Historical text analysis and research
MTV (originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by the MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom. The channel is headquartered in New York City, New York. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys," or VJs. In its early years, MTV's main target demographic were young adults, but today, MTV's programming is primarily targeted at adolescents in addition to young adults.
MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent. MTV's influence on its audience, including issues related to censorship and social activism, has been a subject of debate for years.
As of August 2013, approximately 97,654,000 American households (85.51% of households with television) receive MTV.
It was formerly known as:
- MTV: The Music Channel (May 5, 1980)
- MTV: Music Television (August 1, 1981–February 8, 2010, August 2011; 1989–present in other countries
MTV (Music Television) is the oldest and most influential
American cable network specializing in music?related
programming. It was launched on August 1, 1981, with
the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken
on camera by John Lack, one of the creators of MTV.
This introduction was immediately followed by the
music?video clip Video Killed the Radio Star, featuring a
band called the Buggles. The title proved somewhat
prophetic as MTV greatly transformed the nature of
music?industry stardom over the next several years. At
the same time, MTV became a major presence in the
cable?TV industry and in fact in the overall American
cultural landscape.
One of the earliest and greatest cable success stories,
MTV was established by Warner Amex Satellite
Entertainment Company (WASEC) after extensive
marketing research. The key to MTV's viability, at least
initially, was the availability of low-cost programming in
the form of music videos. Originally these were provided
free by record companies, which thought of them as
advertising for their records and performers.
A music video (also called a clip or promo clip) is a brief
(usually three? to five?minute) television segment, usually
shot on film but intended to be shown only on a TV set.
The foundation of a video clip is the soundtrack, which is
a recorded song, the sale of which is promoted by the
video. In some cases, other material such as sound
effects or introductory dialogue may also appear on the
soundtrack.
Music video and MTV are major ingredients of television
programming internationally. MTV Europe, launched in
1987, was followed by an Asian service in 1991 and MTV
Latino in 1993. VH1 seems poised to follow a similar
course, having established a European service in 1994.
Both economically and aesthetically, MTV has wrought
major changes in the entertainment industries. By
combining music with television in a new way, MTV has
charted a path for both industries (and movies as well)
into a future of postmodern synergy.
Many of the earliest MTV videos came from Great Britain,
where the tradition of making promo clips was fairly
well?developed. One of the earliest indications of MTV's
commercial importance was the success of the British
band Duran Duran in the American market. This band had
great visual appeal and made interesting videos but was
not receiving radio airplay as of 1981. In markets where
MTV was available, the network's airing of Duran Duran's
videos made the band immediately popular. Ultimately
MTV proved to be immensely important to the careers of
numerous artists, including Madonna, Michael Jackson,
Prince, Peter Gabriel, and U2, as well as Duran Duran.
mtv music awards, 1986, new york
MTV IN THE 1980s
The original purpose of MTV was to be "Music Television", playing music videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week, guided by on-air personalities known as VJs, or video jockeys. The original taglines of the channel were "You'll never look at music the same way again," and "On cable. In stereo." Although the original MTV channel no longer plays music videos 24/7, several of its spin-off channels do, including MTV Hits and MTV Jams. In addition, viewers can play music videos on-demand at MTV.com. MTV continues to support a broad selection of music videos on its international channels as well.
The VJs would record "intro" and "outro" segments to music videos, along with music news, interviews, concert dates and promotions. These segments would appear to air "live" and debut across the MTV program schedule 24 hours a day, seven days a week, though the segments themselves were pre-taped within a regular work week at MTV's studios.
During the early days of the channel, MTV would occasionally let other stars take over the channel within an hour as "guest VJs"; these guests included musicians such as Adam Ant, Billy Idol, Phil Collins, Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Tina Turner; and comedians such as Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, and Steven Wright; as they chose their favorite music videos. --> disscus the fact that this is still the same on some music channels therefore business model is similar in this way
On August 1, 1981, something happened to cable television - something that would define pop culture, change generations, and shape an industry. That something had a name. The name was MTV. It launched at 12:01 in the morning, ushered in by John Lack (then the Executive Vice President of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment) saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll." And so it began.
In the late 1980s, MTV began introducing non-music programming and slowly, over time, the flavor of MTV began to change. What happened to the MTV of the 80s? According to some it's been replaced by a commercialized monster.
Soon after MTV was launched it blitz the airwaves with loud commercials where rock stars instructed you to pick up your phone and demand that your cable company adds MTV. The phrase "I Want My MTV" soon became a popular catch phrase, popular enough that British rock band Dire Straits used it in their song Money For Nothing. The campaign was effective as for the next three years as the commercials aired millions did demand their cable company add MTV as a channel. But for the millions who had no cable television there would be no MTV with the exception for the occasional syndication of it's annual music video awards in truncated form.
1983 was the peak of the music video fad, not because people began to lose interest in the format but because MTV decided to take steps to get rid of their competition. Deals were made with record labels giving MTV exclusive rights to air new music videos forcing the others to wait anywhere from a month to a half year before they could air the same video. MTV spent a small fortune buying the exclusive rights to air Michael Jackson's Thriller, an exclusive they held on to for 20 years. The one month exclusive MTV gave them an advantage over the other cable outlets like TBS's Night Tracks which gradually drew away their viewers.
Artists had been filming live performances and even crude concept videos for several years before MTV came along, but the problem had always been finding a consistent outlet for airing them. Much of the preparation of MTV came out of New York City, but an important prototype actually emerged with Warner’s early cable system, Qube, out of Columbus, Ohio. Some of the ideas exhibited there were picked up by executive Bob Pittman, who combined them with early music video work he had already started.
--->>a place where artists would promote their new stuff
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