losing ratings and audience share to television, especially cable television, which could target specific audiences and more effectively hold their attention. The music industry needed a way to tap into the television market. In the early 1980's, as the trend toward cable television gained momentum, record labels and pop/rock artists alike began to see TV as a new medium for reaching the masses. Wouldn't it be great if audiences could actually see their favorite bands performing their greatest hits? The concept of music television was born.
When MTV first premiered, only a fraction of American households had access to cable television. But most of those who first saw it loved it, and MTV was a hit. To compete with MTV, several other cable and network TV channels began airing half-hour and hourly shows featuring music videos by the most popular artists. These shows, like NBC's "Friday Night Videos" and TBS' "Night Tracks" quickly caught on with America's youth - the consumers of popular music. When the parents of these children got cable TV, MTV was there to act as a surrogate babysitter and cater to kids' musical tastes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
While some critics thoutht it would fail, record companies complained, and more and more parents' groups fought to have it censored, no other network could match MTV's targeted musical content and original variety. The first team of MTV "vee-jays" - the disc jockeys of the TV age - became popular media figures in their own right. The ubiquitous MTV logo evolved into an animated caricature of itself as the music videos streamed into millions of American homes.
Several targeted niche shows were developed and aired, with heavy metal music video shows targeted towards young headbangers up all night, and news programming geared toward a broader audience. It didn't take long for corprate sponsorship to come aboard, with Kraft creating the first made-for-MTV commercial in 1982.
As the pop rock musical decade of the 80's progressed, so did MTV. MTV both influenced and was influenced by the youung generation. In 1983, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" videos premiered, insping a generation to moonwalk. Cultural icons like Madonna and Jackson sprang from the televion to invade every corner of America...and soon the world. People everywhere adopted celebrity trademarks like the single sequined glove worn by Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper's tie-dyed hair. The punk rock movement , a worldwide rebellion against mainstreme culture, influenced bands who went on to make millions of mainstream dllars with the help of MTV. In August of 1987, MTV Europe brought music television to the old world, and MTV Asia extended the media underdog's reach to virtually the rest in 1997.
But MTV's original audience started to grow up. America's youth became cildren who were born never knowing a world without MTV. While MTV's main course had always been music videos, news, and the occasional special, Viacom, the corporate giant who had swallowed up MTV Networks one year earlier, in 1986 began to broaden MTV's programming. Game shows, live on-location Spring Break marathons, and hormone-inducing, calorie-buring dance workout shows suddenly seemed to dominate MTV' airwaves. Ever-sexier music videos captured the media's attention. Presidintial candidate Bill Clinton hosted the 1992 MTV "Choose or Lose" forum. That same year saw the debut of Beavis, Butthead, and the original cast of "The Real World." The original concept of music television soon began to fade into the cosmic background noise of the past.
To capture a younger and fresher audience, MTV had abandoned the audience that weened it. Viacom launched several MTV ofshoot channels to fill the musical needs of the original MTV generation, including the more adult-oriented VH1, and MTV2 to play only music videos. MTV viewers now spanned generations and continents
Today, MTV Networks produces high-rated television series, big-budget movies, and blockbuster stars. The music industry has reached its highest profit levels ever and MTV is still in the upper echelon of the cable television lineup. Millions of fans across America watch live as Carson Daly hosts "TRL" while the global information network carries MTV's influence into every corner of the globe. Can someone say "I want my MTV?"
