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{{short description|American cable television channel}} | |||
{{sprotected2}} | |||
{{about|the flagship American cable channel|other uses}} | |||
{{two other uses|the original U.S. music television channel|all of MTV's sister channels in the U.S., and all international MTV channels|List of MTV channels}} | |||
{{redirect|Music Television|the genre|Music television}} | |||
{{Infobox_TV_channel| | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} | |||
name= MTV: Music Television| | |||
{{Infobox television channel | |||
logofile=MTV Logo.svg| | |||
| type = Music channel (formerly)<br>Entertainment | |||
logoalt=| | |||
| name = MTV | |||
logosize=150px| | |||
| logo = MTV 2021 (brand version).svg | |||
slogan= | | |||
| logo_caption = Logo since February 5, 2021, paying homage to the original 1981 logo | |||
launch=], ]| | |||
| logo_size = 220px | |||
owner= ] (])| | |||
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1981|8|1}} | |||
former names= | | |||
| founder = {{Plainlist| | |||
sister names=], ], ], ], ]| | |||
* Mark Booth | |||
web=| | |||
* ] | |||
terr avail=Not Available| | |||
* ] | |||
sat serv 1=]| | |||
* ] | |||
sat chan 1=Channel 331| | |||
* ] | |||
sat serv 2=] Latin America| | |||
* ] | |||
sat chan 2=Channel 260| | |||
}} | |||
sat serv 3=]| | |||
| picture_format = ] ] | |||
sat chan 3=Channel 160| | |||
| owner = ] (]) | |||
sat serv 4=] '''(Malaysia)'''| | |||
| parent = ] | |||
sat chan 4=Channel 71| | |||
| key_people = Chris McCarthy {{small|(President/CEO, MTV Entertainment Group)}} | |||
sat serv 5=] '''(Indonesia)'''| | |||
| country = ] | |||
sat chan 5=Channel 51| | |||
| area = United States<br>Canada | |||
| language = {{ubl|English|Spanish (via ] audio track)}} | |||
sat chan 6=Channel 340| | |||
| headquarters = ], 1515 ], ], ], ], ] | |||
cable serv 1=]| | |||
| sister_channels = {{collapsible list| | |||
cable chan 1=Channel 180<br>Channel 839 (])| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 2=]| | |||
* ] | |||
cable chan 2=Channels Vary| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 3=]| | |||
* ] | |||
cable chan 3=60| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 4=]| | |||
*] | |||
cable chan 4=Channels Vary| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 5=]| | |||
* ] | |||
cable chan 5=Channels Vary| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 6=]| | |||
* ] | |||
cable chan 6=Channel 53| | |||
* ] | |||
cable serv 7=]| | |||
* ] | |||
cable chan 7=Channels Vary| | |||
* ] | |||
dummy parameter=| | |||
* ] | |||
|}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
}} | |||
| timeshift_service = '''MTV East''' (]){{br}}'''MTV West''' (]) | |||
| former_names = {{Plainlist| | |||
* MTV: Music Television (1981–2010)<ref name="Music Television dropped">{{Cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/mtv-drops-music-television-from-its-logo.html |title=MTV drops 'Music Television' from the network logo |date=February 8, 2010 |work=] |access-date=June 21, 2012 |archive-date=January 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131050835/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/mtv-drops-music-television-from-its-logo.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
}} | |||
| replaced = | |||
| replaced_by = | |||
| website = {{official URL}} | |||
| terr_serv_1 = | |||
| terr_chan_1 = | |||
| online_serv_1 = Affiliated Streaming Service | |||
| online_chan_1 = ] | |||
| online_serv_2 = ] | |||
| online_chan_2 = ] | |||
| online_serv_3 = ] | |||
| online_chan_3 = ] | |||
| availability_note = | |||
}} | |||
'''MTV''' ('''Music Television''') is an |
'''MTV''' (] an ] of '''Music Television''') is an American ] channel. It was officially launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the ], part of ], a division of ]. | ||
The channel originally aired ]s and related programming as guided by television personalities known as ], or VJs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9807/31/encore.mtv/index.html|title=CNN – MTV changed the music industry on August 1, 1981 – July 31, 1998|access-date=May 13, 2010|archive-date=May 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508173419/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9807/31/encore.mtv/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> MTV, as one of the American cable channels available in other countries, eventually gained a massive ], becoming one of the major factors in cable programming's rise to fame and American corporations dominating the television economy in the 1990s.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Peter |title=The Century |last2=Brewster |first2=Todd |date=November 1998 |publisher=] |isbn=0-385-48327-9 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=551 |author-link=Peter Jennings |author-link2=Todd Brewster}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In the years since its inception, the channel significantly toned down its focus on music in favor of original reality programming for teenagers and young adults. | |||
Since its premiere, MTV has revolutionized the ]. Slogans such as "I want my MTV" became embedded in public thought, the concept of the ] was popularized, the idea of a dedicated ]-based outlet for music was introduced, and both ] and ] found a central location for ], ], and ]. MTV has also been referenced countless times by ], other ]s and ], ] and ]. | |||
{{As of|2023|11}}, MTV is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wrestlenomics.com/u-s-cable-network-households-universe-1990-2023-nielsen-data/|title=U.S. cable network households (universe), 1990 – 2023|website=wrestlenomics.com|date=May 14, 2024|access-date=July 28, 2019|archive-date=December 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231073226/https://wrestlenomics.com/u-s-cable-network-households-universe-1990-2023-nielsen-data/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
MTV has spawned a handful of ] around the world. MTV's moral influence on young people, including examples of ] and ] 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 ]. | |||
== |
== History == | ||
{{main|History of MTV}} | |||
===Previous concepts=== | |||
{{MTV}} | |||
MTV's pre-history began in ], when Warner Cable (a division of Warner Communications and an ancestor of ], Warner Satellite Entertainment Company) launched the first two-way ] ] system, ], in ]. | |||
MTV was launched on Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m,<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Angelo |first=Joe |title=Mariah, Jane's Addiction, TLC Slated For MTV Birthday Bash |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1445105/mariah-janes-addiction-tlc-slated-for-mtv-birthday-bash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103204959/http://www.mtv.com/news/1445105/mariah-janes-addiction-tlc-slated-for-mtv-birthday-bash/ |archive-date=November 3, 2021 |access-date=December 4, 2024 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Devora |first=Abby |title=Need To Know: Sam Smith Drops 'I'm Not The Only One' Video |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1885778/need-to-know-sam-smith-im-not-the-only-one-video/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816023544/http://www.mtv.com/news/1885778/need-to-know-sam-smith-im-not-the-only-one-video/ |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |access-date=December 4, 2024 |publisher=]}}</ref> under the ownership of the ]-] Satellite Entertainment Company.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Behr |first=Adam |date=2021-08-14 |title=40 Years of MTV: the channel that shaped popular culture as we know it |url=https://www.salon.com/2021/08/14/40-years-of-mtv-the-channel-that-shaped-popular-culture-as-we-know-it_partner/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=Salon |language=en |archive-date=May 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501230928/https://www.salon.com/2021/08/14/40-years-of-mtv-the-channel-that-shaped-popular-culture-as-we-know-it_partner/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
On June 25, 1984, Warner Communications spun-off ], MTV into a new public corporation called ].<ref name="worldradio">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=June 25, 1984|title=Warner takes MTV, Nickelodeon public|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/84-OCR/BC-1984-06-25-OCR-Page-0058.pdf#search=%22mtv%20networks%22|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|access-date=January 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/19/business/business-people-a-chief-is-named-by-mtv-networks.html |title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; A Chief Is Named By MTV Networks |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=July 19, 1985 |website=] |access-date=June 1, 2014}}</ref> Warner would later acquire American Express' 50% stake the following year.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=August 12, 1985|title=Warner to buy out American Express; MTV to go private (page 29)|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-08-12.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref> From August 27, 1985 to May 20, 1986, Warner would sell 31%,<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=August 27, 1985|title=Viacom to Buy Warner Stake In Cable Units|newspaper=]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1985/08/27/viacom-to-buy-warner-stake-in-cable-units/f9a17068-093d-4d39-be78-e7b0a0724ac4/|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=September 2, 1985|title=Viacom gets its MTV (page 50)|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-09-02.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|access-date=January 13, 2022}}</ref> and later, 69% of MTV Networks to ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fabrikant|first=Geraldine|date=1986-09-17|title=VIACOM CHIEF LEADS GROUP'S BUYOUT BID (Published 1986)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/17/business/viacom-chief-leads-group-s-buyout-bid.html|access-date=2021-01-23|issn=0362-4331|quote=In November 1985, Viacom acquired MTV Networks for $326 million in cash and warrants. One-third of MTV was publicly owned; the rest was owned by Warner Communications and the American Express Company. At the same time, Viacom bought 50 percent of Showtime, the pay television service, that it did not already own for $184 million.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=May 20, 1986|title=Viacom has bought MTV and Showtime/TMC|url= https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/86-OCR/BC-1986-05-26-OCR-Page-0045.pdf#search=%22viacom%20mtv%20networks%22|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|access-date=January 24, 2022}}</ref> | |||
The Qube system offered many specialized channels, including a children's channel called ''Pinwheel'' which would later become ]. 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. | |||
== Programming == | |||
MTV's programming format was created by the visionary media executive, ], who later became president and chief executive officer of MTV Networks.<ref>http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/pittmanrobe/pittmanrobe.htm</ref> Pittman had test driven the music format by producing and hosting a 15 minute show, '']'', on WNBC, New York, in the late 1970s. Pittman's boss, ] COO John Lack, had shepherded a TV series called '']'', created by former ]-turned solo artist ], the latter of whom by the late 1970s was turning his attention to the music video format.<ref>http://living.scotsman.com/music.cfm?id=854582006</ref> | |||
] ].]] | |||
{{See also|List of programs broadcast by MTV}} | |||
As MTV expanded, music videos and VJ-guided programming were no longer the centerpiece of its programming. The channel's programming has covered a wide variety of genres and formats aimed at ] and ]s. In addition to its original programming, MTV has also aired original and syndicated programs from Paramount-owned siblings and third-party networks.<ref name="mtvweekly">{{cite web |title=On-Air – MTV Week at a Glance |url=http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516214550/http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |archive-date=May 16, 2007 |access-date=July 20, 2007 |website=MTV}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MTV schedule for the week of October 20, 2002 |url=http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021022001643/http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |archive-date=October 22, 2002 |website=MTV}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Life As We Know It: Natural Disasters |url=http://www.tv.com/life-as-we-know-it/natural-disasters/episode/356411/summary.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225062204/http://www.tv.com/shows/life-as-we-know-it/natural-disasters-356411/ |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |access-date=August 3, 2007 |publisher=TV.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MTV.com – On-Air – MTV Week at a Glance |url=http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516214550/http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/weekly.jhtml |archive-date=May 16, 2007 |website=MTV}}</ref> | |||
