MTV

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This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. For all of MTV's sister channels in the U.S., and all international MTV channels, see List of MTV channels. For other uses, see MTV (disambiguation).

MTV (Music Television)

Launched	August 1, 1981
Owned by	MTV Networks (Viacom)
Sister channel(s)	VH1, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, others
Website	MTV.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 331
Dish Network	Channel 160
Worldwide	See full list
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings for specific channels

Part of a series on MTV in the United States MTV channels VH1 · MTV2 · MTV Tr3́s MTV shows TRL · VMAs · Real World MTV personalities Criticism of MTV Censorship on MTV

MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos.^[1] Today, MTV plays a limited selection of music videos but primarily broadcasts a variety of pop culture, youth culture, and reality television shows aimed at adolescents and young adults.

Since its premiere, MTV has revolutionized the music industry. Slogans such as "I want my MTV" became embedded in public thought, the concept of the VJ (video jockey) was popularized, the idea of a dedicated video-based outlet for music was introduced, and both artists and fans found a central location for music events, news, and promotion. MTV has also been referenced countless times by musicians, other TV channels and shows, films and books.

MTV has spawned a handful of sister channels in the U.S. and dozens of affiliated international channels around the world. MTV's moral influence on young people, including examples of censorship and social activism on the channel, has been the subject of debate for years. MTV's choice to focus on non-music programming has also been contested relentlessly, demonstrating the channel's continued impact on popular culture.

[edit] The launch of MTV

[edit] Previous concepts

MTV's pre-history began in 1969, when Warner Cable (a division of Warner Communications, and an ancestor of WASEC, Warner Satellite Entertainment Company) launched the first two-way interactive cable TV system, Qube, in Columbus, Ohio.

The Qube system offered many specialized channels, including a children's channel called Pinwheel which would later become Nickelodeon. One of these specialized channels was Sight On Sound, a music channel that featured concert footage and music oriented TV programs; with the interactive Qube service, viewers could vote for their favorite songs and artists.

Robert Pittman had test driven the music format by producing and hosting a 15 minute show, Album Tracks, on WNBC, New York, in the late 1970s. Pittman's boss, WASEC COO John Lack, had shepherded a TV series called PopClips, created by former Monkee-turned solo artist Michael Nesmith, the latter of whom by the late 1970s was turning his attention to the music video format.^[2]

In the book The Mason Williams FCC Rapport, author Mason Williams states that he pitched an idea to CBS for a TV show that featured "video-radio" where disc jockeys would play avant-garde art set to music on the air. CBS quashed the idea, but Williams premiered his own musical composition "Classical Gas" on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he was head writer. The book in which this claim is made was first published in 1971, ten years before MTV first came on the air.

HBO also had a 30 minute program of music videos, called Video Jukebox, that first aired around the time of MTV's launch and would last until late 1986. Also around this time, HBO would occasionally play one or a few music videos between movies. SuperStation WTBS launched Night Tracks on June 3, 1983, with up to 14 hours of music video airplay each late night weekend by 1985. Its most noticeable difference was that black artists received airplay that MTV initially ignored. The program ran until the end of May 1992. Shortly thereafter, NBC launched its music video program called Friday Night Videos which was considered network television's answer to MTV. It ran from 1983 to 2002.

A few markets also launched music-only channels; most notably Las Vegas' KVMY Channel 21, which debuted in the summer of 1984 as KRLR-TV Vusic 21. The first video played on that channel was Michael Jackson's Thriller.

[edit] Music Television debuts

The first images shown on MTV were a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Further information: First music videos aired on MTV

On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m., MTV: Music Television launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by original COO John Lack. Those words were immediately followed by the original MTV theme song, a crunching guitar riff written by Jonathan Elias and John Petersen, playing over a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing. MTV producers Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert used this public domain footage as a conceit, associating MTV with the most famous moment in world television history.^{[citation needed]}

Appropriately, the first music video shown on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. The second video shown was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run". Sporadically, the screen would go black when an employee at MTV inserted a tape into a VCR.^[3]

[edit] MTV's early days

[edit] Personalities and format

J. J. Jackson, one of the original five VJs at MTV's debut

Further information: List of MTV VJs

The early format of MTV was modeled after top 40 radio. Fresh-faced young men and women were hired to host the network's programming and to introduce videos that were being played. The term VJ (video jockey) was coined, a play on the acronym DJ (disc jockey). Many VJs eventually became celebrities in their own right. The original five MTV VJs in 1981 were Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J. J. Jackson and Martha Quinn. In 2005, this group (except for J.J. Jackson, who died in 2004) became hosts on Sirius Satellite Radio.^[4]

An early MTV station ID

The early music videos that made up the bulk of MTV's programming in the 1980s were often crude promotional or concert clips from whatever sources could be found. As the popularity of the network rose, and record companies recognized the potential of the medium as a tool to gain recognition and publicity, they began to create increasingly elaborate clips specifically for the network. Several noted film directors got their start creating music videos, including Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and David Fincher.

A large number of rock bands and performers of the 1980s were made popular by MTV. Such acts ranged from new wave bands as Information Society, The Police, Adam Ant, The Cars, Eurythmics^[5],Culture Club^[6],The Fixx, Split Enz, Ultravox and Duran Duran^[7] to hard rock or heavy metal bands^[8] like Van Halen^[9], RATT^[10], Def Leppard^[11], Prince, and Bon Jovi. The network also rotated the videos of "Weird Al" Yankovic, who made a career out of parodying other artists' videos.^[12]

Also, MTV played some classic rock acts from the 1980s and earlier decades including David Bowie, Journey, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and ZZ Top and forgotten acts such as Michael Stanley Band, Shoes, Blotto and Will Powers. The hard rock band Kiss publicly appeared without their trademark makeup for the first time on MTV in 1983.

Madonna rose to fame on MTV in the 1980s. Madonna is one of the most successful video performers in MTV history, and to this day she uses MTV to market her music.

[edit] Michael Jackson

MTV put Michael Jackson's videos in heavy rotation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Before then, Jackson struggled to get MTV airing because he was black.^[13] To change this, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff denounced MTV, saying "I'm pulling everything we have off the air" and "I'm not going to give you any more videos. And I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy".^[13] This harsh stance worked; MTV started showing "Billie Jean", forming a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black music artists.^[14]

According to The Austin Chronicle, Jackson's video for the song "Billie Jean" was "the video that broke the color barrier, even though the channel itself was responsible for erecting that barrier in the first place."^[15] When the 14-minute-long "Thriller" video aired in December 1983, MTV ran it up to twice an hour to meet demand. MTV, a struggling cable channel, became huge. Jackson's videos were credited to this success^[16] and MTV's focus switched from rock to pop and R&B.^[17] This helped other black artists such as Prince and Whitney Houston break into heavy rotation during the same time.

[edit] Award shows

Further information: List of MTV award shows

In 1984 the network produced its first MTV Video Music Awards show, or VMAs. Perceived by some as a fit of self-indulgence by a fledgling network at the time, the VMAs developed into a music-industry showcase marketed as a more relevant youth-targeted antidote to the Grammy awards. The first award show, in 1984, was punctuated by a live performance by Madonna of "Like A Virgin." In 1992, the channel would add the MTV Movie Awards with similar success.

MTV also created an award show for Europe after the success of the VMAs. The MTV Europe Music Awards, or the EMAs, were created in 1994, ten years after the debut of the VMAs. The EMAs are not shown live in the United States. A condensed, edited version of the broadcast is usually shown on MTV about two weeks after the original airing in Europe, and then the full version is shown on MTV's sister channel, MTV2.

[edit] MTV comes of age

[edit] Format evolution

Further information: List of programs broadcast by MTV

In 1985, Viacom bought Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which owned MTV and Nickelodeon, renaming the company MTV Networks. Within a few years, music videos were no longer the center-piece of the programming. Conventional 'TV shows' would soon replace VJ-format music video programming. Before 1987, MTV featured almost exclusively music videos, but as time passed they introduced a variety of other shows, including some that were originally intended for other channels.

MTV introduced 120 Minutes in 1986, a show that would feature low-rotation, alternative music videos for the next 17 years. Another after hours show was added in 1987, Headbangers Ball. This popular show featured heavy metal music and news regarding metal music. Before its abrupt cancellation in 1995, it featured several hosts, notably Riki Rachtman and Adam Curry. Headbangers Ball remains an iconic identifier of heavy metal music. In 1988, MTV debuted Yo! MTV Raps, a hip-hop/rap formatted program. The program continued until August 1995. It was renamed to simply Yo! and played for one hour from 1995 until 1999.