MTV is also a producer of films aimed at young adults through its production label, MTV Films, and has aired both its own theatrically released films and original made-for-television movies from MTV Studios in addition to acquired films.<ref>{{cite web |title=MTV Schedule for January 13, 2007 |url=http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/daily.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113054935/http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/daily.jhtml |archive-date=January 13, 2007 |website=MTV}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MTV Schedule for July 18, 2007 |url=http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/daily.jhtml?day=07%2F18%2F07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016005656/http://www.mtv.com/onair/schedule/mtv/daily.jhtml?day=07%2F18%2F07 |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |access-date=July 21, 2007 |website=MTV}}</ref> | |||
] also had a 30 minute program of music videos, called '']'', 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. | |||
In 2010, a study by the ] found that of 207.5 hours of prime time programming on MTV, 42% included content reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgender people. This was the highest in the industry and the highest percentage ever.<ref>{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Frazier |date=July 23, 2010 |title=Study: MTV leads in showing gay characters on television |work=silive.com |url=https://www.silive.com/entertainment/tvfilm/2010/07/study_mtv_leads_in_showing_gay.html |access-date=February 17, 2022 }}</ref> | |||
It should also be noted that in his book ''The Mason Williams FCC Rapport'', ] Head-Writer ], states that he pitched an idea to CBS for a TV show that featured "video-radio" where dic jockeys would play avant-gard art set to music on the air. CBS quashed the idea, but Williams set his own compisition ] to music on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The book where this claim is made was first published in 1971, ten years before MTV first came on the air. | |||
In 2018, MTV launched a new production unit under the MTV Studios name focused on producing new versions of MTV's library shows.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 21, 2018 |title=MTV Launches MTV Studios with 'Daria', 'Made', 'Real World' & 'Aeon Flux' Revivals |url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/mtv-studios-daria-made-real-world-aeon-flux-revivals-1202414792/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901204011/https://deadline.com/2018/06/mtv-studios-daria-made-real-world-aeon-flux-revivals-1202414792/ |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |access-date=July 3, 2019}}</ref> It was later consolidated into ]{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} | |||
===Music Television debuts=== | |||
] ].]] | |||
{{see|First music videos aired on MTV}} | |||
On ], ], at 12:01 a.m., MTV: Music Television launched with the words ''"Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,"'' spoken by original COO ]. Those words were accompanied by the original MTV theme song, a crunching guitar riff written by ] and John Petersen, playing over a montage of the ] moon landing. MTV producers used this footage because it was in the ].<ref>http://www.ew.com/ew/fab400/music100/11-13.html</ref> | |||
=== Video Music Awards === | |||
Appropriately, ] was "]" by ]. The second video shown was ]'s "You Better Run". Sporadically, the screen would go black when someone at MTV inserted a tape into a VCR.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/01/mtv.at.25.ap/index.html</ref> | |||
{{Main|MTV Video Music Awards}} | |||
In 1984, the channel produced its first ]s show, or VMAs. The first award show, in 1984, was punctuated by a live performance by Madonna of "]". The statuettes that are handed out at the Video Music Awards are of the MTV moonman, the channel's original image from its first broadcast in 1981. {{asof|2012}}, the Video Music Awards were MTV's most watched annual event.<ref>{{cite web |title=MTV's Video Music Award Sponsors Push Cross-Platform Integrations |url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/157435/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801102159/http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/157435/ |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |access-date=June 22, 2012}}</ref> | |||
At launch time, the official subscriber count across the U.S. was 3,000,000 (the actual number was 500,000), but the immediate impact would have argued that every young adult's television in the country was tuned to MTV. | |||
== |
=== Special, annual events === | ||
{{further|List of programs broadcast by MTV#Special events|l1=List of MTV special events}} | |||
=== Personalities and format === | |||
], one of the original five ]s at MTV's debut]] | |||
{{see|List of MTV VJs}} | |||
The early format of MTV was modeled after ] 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 ] (video jockey) was coined, a play on the acronym DJ (]). Many VJs eventually became celebrities in their own right. The original five MTV VJs in 1981 were ], ], ], ] and ]. In ], this group (except for J.J. Jackson, who died in ]) became hosts on ].<ref></ref> | |||
MTV began its annual '']'' coverage in 1986, setting up temporary operations in ], for a week in March, broadcasting live eight hours per day. "Spring break is a youth culture event", MTV's vice president ] said at the time. "We wanted to be part of it for that reason. It makes good sense for us to come down and go live from the center of it, because obviously the people there are the kinds of people who watch MTV."<ref>{{cite news |date=March 14, 1986 |title=MTV to Broadcast Spring Break Coverage Live |newspaper=] |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1986-03-14-8601160380-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203185937/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-03-14/news/8601160380_1_task-force-fort-lauderdale-spring |archive-date=February 3, 2013}}</ref> | |||
]]] | |||
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 ] got their start creating music videos, including ], ], and ]. | |||
The channel later expanded its beach-themed events to the summer, dedicating most of each summer season to broadcasting live from a beach house at different locations away from New York City, eventually leading to channel-wide branding throughout the summer in the 1990s and early 2000s such as ''Motel California'', ''Summer Share'', ''Isle of MTV'', ''SoCal Summer'', ''Summer in the Keys'', and ''Shore Thing''. MTV VJs would host blocks of music videos, interview artists and bands, and introduce live performances and other programs from the beach house location each summer.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 22, 2000 |title=MTV takes over beach |agency=Associated Press |url=http://lubbockonline.com/stories/072200/ent_0722000064.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=June 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703055259/http://lubbockonline.com/stories/072200/ent_0722000064.shtml |archive-date=July 3, 2017}}</ref> | |||
A large number of rock bands and performers of the 1980s were made into household names by MTV. Some 1980s acts immediately identifiable with MTV include ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], who made a career out of parodying other artists' videos. | |||
MTV also held week-long music events that took over the presentation of the channel. Examples from the 1990s and 2000s include ''All Access Week'', a week in the summer dedicated to live concerts and festivals; ''Spankin' New Music Week'', a week in the fall dedicated to brand new music videos; and week-long specials that culminated in a particular live event, such as ''Wanna be a VJ'' and the ''Video Music Awards''.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 26, 1999 |title=MTV lands acts for new music week |newspaper=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=97 |url-status=live |access-date=June 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225005612/https://www.mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=97 |archive-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> | |||
The hard rock band ] publicly appeared without their trademark makeup for the first time on MTV in 1983. ] 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. | |||
At the end of each year, MTV takes advantage of its home location in New York City to broadcast live coverage on New Year's Eve in ]. Several live music performances are featured alongside interviews with artists and bands that were influential throughout the year. For many years from the 1980s to the 2000s, the channel upheld a tradition of having a band perform a ] at midnight immediately following the beginning of the new year.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 2, 2003 |title=MTV plans big New Year's Eve bash |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a12569/mtv-plans-big-new-years-eve-bash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031116/https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a12569/mtv-plans-big-new-years-eve-bash/ |archive-date=February 16, 2022 |access-date=February 15, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
===Michael Jackson=== | |||
The biggest star of MTV in the 1980s was ], who launched the second wave of his career as an MTV staple, becoming the first black artist to have a video on the channel. His 14-minute long '']'' music video went into heavy rotation on MTV, being played twice within an hour at its height. Initially a struggling cable channel, Michael Jackson is often credited for putting MTV on the map "with pioneering videos such as "Thriller," "]" and "].""<ref name=ABCNews>{{cite web |url=http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/LegalCenter/story?id=464753&page=1|title=Why Are Michael Jackson's Fans So Devoted? |accessdate=2007-04-06 |format= |work=abcnews.com }}</ref> | |||
=== Live concert broadcasts === | |||
===Station IDs and slogans=== | |||
Throughout its history, MTV has covered global benefit concert series live. For most of July 13, 1985, MTV showed the ] concerts, held in London and Philadelphia and organized by ] and ] to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. While the ] network showed only selected highlights during primetime, MTV broadcast 16 hours of coverage.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Gil |date=June 29, 2005 |title=Live Aid: A Look Back At A Concert That Actually Changed The World |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1504968/live-aid-a-look-back-at-a-concert-that-actually-changed-the-world/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031113/http://www.mtv.com/news/1504968/live-aid-a-look-back-at-a-concert-that-actually-changed-the-world/ |archive-date=February 16, 2022 |access-date=February 15, 2022 |publisher=MTV News}}</ref> | |||
{{wikiquote|MTV slogans}} | |||
Along with ], MTV broadcast the ] concerts, a series of concerts set in the ] states and South Africa, on July 2, 2005.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 23, 2005 |title=Live 8 Concerts Will Air on MTV, VH1 |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1504578/live-8-concerts-will-air-on-mtv-vh1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031118/http://www.mtv.com/news/1504578/live-8-concerts-will-air-on-mtv-vh1/ |archive-date=February 16, 2022 |access-date=February 15, 2022 |publisher=MTV News}}</ref> Live 8 preceded the ] and the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. MTV drew heavy criticism for its coverage of Live 8. The network cut to commercials, VJ commentary, or other performances during performances. Complaints surfaced on the Internet over MTV interrupting the reunion of ].<ref name="Stung">{{Cite news |last=Boucher |first=Geoff |author2=Gaither, Chris |date=July 7, 2005 |title=MTV Stung by Live 8 Criticism |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-07-fi-mtv7-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031110/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-07-fi-mtv7-story.html |archive-date=February 16, 2022}}</ref> In response, MTV president Van Toffler stated that he wanted to broadcast highlights from every venue of Live 8 on MTV and VH1, and clarified that network hosts talked over performances only in transition to commercials, informative segments or other musical performances.<ref name="Defends coverage">{{Cite news |last=Ryan |first=Maureen |date=July 10, 2005 |title=MTV defends Live 8 coverage |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/07/10/mtv-defends-live-8-coverage/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111183710/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-07-10/news/0507100389_1_mtv-and-vh1-van-toffler-mtv-networks-music-group |archive-date=January 11, 2012}}</ref> Toffler acknowledged that "MTV should not have placed such a high priority on showing so many acts, at the expense of airing complete sets by key artists."<ref name="Stung" /> He also blamed the Pink Floyd interruption on a mandatory cable affiliate break.<ref name="Defends coverage" /> MTV averaged 1.4 million viewers for its original July 2 broadcast of Live 8.<ref name="Stung" /> Consequently, MTV and VH1 aired five hours of uninterrupted Live 8 coverage on July 9, with each channel airing other blocks of artists.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 7, 2005 |title=MTV, VH1 to Air Live 8 Performances Uninterrupted |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1505406/mtv-vh1-to-air-live-8-performances-uninterrupted/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031116/http://www.mtv.com/news/1505406/mtv-vh1-to-air-live-8-performances-uninterrupted/ |archive-date=February 16, 2022 |access-date=February 15, 2022 |publisher=MTV News}}</ref> | |||