Non-music video programming began in the late 1980s with the introduction of a music news show The Week in Rock, which was also the beginning of MTV's news division, MTV News. Around this time, MTV also introduced a dance show Club MTV, a game show Remote Control, and music-based specials such as MTV Unplugged, an acoustic performance show.

These new shows would be just the beginning of new genres of shows to impact MTV. As the format of the network continued to evolve, more genres of shows began to appear. In the early 1990s, MTV debuted its first reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules.

[edit] Animated shows

MTV Studios in Times Square

Further information: List of MTV shows: Animation

In a continuing bid to become a more diverse network, focusing on youth and culture, as well as music, MTV introduced animated shows to its line-up in the early 1990s. The animation showcase Liquid Television (originally a BBC import, later acquired and produced by MTV) was one of the networks first programs to focus on the medium. In addition to airing original shows created specifically for MTV, the network also occasionally aired episodes of original cartoon series created by sister-station Nickelodeon (Nicktoons) in the early 1990s. MTV has a history of cartoons with mature themes, notably Beavis and Butthead, Æon Flux, Grimmy, Celebrity Deathmatch, and Daria. Although the channel has gone on to debut many other animated shows, few of MTV's other cartoon series have been renewed for additional seasons, regardless of their reception.

[edit] Variety of programming

By the second half of the 1990s, MTV's programming consisted primarily of non-music shows. In 1997, MTV was being heavily criticized for not playing as many music videos as it had in the past. In response, MTV created four shows that centered around music videos: MTV Live, Total Request, Say What?, and 12 Angry Viewers. Also at this time, MTV introduced its new studios in Times Square.

A year later, in 1998, MTV merged Total Request and MTV Live into a live daily top ten countdown show, Total Request Live, which would become the channel's unofficial flagship program. In 1999, MTV shifted its focus to prank/comedic shows such as The Tom Green Show, Jackass, and Punk'd; and soap operas such as Undressed.

The network also was selected to produce the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Florida, in which the bands NSYNC and Aerosmith performed.^[18] On September 11, 2001, when the attacks on the World Trade Center occurred, MTV played a looped set of music videos, then (along with sister cable channel VH1) suspended all of its programming and went into a simulcast of then-sister network CBS' news coverage of the events until 11:00 pm that night. The network later joined a plethora of other broadcast media that took part in a Celebrity Telethon to benefit the 9/11 victims.

[edit] MTV in recent years

Steve Fiorilla's sculpture for the MTV logo "Guillotine."

[edit] Reality shows

Further information: List of MTV shows: Reality series

In the early 2000s, MTV placed a stronger focus on reality shows, building on the success of The Real World and Road Rules in the 1990s. MTV continued to play some music videos instead of relegating them exclusively to its sister channels, but around this time, the channel began to air music videos only in the early morning hours or in a condensed form on Total Request Live. As a result of these programming changes over the next several years, Justin Timberlake challenged MTV to "play more damn videos" while giving an acceptance speech at the 2007 Video Music Awards.^[19] MTV's Fear, created by Martin Kunert and Eric Manes, became the first 'scare' based reality show and the first reality show in which contestants filmed themselves. The show ran for three seasons and spawned numerous imitations, such as Scare Tactics.

Christina, a contestant on the pilot episode of MTV's Fear.

Some of the reality shows on the network also followed the lives of musicians. The Osbournes, a reality show based on the everyday life of former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon, and two of their children, Jack and Kelly, premiered on MTV in 2002. The show went on to become one of the network's biggest-ever success stories and was also recognized for the heavy use of bleeped profanity by the Osbourne family members.^[20] It also kick-started a musical career for Kelly Osbourne^[21], while Sharon Osbourne went on to host her own self-titled talk show on U.S. television.^[22] Ozzy Osbourne announced that production for his show would cease in November 2004.^[23] Another such show was Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, another popular reality TV show that follows the lives of pop singers Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, a music celebrity couple, began airing. It ran for four seasons and ended in early 2005 and they later divorced. The success of Newlyweds was followed in June 2004 by The Ashlee Simpson Show, which documented the beginnings of the music career of Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson's younger sister. In the fall of 2004, Ozzy Osbourne's reality show Battle for Ozzfest aired; the show hosted competitions between bands vying to play in Ozzfest, a yearly heavy metal music tour hosted by Osbourne.