MTV's innovative ]s were created by independent animation studios like Colossal Pictures in ] , Broadcast Arts in ], and Buzzco in ] . The radical MTV logo was designed by tiny New York design firm Manhattan Design by Pat Gorman, Frank Olinsky, and Patty Rogoff. Alan Goodman and ] developed the identity and promotional strategies that put MTV in the forefront of the world media industry by establishing the idea that television channels were brands. | |||
== Logo and branding == | |||
Many of the more successful musicians featured on MTV could be seen doing station identification spots for the network, exclaiming the signature line, ''I want my MTV!'', and other phrases. Over the years, the channel would gather a large ]. | |||
] | |||
] | |||
]s used during the 1980s; this one was designed by ].]] | |||
MTV's logo was designed in 1981 by ] (a collective formed by Frank Olinsky,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frankolinsky.com/mtvstory1.html|title=MTV Logo Story|publisher=Frankolinsky.com|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=August 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815012811/http://frankolinsky.com/mtvstory1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Pat Gorman and Patty Rogoff) under the guidance of original creative director ]. The ] "M" was sketched by Rogoff, with the scribbled word "TV" spraypainted by Olinksky.<ref>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Vidani|url=http://fredseibert.com/tagged/MTV_logo|title=MTV Logo @ Fred Seibert dot com|publisher=Fredseibert.com|date=May 5, 1980|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=April 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426071500/http://fredseibert.com/tagged/MTV_logo|url-status=dead}}</ref> The primary variant of MTV's logo at the time had the "M" in yellow and the "TV" in red. However, unlike most television networks' logos at the time, the logo was constantly branded with different colors, patterns and images on a variety of station IDs. Examples include 1988's ID "Adam And Eve", where the "M" is an apple and the snake is the "TV". And for 1984's ID "Art History", the logo is shown in different art styles. The only constant aspects of MTV's logo at the time were its general shape and proportions, with everything else being dynamic.<ref name="awn">{{cite web|title=The Creation of an Icon: MTV|magazine=Animation World Magazine|date=January 1, 1998|url=http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.10/2.10pages/2.10mtv.html|access-date=February 8, 2010|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303205646/https://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.10/2.10pages/2.10mtv.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
MTV launched on August 1, 1981, with an extended ] featuring the first landing on the Moon (with still images acquired directly from ]), which was a concept of Seibert's executed by ] and ].<ref name="bare_url">{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Vidani|url=http://fredseibert.com/post/184137950/more-than-75-000-times|title=More Than 75,000 Times|publisher=Fredseibert.com|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224060402/https://fredseibert.com/post/184137950/more-than-75000-times|url-status=live}}</ref> The ID then cut to the American flag planted on the Moon's surface changed to show the MTV logo on it, which rapidly changed into different colors and patterns several times per second as the network's original guitar-driven jingle was played for the first time. After MTV's launch, the "Moon landing" ID was edited to show only its ending, and was shown at the top of every hour until early 1986, when the ID was scrapped in light of the ]. (since then the space theme and the Moonman became a fixture of MTV’s branding most notably in its award show statue) The ID ran "more than 75,000 times each year (48 times each day), at the top and bottom of every hour every day" according to Seibert.<ref name="bare_url" /> | |||
=== Award shows === | |||
] | |||
{{see|List of MTV award shows}} | |||
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, MTV updated its on-air appearance at the beginning of every year and each summer, creating a consistent brand across all of its music-related shows. This style of channel-wide branding came to an end as MTV drastically reduced its number of music-related shows in the early to mid 2000s. Around this time, MTV introduced a static and single color ] mainly grey during on-air and some color to be shown during all of its programming. | |||
In ] the network produced its first '']'' show. Seen as a fit of self-indulgence by a fledgling network at the time, the "VMAs" developed into a music-industry showcase marketed as a ''hip'' antidote to the ] awards. In ], the network would add a ] with similar success. | |||
] | |||
=== Initial criticism === | |||
Starting with the premiere of the short-lived program '']'' in 2008, MTV started using a updated and cropped version of its original logo for the 30 years during most of its on-air programming. It became MTV's official logo on February 8, 2010, and officially debuted on its website.<ref name="omis">{{cite web|title=After 30 Years, MTV Changing its Logo! |publisher=Om Malik |date=February 6, 2010 |url=http://omis.me/2010/02/06/mtv-new-logo/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209081643/http://omis.me/2010/02/06/mtv-new-logo/ |archive-date=February 9, 2010 }}</ref> The channel's full text "MUSIC TELEVISION" was eliminated,<ref name="flavorwire" /><ref name="Music Television dropped" /> with the revised and chopped down on the logo largely the same as the original logo, but without the initialism, the bottom of the "M" being cropped and the "V" in "TV" no longer branching off.<ref name="flavorwire">{{cite magazine|title=There's No Music Television in MTV's New Logo|magazine=]|date=February 8, 2010|url=http://flavorwire.com/68793/theres-no-music-television-in-mtvs-new-logo|access-date=February 8, 2010|archive-date=March 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306115914/https://www.flavorwire.com/68793/theres-no-music-television-in-mtvs-new-logo|url-status=live}}</ref> This change was most likely made to reflect MTV's more prominent focus on reality and comedy programming and less on music-related programming. However, much like the original logo, the new logo was designed to be filled in with a seemingly unlimited variety of images. It is used worldwide, but not everywhere existentially. The new logo was first used on MTV Films logo with the 2010 film '']''. MTV's rebranding was overseen by Popkern.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://popkern.tv/#301872/MTV-REDESIGN-2010 |title=Pixel Party: The Studio of Jen Epstein |publisher=Popkern.tv |access-date=May 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221143253/http://popkern.tv/#301872/MTV-REDESIGN-2010 |archive-date=February 21, 2015 }}</ref> | |||
As early as ], because of its visibility as a promotional tool for the ], MTV became criticized as overly commercial. It was accused of denigrating the importance of ] in the ], replacing it with a purely visual aesthetic), and putting equally popular but less image-centric or single-based acts at a distinct disadvantage. One musician that criticized MTV for these reasons was Jello Biafra of the ], with the song "MTV - Get off the Air," from the album '']''. Although it could be said that MTV simply gave airtime to the most popular acts in a given country, it is also possible that these acts became popular simply because of the exposure that MTV gave them. | |||
On June 25, 2015,<ref>{{cite web |first=Lydia |last=Dishman |url=https://www.fastcocreate.com/3047788/mtv-international-turns-the-lens-on-its-audience-with-new-i-am-my-mtv-rebrand |title=MTV International Turns The Lens On Its Audience With New "I Am My MTV" Rebrand | Co.Create | creativity + culture + commerce |publisher=Fastcocreate.com |date=June 25, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202001053/https://www.fastcocreate.com/3047788/mtv-international-turns-the-lens-on-its-audience-with-new-i-am-my-mtv-rebrand |url-status=live }}</ref> MTV International rebranded its on-air look with a new ] and ]-inspired graphics package. It included a series of new station IDs featuring 3D renderings of objects and people, much akin to vaporwave and seapunk "aesthetics".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dishman|first1=Lydia|title=MTV International Turns The Lens On Its Audience With New "I Am My MTV" Rebrand|url=http://www.fastcocreate.com/3047788/mtv-international-turns-the-lens-on-its-audience-with-new-i-am-my-mtv-rebrand|access-date=April 24, 2016|date=June 25, 2016|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202001053/https://www.fastcocreate.com/3047788/mtv-international-turns-the-lens-on-its-audience-with-new-i-am-my-mtv-rebrand|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/tumblr-and-mtv-killed-vaporwave|title=How Tumblr and MTV Killed the Neon Anti-Corporate Aesthetic of Vaporwave|last=Pearson|first=Jordan|date=June 26, 2015|work=]|access-date=September 20, 2016|via=]|archive-date=December 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206193920/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/tumblr-and-mtv-killed-vaporwave|url-status=live}}</ref> Many{{Like whom?|date=July 2024}} have derided MTV's choice of rebranding, insisting that the artistic style was centered on denouncing ] (many aesthetic pieces heavily incorporate corporate logos of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, which coincidentally include MTV's original logo) rather than being embraced by major corporations like MTV. Many have also suggested that MTV made an attempt to be relevant in the modern entertainment world with the rebrand. In addition to this, the rebrand was made on exactly the same day that the social media site ] introduced Tumblr TV, an animated ] viewer which featured branding inspired by MTV's original 1980s on-air look.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/tumblr-launches-tumblr-tv-a-gif-search-engine-with-a-full-screen-viewing-mode/ |title=Tumblr Launches "Tumblr TV," A GIF Search Engine With A Full-Screen Viewing Mode | TechCrunch |publisher=techcrunch.com |date=June 25, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=June 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622135311/https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/tumblr-launches-tumblr-tv-a-gif-search-engine-with-a-full-screen-viewing-mode/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Tumblr has been cited as a prominent location of aesthetic art,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/tumblr-and-mtv-killed-vaporwave |title=How Tumblr and MTV Killed the Neon Anti-Corporate Aesthetic of Vaporwave | Motherboard |publisher=Motherboard.vice.com |date=June 26, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=December 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206193920/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/tumblr-and-mtv-killed-vaporwave |url-status=live }}</ref> and thus many have suggested MTV and Tumblr "switched identities". The rebrand also incorporated a modified version of MTV's classic "I Want My MTV!" slogan, changed to read "I Am My MTV". '']'' has suggested that the slogan change represents "the current generation's movement towards self-examination, identity politics and apparent narcissism."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-the-hell-is-mtvs-new-rebrand-about |title=What the Hell Is MTV's New Rebrand About? | Motherboard |publisher=Motherboard.vice.com |date=June 25, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=January 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124201254/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-the-hell-is-mtvs-new-rebrand-about |url-status=live }}</ref> MTV also introduced MTV Bump, a website that allows ] and ] users to submit videos to be aired during commercial breaks, as well as MTV Canvas, an online program where users submit custom IDs to also be aired during commercial breaks.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hobbs |first=Thomas |url=https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/06/25/mtv-announces-rebrand-as-it-aims-to-become-televisions-instagram/ |title=MTV rebrands as it aims to become television's Instagram |magazine=Marketing Week |date=June 25, 2015 |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210015524/https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/06/25/mtv-announces-rebrand-as-it-aims-to-become-televisions-instagram/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== MTV comes of age == | |||
=== Format evolution === | |||
] ].]] | |||
{{see|List of programs broadcast by MTV}} | |||
] | |||
Before ], MTV featured almost exclusively music videos, but as time passed they introduced a variety of other shows. Some of these new shows, such as '']'', still featured music videos. However, many of these shows were originally intended for other channels. | |||
] | |||
On February 5, 2021, MTV began to use a revised logo in tandem with the 2010 version, doing away with the 3D effect inherited from its predecessors (much akin to the current ] variant).<ref>{{Cite web |title=MTV Rebrand Case Study |url=https://www.loyalkaspar.com/mtv-rebrand-2021 |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=LK |language=en-US |archive-date=September 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908140920/https://www.loyalkaspar.com/mtv-rebrand-2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> That logo is revealed to be an alternate variant of the current logo designed by the design agency Loyalkaspar, which pays homage to MTV of the past with the red-yellow-blue color combination and the 3D effect mainly inherited from its predecessor logo. The new logo's rollout was completed in time for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=MTV Logo |url=https://logos-world.net/mtv-logo/ |website=logos-world.net |access-date=23 June 2023 |date=Apr 24, 2023 |archive-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622171410/https://logos-world.net/mtv-logo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== "I Want My MTV!" === | |||
This non-music video programming began in the late 1980s with the introduction of a music news show '']'', which was also the beginning of MTV's news division, ]. Around this time, MTV also introduced a dance show '']'', a game show '']'', and music-based specials such as '']'', an acoustic performance show. | |||
The channel's iconic "I Want My MTV!" advertising campaign was launched in 1982. It was first developed by ] and was based on a cereal commercial from the 1950s with the slogan "]!" that Lois adapted unsuccessfully from the original created by animator ].<ref name="Peter Vidani">{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Vidani|url=http://fredseibert.com/tagged/IWMM|title="I Want My MTV!" Fred Seibert dot com|publisher=Fredseibert.com|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=January 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106134106/http://fredseibert.com/tagged/IWMM|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Lois's first pitch to the network was roundly rejected when Lois insisted that rock stars like Mick Jagger should be crying when they said the tag line, not unlike his failed 'Maypo' revamp. His associate, and Seibert mentor Dale Pon,<ref>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Vidani|url=http://fredseibert.com/tagged/Dale-Pon|title=Dale Pon: My Mentor Fred Seibert dot com|publisher=Fredseibert.com|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224144341/https://fredseibert.com/tagged/Dale-Pon|url-status=dead}}</ref> took over the campaign, both strategically and creatively. Pon was able to get the campaign greenlit when he laughed the tears out of the spots. From then on–with the exception of the closely logos on the first round of commercials–Pon was the primary creative force.<ref>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Vidani|url=http://fredseibert.com/post/502390691/i-want-my-mtv-part-3|title="I Want My MTV! Part 3" Fred Seibert dot com|publisher=Fredseibert.com|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224052837/https://fredseibert.com/post/502390691/i-want-my-mtv-part-3|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
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 ], '']'' and '']''. | |||
All the commercials were produced by ] and his new company Buzzco Productions, directed first by ] and ] and eventually by Candy Kugel.<ref name="Peter Vidani"/> | |||
=== Animated shows === | |||
The campaign featured popular artists and celebrities, including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], interacting with the MTV logo on-air and encouraging viewers to call their pay television providers and request that MTV be added to their local channel lineups.<ref name="awn" /> Eventually, the slogan became so ubiquitous that it made an appearance as a lyric sung by ] on the ] song "]", whose music video aired in regular rotation on MTV when it was first released in 1985 and also served as the first video played on ],<ref>{{cite news |title= MTV ready to rock Russia |work= ] |date= 25 September 1998 |access-date= 1 April 2007 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/178641.stm |quote= ... the channel's continental incarnation, MTV Europe ... was launched in 1987 with the first video - beamed into 1.6 million paying households - being Dire Straits' Money for Nothing. |archive-date= October 2, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131002030918/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/178641.stm |url-status= live }}</ref> and became the basis of the music used in the ] ]. | |||
], in use since ]]] | |||
:''Further information: ]'' | |||
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 ] (originally a BBC import, later acquired and produced by MTV) was one of the networks first programs focussed 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 ] (]) in the early 1990s. MTV has a history of cartoons with mature themes, notably '']'', '']'', and '']''. 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. | |||
== Influence and controversies == | |||
The channel has been a target of criticism by different groups about programming choices, social issues, ], sensitivity, censorship, and a perceived negative ] on young people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lane|first=Frederick S.|year=2006|title=The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture|place=]|publisher=]|isbn=1-59102-427-7|url=https://archive.org/details/decencywarscampa0000lane}}</ref> Portions of the content of MTV's programs and productions have come under controversy in the general news media and among ] that have taken offense. Some within the music industry criticized what they saw as MTV's homogenization of rock 'n' roll, including the punk band the ], whose song "M.T.V.{{snd}}Get Off the Air" was released on their 1985 album '']'', just as MTV's influence over the music industry was being solidified.<ref>{{cite news|last=The Punk|first=Donny|title=The Dead Kennedys' State of Confusion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dHstWRgcM4C&q=dead+kennedys+mtv+get+off+the+air&pg=PA48|access-date=May 25, 2013|newspaper=Spin Magazine|date=February 1986}}</ref> MTV was also the major influence on the growth of music videos during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hardlinemedia.com.au/broadcast-background |title=Background: Where it Started |publisher=Hardline Media Video Productions |access-date=January 7, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204021759/https://hardlinemedia.com.au/broadcast-background }}</ref> | |||
=== Breaking the "color barrier" === | |||
By the second half of the 1990s, MTV's programming consisted primarily of non-music shows. In ], 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: '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''. Also at this time, MTV introduced its new studios in ]. | |||
During MTV's first few years, very few black artists were featured. The select few in MTV's rotation between 1981 and 1984 were ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. ] of ], ] of ] and ] of ] were also black. The Specials, which included black and white vocalists and musicians, were also the first act with people of color to perform on MTV; their song "Rat Race" was the 58th video on the station's first broadcast day.<ref>Hoye, Jacob. MTV Uncensored. Pocket Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7434-2682-7}}.</ref> | |||
MTV refused other black artists' videos, such as ]' "]", because they did not fit the channel's carefully selected ] at the time. The exclusion enraged James, who publicly advocated the addition of more black artists to the channel. ] also questioned MTV's lack of black artists during an on-air interview with VJ ] in 1983.<ref name="FINDART1">{{Cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_110/ai_n16807343/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802013636/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_110/ai_n16807343/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 2, 2013 |title=Why it took MTV so long to play black music videos |work=Jet |year=2006 }}</ref> MTV's original head of talent and acquisition, Carolyn B. Baker, who was black, questioned why the definition of music had to be so narrow, as did a few others outside the network. Years later, Baker said, "The party line at MTV was that we weren't playing black music because of the research – but the research was based on ignorance… We were young, we were cutting-edge. We didn't have to be on the cutting edge of racism." Nevertheless, it was Baker who rejected Rick James' "Super Freak" video "because there were half-naked women in it, and it was a piece of crap. As a black woman, I did not want that representing my people as the first black video on MTV."<ref>Marks, Craig & Tannebaum, Rob, I Want My MTV, Penguin Books, 2011, pp. 167–168</ref> | |||
A year later, in ], MTV merged ''Total Request'' and ''MTV Live'' into a live daily top ten countdown show, '']'', which would become the channel's unofficial ] program. In ], MTV shifted its focus to prank/comedic shows such as '']'', '']'', and '']''; and soap operas such as '']''. | |||
The network's director of music programming, Buzz Brindle, told an interviewer in 2006: "MTV was originally designed to be a rock music channel. It was difficult for MTV to find African American artists whose music fit the channel's format that leaned toward rock at the outset." Writers Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum noted that the channel "aired videos by plenty of white artists who didn't play rock." Andrew Goodwin later wrote: " denied racism, on the grounds that it merely followed the rules of the rock business."<ref>Marks, Craig & Tannebaum, Rob, I Want My MTV, Penguin Books, 2011, pg. 166</ref> MTV senior executive vice president ] complained decades later, "The worst thing was that 'racism' bullshit{{nbsp}}... there were hardly any videos being made by black artists. Record companies weren't funding them. ''They'' never got charged with racism." However, critics of that defence pointed out that record companies were not funding videos for black artists because they knew they would have difficulty persuading MTV to play them.<ref>{{cite news |last=Izadi |first=Elahe |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/01/11/how-david-bowie-confronted-mtv-for-ignoring-black-artists-in-the-early-1980s/ |title=This is how David Bowie confronted MTV when it was still ignoring black artists |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011103843/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/01/11/how-david-bowie-confronted-mtv-for-ignoring-black-artists-in-the-early-1980s/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== MTV in recent years == | |||
In celebrating the 40th anniversary of the network's launch in 2021, current MTV Entertainment Group president Chris McCarthy acknowledged that "(o)ne of the bigger mistakes in the early years was not playing enough diverse music{{nbsp}}... but the nice thing that I've always learned at MTV is we have no problem owning our mistakes, quickly correcting them and trying to do the right thing and always follow where the audience is going."<ref name=40th>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-music-7368f80439c56516c942eec1867715a0 |title=MTV marks 40th anniversary with a new 'Moon Person' design |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=August 2, 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912101308/https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-music-7368f80439c56516c942eec1867715a0 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