In 2007, MTV aired the reality show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, chronicling MySpace sensation Tila Tequila's journey to find a companion. Her bisexuality played into the series—both male and female contestants were vying for love—and was the subject of criticism.^[24] It was the second-most popular show at that time, behind The Hills.^[25] A spin-off series from Shot of Love, That's Amoré!, followed a similar pursuit from previous Shot at Love contestant Domenico Nesci. MTV will also welcome Paris Hilton to their lineup in October 2008 with the launch of her new reality series My New BFF. ^[26]

[edit] Super Bowl controversy

Main article: Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy

MTV also produced the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, with performances by such artists as Nelly, Diddy, Janet Jackson, and Justin Timberlake. CBS, then-owners of MTV, aired the Super Bowl as well as the halftime show live on February 1, 2004. However, the show became controversial after Timberlake tore off part of Jackson's outfit while performing his hit song "Rock Your Body" with her, revealing her right nipple. All involved parties apologized for the incident, and Timberlake referred to the incident as a "wardrobe malfunction". Michael Powell, then-chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, ordered an investigation of the show the day after its broadcast.^[27] In September 2004, the FCC ruled that the halftime show was indecent and fined CBS $550,000.^[28] The FCC upheld its decision in early 2006.^[29]

In the weeks following the controversial halftime show, MTV censored much of its programming. Several music videos, including "This Love" by Maroon 5 and "I Miss You" by blink-182, were edited for sexual content.^[30] Exactly one year after the halftime show, the Parents Television Council released a research report documenting sex, violence, and profanity it perceived on MTV's spring break programming from March 2004. Jeanette Kedas, an MTV network executive, called the PTC report "unfair and inaccurate" and "underestimating young people's intellect and level of sophistication", while L. Brent Bozell III, then-president of the PTC, stated that "[t]he incessant sleaze on MTV presents the most compelling case yet for consumer cable choice", referring to the practice of cable and satellite companies to allow consumers to pick and choose the channels for which they pay.^[31]

[edit] Anniversaries

On August 1, 2006, MTV celebrated its 25th anniversary. On their web site, MTV.com, visitors could watch the very first hour of MTV, including airing the original promos and commercials from Mountain Dew, Atari, Chewels gum, and Jovan. Videos were also shown from The Buggles, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, and more. The introduction of the first five VJs was also shown.

Additionally, MTV.com put together a "yearbook" consisting of the greatest videos of each year from 1981-2006. Along with that, music.mtv.com offered a special online viewing of the top music video of each year since 1981. MTV itself only mentioned the anniversary once on TRL. The main highlight of the day on the channel was The Real World.

[edit] Current trends

Further information: List of programs broadcast by MTV

In 2005 and 2006, MTV continued its focus on reality shows, with the debuts of popular shows such as 8th & Ocean, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, NEXT, Two-A-Days, My Super Sweet 16, and Parental Control. In addition, in recent times, the channel has re-aired other programs from Viacom-owned TV networks, such as BET's College Hill and VH1 programs I Love New York and Flavor of Love.^[32] Other programs from non-Viacom networks include reruns of the shows Fastlane (from FOX)^[33], Life As We Know It (from ABC)^[34] and CW programs America's Next Top Model, Beauty and the Geek^[35], and Hidden Palms.

MTV has also begun showing movies targeted toward the teen/young adult demographic on Friday evenings, including My Boss's Daughter, Shaun of the Dead, and Napoleon Dynamite. The channel has also broadcast several of its own productions of its film-producing division MTV Films, such as 8 Mile^[36], Crossroads, Jackass: The Movie^[37], and Super Sweet 16: The Movie.

Today, MTV's main source of music video programming is still Total Request Live, airing four times per week, featuring short clips of music videos along with VJs and daily guests. A hip-hop music video show, Sucker Free, also airs sporadically. Throughout each day, MTV shows excerpts from music videos, usually the hook, in split screen format during the closing credits, along with the web address of the MTV web site to encourage the viewer to watch the complete video online. On most days, music video rotation continues in the early morning hours. For the past 2 weeks MTV hasn't aired music videos in the early morning hours and airs re-runs of its various reality shows.^[32]

[edit] Social activism

MTV Choose or Lose logo

MTV has a long history of promoting social, political, and environmental activism in young people.

In 1992, MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called Choose or Lose, to encourage up to 20 million people to register to vote, and hosted a town hall forum for Bill Clinton.^[38] In the 1990s and early 2000s, MTV promoted annual campaigns known as Fight For Your Rights, with the slogan "Speak Out/Stand Up Against Violence", to bring forth awareness on America's crime, drugs and violence issues.