]'s sculpture for the MTV logo "Guillotine."]] | |||
Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled for MTV airtime.<ref name=blender>{{cite web|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1777 |title=Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean |access-date=April 11, 2007 |work=blender.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312182503/http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1777 |archive-date=March 12, 2007 }}</ref> To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier", the president of ], ], denounced MTV in a strong, profane statement, threatening to take away its right to play any of the label's music.<ref name=blender/><ref>The quote from ] reads, "I'm pulling everything we have off the air ... 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."</ref> However, Les Garland, then acquisitions head, said he decided to air Jackson's "]" video without pressure from CBS,<ref name="FINDART1" /> a statement later contradicted by CBS head of Business Affairs David Benjamin in ].<ref name=VanityFair>{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2000/11/mtv200011|author=Robert Sam Anson|title=Birth of an MTV Nation|website=]|date=June 4, 2008|access-date=February 16, 2022|archive-date=December 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227190233/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2000/11/mtv200011|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Reality shows === | |||
:''Further information: ]'' | |||
In the early ]s, MTV put a stronger focus on ], building on the success of '']'' and '']'' in the 1990s. MTV continued to play music videos (albeit rarely) instead of exclusively relegating them to their genre channels; however, the music videos aired either in the early morning hours or in a condensed form on '']''. | |||
], whose discography included music videos such as "]", "]", and "]"]] | |||
In ], '']'' became the first 'scary' reality show in which contestants filmed themselves. The show ran for three seasons and spawned numerous imitations, including '']'' on ]. | |||
According to '']'', 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."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Beets|first=Greg|title=Blow Up Your Video|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A82541|work=]|date=August 3, 2001|access-date=January 30, 2008|archive-date=February 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210221009/https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-08-03/82541/|url-status=live}}</ref> But change was not immediate. "Billie Jean" was not added to MTV's "medium rotation" playlist (two to three airings per day) until it reached No. 1 on the ] chart. In the final week of March, it was in "heavy rotation", one week before the MTV debut of Jackson's "]" video. Prince's "]" joined both videos in heavy rotation at the end of April. At the beginning of June, "]" by Eddy Grant joined "Billie Jean", which was still in heavy rotation until mid-June. At the end of August, "]" by Donna Summer was in heavy rotation on the channel. Herbie Hancock's "]" and ]'s "]" were placed in heavy rotation at the end of October and the beginning of November respectively. In the final week of November, Donna Summer's "]" was in heavy rotation. When Jackson's ] for "]" was released late that year, raising the bar for what a video could be, the network's support for it was total; subsequently, more pop and R&B videos were played on MTV.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-08-25-mtv_x.htm|title=Jackson ends black music prejudice on MTV|work=USA Today|first1=Edna|last1=Gundersen|date=August 25, 2005|access-date=May 13, 2010|archive-date=October 30, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030101653/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-08-25-mtv_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In ], MTV aired the first episode of another reality show, '']'', based on the everyday life of former, ] frontman ], his wife ], and two of their children, ] and ]. The show went on to become one of the network's biggest ever success stories and kick-started a musical career for ], while ] went on to host a ] on U.S. television. | |||
Following Jackson's and Prince's breakthroughs on MTV, Rick James did several interviews where he brushed off the accomplishment as ], saying in a 1983 interview, in an episode of '']'' on James, that "any black artist that their video played on MTV should pull their off MTV."<ref>Archived at {{cbignore}} and the {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhmAGKir40 |title=Rick James & Prince Part 2 tour bus tales |website=] |date=November 17, 2018 |access-date=June 1, 2020 |archive-date=February 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229053711/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhmAGKir40 |url-status=bot: unknown }}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhmAGKir40 |title=Rick James & Prince Part 2 tour bus tales |website=] |date=November 17, 2018 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
In ], '']'', another popular reality TV show that follows the lives of ] and ], 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 ] by '']'', which documented the beginnings of the music career of ], Jessica Simpson's younger sister. In the fall of ], Ozzy Osbourne's reality show '']'' aired. | |||
=== |
=== Subsequent concepts === | ||
] also had a 30-minute program of music videos called '']'', that first aired around the time of MTV's launch and lasted until late 1986. Also around this time, HBO, as well as other premium channels such as ], ] and ], occasionally played one or a few music videos between movies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://populartimelines.com/timeline/HBO/full#668d29a6b8747:~:text=1980%3A%20InterMissions%20Divided%20into%20Categories |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Popular Timelines |title=History of HBO in Timeline|date=April 15, 2019 }}</ref> | |||
] launched '']'' 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 that MTV initially ignored received airplay. The program ran until the end of May 1992. | |||
In ], MTV faced criticism in the wake of the ] ], which it produced. This infamous halftime show, which was shown on live television, featured the partial exposure of one of ]'s breasts. Afterwards, the ] indicated that MTV would not produce future Super Bowl halftime shows or any NFL-sponsored public event. In 2006, fans of ] started a petition against MTV for blacklisting the video for her single "]," possibly as a result of the 2004 controversy. | |||
] launched their own music video program called "Playboy's Hot Rocks" that premiered on July 15, 1983 featuring uncensored versions of music videos that were shown in nightclubs by artists from Duran Duran and Mötley Crüe to Nine Inch Nails and 2Pac. At times, they would do a certain theme like the all ] theme on the channel back in the 90s. | |||
In ], MTV drew heavy criticism for their coverage of ]. The network cut to commercials while bands were still performing, specifically rock acts ] (during the guitar solo for "Comfortably Numb") and The Who. Criticism was also aimed at MTV and VH1 for focusing too much on ill-informed VJs and not enough on the music. In some instances, VJs referred to the event at "Live 8 2005" or even "Live Aid 8," demonstrating that they had little or no knowledge of the cause going into the event. | |||
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NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are going to include some criticism about a specific MTV show, add it to the article for that show, NOT here | |||
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A few markets also launched music-only channels including Las Vegas' KRLR-TV (now ]), which debuted in the summer of 1984 and branded as "Vusic 21". The first video played on that channel was "Video Killed the Radio Star", following in the footsteps of MTV.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} | |||
=== 25th anniversary === | |||
On ], ], 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 ], ], Chewels gum, and ]. Videos were also shown from ], ], ], and more. The introduction of the first five VJs was also shown. | |||
Shortly after TBS began ''Night Tracks'', ] launched a music video program called '']'', which was considered network television's answer to MTV. Later renamed simply ''Friday Night'', the program ran from 1983 to 2002. ABC's contribution to the music video program genre in 1984, '']'', was far less successful, lasting only a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303417/|title="ABC Rocks" 1984|publisher=IMDb|access-date=March 12, 2012|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308073620/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303417/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Additionally, MTV.com put together a "yearbook" consisting of the greatest videos of each year from 1981 to 2006. Along with that, music.mtv.com offered a special online viewing of the top music video of each year since 1981. | |||
TBS founder ] started the ] in 1984, designed to play a broader mix of music videos than MTV's rock format allowed. But after one month as a money-losing venture, Turner sold it to MTV, who redeveloped the channel into VH1.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest to Control the Music, pp. 48–50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbYcUkfUbTkC&q=%22cable%20music%20channel%22&pg=PA48|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-8133-1821-9|author1=Banks, Jack|date=April 1996}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | |||
MTV itself only mentioned the anniversary once on ]. The main highlight of the day on the channel was '']'', the show that has divided viewers into two sides: those who think it made the network more of a ] force and created the ] genre, and those who think it caused the network to "]" by reducing its focus on music videos. | |||
The founders of ], Glenn Taylor and Karen Tyler tried to capitalize on the concept by launching Discovery Music Network, which was set to be a cable network,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Potts |first=Mark |date=1984-08-10 |title=2 More Music Channels Planned |language=en-US |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1984/08/10/2-more-music-channels-planned/5ed448b9-fe1b-45af-a7ab-678390d2e21e/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828105344/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1984/08/10/2-more-music-channels-planned/5ed448b9-fe1b-45af-a7ab-678390d2e21e/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and has plans to set up the Discovery Broadcasting System, which consists of the aforementioned network, along with computer and business networks,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1984 |title=Cablecastings |pages=28 |work=] |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/84-OCR/BC-1984-12-17-OCR-Page-0028.pdf |access-date=September 16, 2023 |archive-date=October 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010180118/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/84-OCR/BC-1984-12-17-OCR-Page-0028.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> but it never got off the ground.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-14 |title=Ted Turner Made an MTV Competitor That Died After Only a Month |url=https://tedium.co/2023/01/11/ted-turner-cable-music-channel-history/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. |language=en |archive-date=October 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004201131/https://tedium.co/2023/01/11/ted-turner-cable-music-channel-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Current trends === | |||
{{see|List of programs broadcast by MTV}} | |||
In ] and ], MTV continued its focus on reality shows, with the debuts of popular shows such as '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']''. | |||
Shortly after its launch, the ] aired a program called '']'', a play on the MTV acronym. The program used music cuts, both from past and upcoming artists. Instead of music videos, the program used clips of various vintage ] cartoons and animated films (from '']'' to '']'') to go with the songs. The program aired in multiple formats, sometimes between shows, sometimes as its own program, and other times as one-off specials. The specials tended to air both on the Disney Channel and ]. The program aired at several times between 1984 and 1999. In 2009, Disney Channel revived the ''DTV'' concept with a new series of short-form segments called ''Re-Micks''. | |||
Today, MTV's main source of music video programming is still '']'', airing four times per week. A ] music video show, ''Sucker Free'', also airs regularly. On most days, music video rotation continues in the late night and early morning hours. | |||
] created '']'', similar to ''DTV'' in 1985 and in 1986. | |||
'']'' cast member ] emailed Herc from ] on ], ], ] to let him know that both ] and ] had given the cast of ''Human Giant'' free reign, allowing them to program the channels and host from ]'s Time Square studios as they see fit for twenty-four hours, from ] on ], ] to ] on ], ]. Notable guests stopping by include ] and ] from '']'', ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and many more yet to be named. To quote Ansari's email, "They're (]) literally letting us do whatever we want - we can program whatever shows we want, have guests, bands, music videos, anything! We just have to stay up for 24 hours and get a million hits on our website." | |||
=== Censorship === | |||
== Moral influence of MTV == | |||
{{Main|Censorship on MTV}} | |||
MTV has edited a number of music videos to remove nudity, references to drugs,<ref name="smut 8">{{harvnb|Williams|2005|p = 8}} In this case, a reference to ] was removed from the video for "]" by ].</ref> sex, violence, weapons, racism, ], and/or advertising.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nuzum|first=Eric|title=Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America|publisher=]|year=2001|isbn=0-688-16772-1|pages=|title-link=Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America}}</ref> Many music videos aired on the channel were either censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel. | |||
In the 1980s, parent media watchdog groups such as the ] (PMRC) criticized MTV over certain music videos that were claimed to have explicit imagery of ]. As a result, MTV developed a strict policy on refusal to air videos that may depict Satanism or ] themes.<ref name="censorthis">{{cite web|title=Music censorship in America|url=http://geocities.com/fireace_00/mtv.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808082618/http://geocities.com/fireace_00/mtv.html|archive-date=August 8, 2009}}</ref> This policy led MTV to ban music videos such as "]" by ] in 1991<ref name="jcp">Prato, Greg. . ]</ref> and "]" by ] in 2004;<ref name="attack fcc" /> however, the controversial band ] was among the most popular rock bands on MTV during the late 1990s and early 2000s. | |||
Since its inception, critics of MTV have claimed that the channel's programming promotes bad behavior, including ] and ], to the youth of America by embracing the behaviors of certain celebrities who are not good role models. Some critics have even claimed that MTV is "pornography for children."<ref>http://chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com/2006/04/federal-tax-dollars-used-to-produce.html</ref> | |||
On September 28, 2016, on an AfterBuzz TV live stream, ] said that MTV had a "]" that forbid her from wearing her hair in ] in an episode of '']''. She said, "I wanted to cornrow my hair, and they were like, 'That's racist.'"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtUy3Yop2eQ&t=8m38s|minutes=8:38|via=YouTube|date=September 28, 2016|access-date=July 9, 2024|title=Mary + Jane Season 1 Episode 4 Review & After Show w/ Scout Durwood|publisher=AfterBuzz TV|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202021357/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtUy3Yop2eQ&t=8m38s|url-status=live}} Archived at {{cbignore}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
In response to this initial criticism, since the early 1990s, MTV restructured its programming to incorporate moral behaviors that might influence their audience. Personalities on the channel began to support environmental issues and emphasize being "socially responsible," encouraging young people to take part in volunteer work in their community. | |||
=== Trademark suit === | |||
More recently, in the summer of 2005, MTV began to examine the depiction of women in their programming after women's rights groups criticized MTV for allowing ] in images and music videos. | |||
], Hungary's public broadcaster who has a trademark on the initials '''MTV''', registered with the Hungarian copyright office, sued the American MTV (Music Television) network for trademark infringement when the Hungarian version of the music channel was launched in 2007. The suit is still ongoing.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} | |||
=== |
=== Andrew Dice Clay === | ||
During the ] ceremony, comedian ] did his usual "adult nursery rhymes" routine (which he had done in his stand-up acts), after which the network executives imposed a lifetime ban. ]'s music video for the song "]" originally had scenes from Clay's film '']'' when it was originally aired; scenes from the film were later excised. During the ], Clay was in attendance where he confirmed that the channel lifted the ban.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/09/andrew-dice-clay-lady-gagas-jo-calderone-is-me/|title=Andrew Dice Clay: Lady Gaga's Jo Calderone Is Me|first=Sheila|last=Marikar|date=September 7, 2011|work=]|access-date=December 30, 2011|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307221201/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/09/andrew-dice-clay-lady-gagas-jo-calderone-is-me/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{main|Censorship on MTV}} | |||
On the other side of the moral influence debate, MTV has also come under criticism for being too ] and sensitive, ] 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. | |||
=== ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' === | |||
=== Social activism=== | |||
{{Main|Beavis and Butt-Head#Allegations of promoting dangerous behavior}} | |||
] | |||
In the wake of controversy that involved a child burning down his house after allegedly watching ''Beavis and Butt-head'', MTV moved the show from its original 7 p.m. time slot to an 11{{nbsp}}p.m. time slot. Also, Beavis's tendency to flick a lighter and ] was removed from new episodes, and controversial scenes were removed from existing episodes before their rebroadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvacres.com/censorship_beavis.htm |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121119094220/http://www.tvacres.com/censorship_beavis.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 19, 2012 |title=Censorship & Scandals: Beavis & Butt-head }}</ref> Some extensive edits were noted by series creator ] after compiling his ], saying that "some of those episodes may not even exist actually in their original form."<ref>{{cite video|people=]|date=2005|title=] Taint to Greatness the Journey of Beavis and Butt-Head (Part 1)}}</ref> | |||
MTV has a long history of pseudo-promoting social, political, and environmental ] in young people. | |||
=== ''Dude, This Sucks'' === | |||
In 1992, MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called '']'', to encourage up to 20 million people to register to vote, and hosted a town hall forum for ].<ref>MTV's traveling "Choose or Lose" vehicle brings politics. Salon. http://www.salon.com/media/media960923.html</ref> In the 1990s and early 2000s, MTV promoted annual campaigns known as '']'', with the slogan "Speak Out/Stand Up Against Violence", to bring forth awareness on America's crime, drugs and violence issues. | |||
A pilot for a show called ''Dude, This Sucks'' was cancelled after teens attending a taping at the ] in January 2001 were sprayed with liquidized fecal matter by a group known as "The Shower Rangers". The teens later sued,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=107141|title=MTV Sorry for Poop-Flinging|work=ABC News|date=April 6, 2001|access-date=September 25, 2011|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308010322/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=107141|url-status=live}}</ref> with MTV later apologizing and ordering the segment's removal.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/80166/teens-sue-mtv-over-defecation-incident|title=Teens Sue MTV Over Defecation Incident?|date=April 6, 2001|magazine=]|access-date=October 2, 2010|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308232951/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/80166/teens-sue-mtv-over-defecation-incident|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thattimehascome.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-on-mtvs-dude-this-sucks.html|title=More on MTV's 'Dude, This Sucks'|author=el greco|date=May 29, 2009|work=THAT TIME HAS COME|publisher=]|access-date=October 2, 2010|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204155842/http://thattimehascome.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-on-mtvs-dude-this-sucks.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show === | |||
On ], ], MTV voluntarily ceased regular programming for 24 hours as part of the year's ] awareness campaign. On that night, MTV aired a made-for-TV movie '']'', based on a true story of the 1998 murder of 21-year old ], a gay college student. After the film and a discussion, MTV went dark and showed names of hate crime victims. | |||
{{Main|Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy}} | |||
After ]'s purchase of ], MTV was selected to produce the ] ] in 2001, airing on ] and featuring ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Aerosmith, N'Sync add spice to MTV-driven halftime show|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2001/playoffs/news/2001/01/28/superbowl_halftimeshow_ap/|magazine=]|agency=]|orig-date=January 28, 2001|date=January 29, 2001|archive-date=February 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226005204/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2001/playoffs/news/2001/01/28/superbowl_halftimeshow_ap/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Due to its success, MTV was invited back to produce another halftime show in 2004; this sparked a nationwide debate and controversy that drastically changed Super Bowl halftime shows, MTV's programming, and radio censorship. | |||
When CBS aired ] in 2004, MTV was again chosen to produce the halftime show, with performances by such artists as ], ], ], and ]. The show became controversial, however, after Timberlake tore off part of Jackson's outfit while performing "]" with her, revealing her right breast. All involved parties apologized for the incident, and Timberlake referred to the incident as a "]".<ref name="cnnfcc">{{Cite news|title=Apologetic Jackson says 'costume reveal' went awry|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/02/superbowl.jackson/|work=CNN|agency=Associated Press|date=February 2, 2004|access-date=May 24, 2008|archive-date=February 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218110403/http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/02/superbowl.jackson/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
MTV also aired a documentary covering a trip by the ] band ] to the ], 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.<ref> ''War Child Canada''. ]-].</ref> | |||
], then-chairman of the ] (FCC), ordered an investigation the day after the broadcast.<ref name="cnnfcc"/> In the weeks following the halftime show, MTV censored much of its programming. Several music videos, including "]" and "]", were edited for sexual content.<ref name="attack fcc">{{cite magazine|last=Cave|first=Damien|title=MTV Under Attack by FCC|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mtv-under-attack-by-fcc-108283/|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 23, 2004|access-date=February 15, 2022|archive-date=December 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206023332/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937141/mtv_under_attack_by_fcc|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2004, the FCC ruled that the halftime show was indecent and fined CBS $550,000.<ref>{{Cite news|title=CBS hit with $550K Super Bowl fine|url=https://money.cnn.com/2004/09/22/news/fortune500/viacom_fcc/|work=CNN/Money|date=September 22, 2004|access-date=May 24, 2008|archive-date=October 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011105429/https://money.cnn.com/2004/09/22/news/fortune500/viacom_fcc/|url-status=live}}</ref> The FCC upheld it in 2006,<ref>{{Cite news|title=FCC sticks by Janet Jackson Super Bowl fine|work=MSNBC|agency=Associated Press|date=February 22, 2006}}</ref> but federal judges reversed the fine in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2574243/court-drops-fcc-fine-for-janet-jacksons-super-bowl-wardrobe-malfunction/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722015149/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/07/21/court-drops-fcc-fine-for-janet-jacksons-super-bowl-wardrobe-malfunction/|archive-date=July 22, 2012|title=Court Drops FCC Fine For Janet Jackson's Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction|date=July 21, 2008|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|website=MTV|access-date=February 15, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