On April 6, 2001, MTV voluntarily ceased regular programming for 24 hours as part of the year's hate crimes awareness campaign. On that night, MTV aired a made-for-TV movie Anatomy of a Hate Crime, based on a true story of the 1998 murder of 21-year old Matthew Shepard, a gay college student. After the film and a discussion, MTV went dark and showed names of hate crime victims.

MTV also aired a documentary covering a trip by the musical group Sum 41 to the Democratic Republic of Congo, documenting the conflict there. The group ended up being caught in the midst of an attack outside of the hotel and were subsequently flown out of the country.^[39]

In recent years, other politically diverse programs on MTV have included True Life, which documents people's lives and problems, and MTV News specials, which center on very current events in both the music industry and the world. One special show covered the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, airing programs focused on the issues and opinions of young people, including a program where viewers could ask questions of Senator John Kerry.^[40] MTV worked with P. Diddy's "Vote or Die" campaign, designed to encourage young people to vote.^[41]

MTV's most recent activism campaign is think MTV, which discusses current political issues such as same-sex marriage, U.S. elections, and war in other countries. The slogan of the program is "Reflect. Decide. Do." As part of think MTV, the channel also airs a series of pro-conservation ads called Break The Addiction, as a way of encouraging their viewers to find ways to use less fossil fuels and energy.

[edit] Criticism and censorship

It has been suggested that Criticism of MTV be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

[edit] Criticism of MTV

Main article: Criticism of MTV

As early as 1984, because of its visibility as a promotional tool for the recording industry, MTV was accused of devaluing the importance of music in the music industry, replacing it with a purely visual aesthetic, and putting equally popular but less image-centric or single-based acts at a distinct disadvantage. Since then, MTV has been criticized over the years by various groups about programming choices, social issues, and a perceived negative moral influence on young people.^[42]

[edit] Censorship on MTV

Main article: Censorship on MTV

On the other side of the moral influence debate, MTV has also come under criticism for being too politically correct and sensitive, censoring too much of their programming. Many of MTV's shows were altered or removed from the channel's schedule. Additionally, many music videos aired on the channel were censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.

Some promos for the show The Real World have been uncensored showing cast member Jen from the Denver season flipping someone off, and cast member Trisha from the Sydney season saying the "f" word.

[edit] Beyond MTV

[edit] Sister channels in the U.S.

Further information: List of MTV channels

MTV operates a group of channels under the name MTV Networks, a division of its corporate parent, Viacom. In 1985, MTV saw the introduction of its first true sister channel, VH1, which was originally an acronym for "Video Hits One" and was designed to play adult contemporary music videos. Today, VH1 is aimed at celebrity and popular culture programming. Another sister channel, CMT, targets the country music and southern culture market.

The advent of satellite television and digital cable brought MTV greater channel diversity, including its current sister channels MTV2 and MTV Tr3s, which initially played music videos exclusively but now focus on other programming. Music videos still occupy most of the schedule on two additional channels, MTV Hits and MTV Jams. MTV also broadcasts mtvU, a college-oriented channel on campus at various universities.

Recently, MTV Networks launched MHD (Music: High Definition), a high definition channel that features programming from all three of the major music-themed channels owned by MTV Networks: MTV, VH1, and CMT.

In 2005 and 2006, MTV launched a series of channels for Asian Americans. The first channel was MTV Desi, launched in July 2005, dedicated toward South-Asian Americans. Next was MTV Chi, in December 2005, which catered to Chinese Americans. The third was MTV K, launched in June 2006 and targeted toward Korean Americans. Each of these channels featured music videos and shows from MTV's international affiliates as well as original U.S. programming, promos, and packaging. All three of these channels ceased broadcasting on April 30, 2007.

[edit] The Internet

MTV.com, the official website of MTV, expands on the channel's broadcasts by bringing additional content to its viewers. The site's notable features include an online version of MTV News, podcasts, and a video streaming service supported by commercials. There are also movie features, profiles and interviews with recording artists and even clips from MTV television programs. In 2006, MTV.com went through a massive change, transforming the entire site into a video-based entity, in the style of the former MTV Overdrive service. In 2007, MTV.com reverted to a traditional HTML-based web site design.

[edit] MTV around the world