In recent years, other politically diverse programs on MTV have included '']'', which documents people's lives and problems, and ] 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 ] ].<ref>Sherman, Tom, "" ''Underscorebleach.net'', ]. Retrieved on ].</ref> MTV worked with ]'s "]" campaign, designed to encourage young people to vote.<ref>Vargas, Jose Antonio, "" ''Washingtonpost.com'', ]. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
==== Nipplegate ==== | |||
MTV's most recent activism campaign is '']'', which discusses current political issues such as ], U.S. ], and ] in other countries. The ] of the program is "Reflect. Decide. Do." As part of ''think MTV'', the channel also airs a series of pro-environmental ads called ''Break The Addiction'', as a way of encouraging their viewers to find ways to use less ] and energy. | |||
Timberlake and Jackson's controversial event gave way to a "wave of self-censorship on American television unrivaled since the McCarthy era".<ref name="Feeney">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/the-legacy-of-janet-jacksons-boob/283499/|title=The Legacy of Janet Jackson's Boob|last=Feeney|first=Nolan|website=The Atlantic|access-date=April 19, 2016|date=January 31, 2014|archive-date=May 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530215023/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/the-legacy-of-janet-jacksons-boob/283499/|url-status=live}}</ref> After the sudden event, names surfaced such as ], Janet moment, and ], and this spread politically, furthering the discussion into the 2004 presidential election surrounding "]" and "media decency".<ref name="Feeney" /> | |||
== |
=== Moral criticism === | ||
In 2005, the ] (PTC) released a study titled "MTV Smut Peddlers", which sought to expose excessive sexual, profane, and violent content on the channel, based on MTV's spring break programming from 2004.<ref>{{cite web|last=Williams |first=Casey |title=MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids with Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol |work=ParentsTV.org |publisher=Parents Television Council |date=February 1, 2005 |url=http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/MTV_Report.pdf |access-date=May 19, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217064113/http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/MTV_Report.pdf |archive-date=February 17, 2007 }}</ref> Jeanette Kedas, an MTV network executive, called the PTC report "unfair and inaccurate" and "underestimating young people's intellect and level of sophistication", while ], then-president of the PTC, stated: "the incessant sleaze on MTV presents the most compelling case yet for consumer cable choice", referring to the practice of pay television companies to allow consumers to pay for channels '']''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Study: MTV delivers a diet of sleaze|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-02-mtv-watchdog-study_x.htm|work=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|date=February 2, 2005|access-date=May 24, 2008|archive-date=June 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628124725/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-02-mtv-watchdog-study_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{main|MTV in popular culture}} | |||
MTV has been referenced countless times in popular culture. Other TV channels, TV shows, musicians, films, and books have made reference to MTV in their works. An incomplete list of these references can be found at ]. | |||
In April 2008, PTC released ''The Rap on Rap'', a study covering hip-hop and R&B music videos rotated on programs '']'' and '']'', both shown on ], and '']'' on MTV. PTC urged advertisers to withdraw sponsorship of those programs, whose videos PTC stated targeted children and teenagers containing adult content.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moss|first1=Linda|last2=Umstead|first2=R. Thomas|title=PTC Puts a Bad 'Rap' On BET, MTV|url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/132804-PTC_Puts_A_Bad_Rap_On_BET_MTV.php|work=Multichannel news|date=April 10, 2008|access-date=August 26, 2008|archive-date=September 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902013318/http://www.multichannel.com/article/132804-PTC_Puts_A_Bad_Rap_On_BET_MTV.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Crupi|first=Anthony|title=PTC Blasts MTV, BET|url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/media_agencies/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003788641|work=Mediaweek|date=April 10, 2008|access-date=August 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422053803/http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/media_agencies/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003788641|archive-date=April 22, 2008}}</ref> | |||
==Beyond MTV== | |||
=== Sister channels in the U.S. === | |||
]]] | |||
{{see|List of MTV channels}} | |||
In 1985, MTV saw the introduction of its first true sister channel, ], short for Video Hits One. Today, ] still operates ], which is aimed at celebrity and popular culture programming, as well as ], which targets the ] market. | |||
=== ''Jersey Shore'' === | |||
The advent of ] and ] brought MTV greater channel diversity, including its current sister channel ], which initially played 24/7 music videos and now focuses on other music-related programming. Two additional channels, ] and ], play music videos exclusively. MTV also broadcasts ], a college-oriented channel on campus at various universities. | |||
{{Main|Controversies of Jersey Shore}} | |||
MTV received significant criticism from Italian American organizations for '']'', which premiered in 2009.<ref name="Fox News">{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/11/25/italian-american-group-asks-mtv-cancel-jersey-shore/|title=FoxNews.com|publisher=FoxNews.com|date=April 7, 2010|access-date=August 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201160000/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/11/25/italian-american-group-asks-mtv-cancel-jersey-shore/|archive-date=February 1, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The controversy was due in large part to the manner in which MTV marketed the show, as it liberally used the word "]" to describe the cast members. The word "guido" is generally regarded as an ] when referring to Italians and Italian Americans. One promotion stated that the show was to follow, "eight of the hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos,"<ref>{{cite web|last=Kaufman|first=Gil|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1627353/jersey-shore-castmember-defends-show-against-detractors/|title='Jersey Shore' Castmember Defends Show Against Detractors|publisher=MTV.com|date=December 1, 2009|access-date=February 15, 2022|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031119/http://www.mtv.com/news/1627353/jersey-shore-castmember-defends-show-against-detractors/|url-status=dead}}</ref> while yet another advertisement stated, "''Jersey Shore'' exposes one of the tri-state area's most misunderstood species ... the GUIDO. Yes, they really do exist! Our Guidos and Guidettes will move into the ultimate beach house rental and indulge in everything the ], New Jersey scene has to offer."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtvca/tvshows/show.jhtml?id=22413 |title=MTV.ca |publisher=MTV.ca |access-date=May 23, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | |||
Prior to the series debut, ] formally requested that MTV cancel the show.<ref>{{Dead link|date = August 2010}}</ref> In a formal letter, the company called the show a "direct, deliberate and disgraceful attack on Italian Americans."<ref>{{cite web|last=Raymond|first=Adam K.|url=https://www.vulture.com/2009/11/italian_group_asks_mtv_to_yank.html|title=Italian Group Asks MTV to Yank Jersey Shore|publisher=Vulture|date=November 24, 2009|access-date=February 15, 2022|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216043002/https://www.vulture.com/2009/11/italian_group_asks_mtv_to_yank.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Unico National President Andre DiMino said, "MTV has festooned the 'bordello-like' house set with Italian flags and red, white and green maps of New Jersey while every other cutaway shot is of Italian signs and symbols. They are blatantly as well as subliminally bashing Italian Americans with every technique possible."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2009/12/04/Italian-Americans-slam-Jersey-Shore/UPI-85771259960979/|title=Italian-Americans slam 'Jersey Shore'|publisher=UPI.com|date=December 4, 2009|access-date=August 7, 2010|archive-date=February 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203033313/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2009/12/04/Italian-Americans-slam-Jersey-Shore/UPI-85771259960979/|url-status=live}}</ref> Around this time, other Italian organizations joined the fight, including the NIAF and the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.niaf.org/public_policy/images/NIAF_Letter_Viacom-JerseyShore11-09.pdf |title=NIAF.org |access-date=May 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531151858/https://www.niaf.org/public_policy/images/NIAF_Letter_Viacom-JerseyShore11-09.pdf |archive-date=May 31, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianaware.com|title=ItalianAware.com|publisher=ItalianAware.com|access-date=August 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131020041/http://www.italianaware.com/|archive-date=January 31, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_08fbfbbc-e122-11de-8a9f-001cc4c002e0.html|title=Italian groups target MTV|first=Vincent|last=Jackson|publisher=PressOfAtlanticCity.com|date=December 4, 2009|access-date=August 7, 2010|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506035825/https://pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_08fbfbbc-e122-11de-8a9f-001cc4c002e0.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Recently, MTV Networks launched ] (Music: High Definition), a ] channel that features programming from all three of the major music-themed channels owned by MTV Networks: MTV, VH1, and CMT. | |||
MTV responded by issuing a press release which stated in part, "The Italian American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture."<ref name="Fox News"/> Following the calls for the show's removal, several sponsors requested that their ads not be aired during the show. These sponsors included ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_dell_pulls_ads_from_jersey_shore.html|title=Dell pulls ads from 'Jersey Shore'; MTV show loses another sponsor over claims of 'ethnic bashing'|publisher=NYdailyNews.com|date=December 22, 2009|access-date=August 7, 2010|location=New York|first=Gina|last=Salamone|archive-date=December 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225124409/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_dell_pulls_ads_from_jersey_shore.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite the loss of certain advertisers, MTV did not cancel the show. Moreover, the show saw its audience increase from its premiere in 2009, and continued to place as MTV's top-rated programs during ''Jersey Shore's'' six-season run, ending in 2012. | |||
In ] and ], MTV launched a series of channels for ]. The first channel was ], launched in ], dedicated toward South-Asian Americans. Next was ], in ], which catered to Chinese Americans. The third was ], launched on ], ], 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 ], ]. | |||
== Social activism == | |||
In addition to its regular programming, MTV has a long history of promoting social, political, and environmental activism in young people.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lewis |first1=Michael |title=The Herd of Independent Minds |magazine=New Republic |date=1996 |volume=214 |issue=23 |pages=20–26}}</ref> The channel's vehicles for this activism have been ''Choose or Lose'', encompassing political causes and encouraging viewers to vote in elections; ''Fight For Your Rights'', encompassing anti-violence and anti-discrimination causes; ''think MTV''; and ''MTV Act'' and ''Power of 12'', the newest umbrellas for MTV's social activism. | |||
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 ], 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. | |||
=== |
=== ''Choose or Lose'' === | ||
] | |||
{{see|List of MTV channels}} | |||
In 1992, MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called ''Choose or Lose'', to encourage over 20 million people to register to vote, and the channel hosted a town hall forum for then-candidate ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Dan |title=Babylon by bus |url=https://www.salon.com/1996/09/23/media960923/ |website=] |access-date=9 July 2024 |date=23 September 1996}}</ref> | |||
MTV Networks and Viacom have launched numerous native-language MTV-branded music channels to countries worldwide. These channels include, but are not limited to, ], ], MTV Spain, MTV Austria, MTV France, ], ], MTV Portugal, ], MTV Denmark, MTV Finland, ], MTV Netherlands, MTV Norway, MTV Poland, ], ], ], ], MTV Sweden, ], ], ], MTV Korea, ], MTV Taiwan/Hong Kong, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ] in Africa. | |||
In recent years, other politically diverse programs on MTV have included '']'', which documents people's lives and problems, and ] specials, which center on very current events in both the music industry and the world. One special show covered the ], airing programs focused on the issues and opinions of young people, including a program where viewers could ask questions of Senator ].<ref>Sherman, Tom, " {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511152920/http://underscorebleach.net/jotsheet/2004/11/election-youth-vote |date=May 11, 2011 }}" ''Underscorebleach.net'', November 4, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-04-14.</ref> MTV worked with ]'s "]" campaign, designed to encourage young people to vote.<ref>Vargas, Jose Antonio, " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205002748/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35290-2004Nov8.html |date=February 5, 2021 }}" ''Washingtonpost.com'', November 9, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-04-14.</ref> | |||
==See also== | |||
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Additionally, MTV aired a documentary covering a trip by the musical group ] to the ], 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.<ref>"" ''War Child Canada''. 2001–2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107163733/http://www.warchild.ca/rocked.asp |date=January 7, 2007 }}</ref> | |||
==References== | |||
<references /> | |||
The channel also began showing presidential campaign commercials for the first time during the ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Weprin|first=Alex|title=Breaking Tradition, MTV to Accept Political Advertising|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6573298.html?rssid=193|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=June 25, 2008|access-date=June 25, 2008}}</ref> This has led to criticism, with ] opining that "MTV serves as the ] main youth outreach program."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2008/09/12/very_different_visions|title=Jonah Goldberg – Very Different Visions|first=Jonah|last=Goldberg|date=September 12, 2008 |access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=September 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912163008/http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2008/09/12/very_different_visions|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==External links== | |||
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=== ''Rock the Vote'' === | |||
{{Viacom}} | |||
MTV is aligned with ], a campaign to motivate young adults to register and vote.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rockthevote.org/about-us/ | title=About us | publisher=Rock the Vote | access-date=May 18, 2019 | archive-date=January 21, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121055253/https://www.rockthevote.org/about-us/ | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== ''MTV Act'' and ''Power of 12'' === | |||
In 2012, MTV launched ''MTV Act'' and ''Power of 12'', its current social activism campaigns. ''MTV Act'' focuses on a wide array of social issues,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mtv.com |title=MTV Act |publisher=Act.mtv.com |date=August 10, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2012 |archive-date=August 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816003900/http://act.mtv.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> while ''Power of 12'' was a replacement for MTV's ''Choose or Lose'' and focused on the ].<ref>{{cite web |first=Lauren |last=Grillo |url=http://powerof12.org/ |title=MTV |publisher=Power of 12 |access-date=August 14, 2012 |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104032504/http://powerof12.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
=== ''Elect This'' === | |||
In 2016, MTV continued its pro-democracy campaign with ''Elect This'', an issue-oriented look at the ] targeting Millennials. Original content under the "Elect This" umbrella includes "Infographica," short animations summarizing MTV News polls; "Robo-Roundtable," a digital series hosted by animatronic robots; "The Racket," a multi-weekly digital series; and "The Stakes," a weekly political podcast.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elect What? "Elect This."|url=http://thepub.viacom.com/sites/mtvpress/Pages/elect-this-launch-announcement.aspx|website=MTV Press|publisher=Viacom Media Networks|access-date=August 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921212735/http://thepub.viacom.com/sites/mtvpress/Pages/elect-this-launch-announcement.aspx|archive-date=September 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
=== ''Vote Early Day'' === | |||
In 2020, MTV was the principal founder of ]. Initially, the primary target audience was young voters. The MTV campaign launched with partners across media, consumer brands, and advocacy organizations, and its strength being that it isn't ‘owned’ by any one entity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morin |first=Rebecca |title=Vote Early Day effort launches to get more people, especially young voters, to the polls |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/10/vote-early-day-effort-launches-get-more-people-young-voters-polls/5002061002/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=November 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101183850/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/10/vote-early-day-effort-launches-get-more-people-young-voters-polls/5002061002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Voting Early Is Easier Than Ever — So We're Making It A Holiday |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/o4q24a/vote-early-day-what-to-know |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=MTV |language=en |archive-date=November 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101183630/https://www.mtv.com/news/o4q24a/vote-early-day-what-to-know |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vote Early Day |url=https://www.hyperakt.com/work/vote-early-day |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Hyperakt |language=en |archive-date=November 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101190346/https://www.hyperakt.com/work/vote-early-day |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== Beyond MTV == | |||
Since its launch in 1981, the brand "MTV" has expanded and includes many additional properties beyond the original MTV channel, including a variety of sister channels in the US, dozens of affiliated channels around the world, and an Internet presence through MTV.com and related websites. | |||
=== Sister channels in the US === | |||
MTV operates a group of channels under MTV Networks{{snd}}a name that continues to be used for the individual units of the ], a division of corporate parent ]. In 1985, MTV saw the introduction of its first regular sister channel, ], which was originally an acronym for "Video Hits One" and was designed to play ] music videos. VH1 is aimed at celebrity and popular culture programming which include many reality shows. Another sister channel, ], targets the ] market. | |||
The advent of satellite television and ] brought MTV greater channel diversity, including its sister channels ] and Spanish-speaking MTV Tr3́s (]), which initially played music videos exclusively but later focused on other programming. MTV also formerly broadcast ] on campuses at various universities until 2018, when the MTV Networks on Campus division was sold, and the channel remained as a digital cable channel only. MTV formerly also had MTV Hits and ] channels until these were converted into ] and MTV Jams, respectively. MTV Jams was later rebranded as ] in 2015. | |||
In January 2006, MTV launched MTV HD, a ] ] simulcast feed of MTV. Until Viacom's main ] was upgraded in 2013, only the network's original series after 2010 (with some pre-2010 content) are broadcast in high definition, while music videos, despite being among the first television works to convert to high definition presentation in the mid-2000s, were presented in 4:3 ], forcing them into a ] type of presentation; since that time, all music videos are presented in HD and are framed to their director's preference. ''Jersey Shore'', despite being shot with widescreen HD cameras, was also presented with SD windowboxing (though the 2018 '']'' revival is in full HD). The vast majority of providers carry MTV HD. | |||
MTV Networks also operates ], a ] channel that features original HD music programming and HD versions of music related programs from MTV, VH1 and CMT. The channel was launched in January 2006 as MHD (Music: High Definition). The channel was officially rebranded as MTV Live on February 1, 2016.<ref name="palladia">{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/mtv-networks-mhd-music-high-definition/story.aspx?guid=%7BC338790D-229D-4202-BECB-DCE35ECCB4BA%7D&dist=hppr|title=MTV Networks' MHD: Music High-Definition Channel Kicks Into High Gear With New Programming and a New Name – Palladia|access-date=August 12, 2008|archive-date=February 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215053519/http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/mtv-networks-mhd-music-high-definition/story.aspx?guid=%7BC338790D-229D-4202-BECB-DCE35ECCB4BA%7D&dist=hppr|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In 2005 and 2006, MTV launched a list of channels for Asian Americans. The first channel was ], launched in July 2005, dedicated towards Indian Americans. Next was ], in December 2005, which catered to Chinese Americans. The third was ], 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 US programming, promos, and packaging. All three of these channels ceased broadcasting on April 30, 2007. | |||
On August 1, 2016, the 35th anniversary of the original MTV's launch, VH1 Classic was rebranded as ]. The channel's programming focused on classic music videos and programming (including notable episodes of ''MTV Unplugged'' and '']''), but skews more towards the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The network aired encores of former MTV series such as ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' and '']''. The network's relaunch included a broadcast of MTV's first hour on the air, which was also simulcast on MTV and online via Facebook live streaming.<ref name="polygon-mtvclassic">{{cite web|title=MTV Classic bringing The 2011 Beavis and Butt-Head, Aeon Flux and music videos back on-air|url=http://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/7/28/12310498/mtv-classic-premiere-date-programming-block|website=Polygon|date=July 28, 2016|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=May 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502090840/https://www.polygon.com/tv/2016/7/28/12310498/mtv-classic-premiere-date-programming-block|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="rollingstone-mtvclassic">{{cite magazine|title=MTV Launches 'Classic' Channel Dedicated to 1990s|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mtv-launches-classic-channel-dedicated-to-1990s-w431416|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=July 28, 2016|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052714/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mtv-launches-classic-channel-dedicated-to-1990s-w431416|url-status=dead}}</ref> MTV Classic only retained three original VH1 Classic programs, which were '']'', ''],'' and '']'', although repeats of current and former VH1 programs such as '']'' and '']'' remained on the schedule. However, the rebranded MTV Classic had few viewers, and declined quickly to become the least-watched English-language subscription network rated by Nielsen at the end of 2016. At the start of 2017, it was reorganized into an all-video network.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Scott|last2=Maglio|first2=Tony|title=21 Least-Watched Cable Channels, From MTV Classic to Sprout|url=https://www.thewrap.com/20-least-watched-entertainment-cable-channels-2016-mtv-classic-sprout/?mode=3|access-date=January 3, 2017|work=TheWrap|date=December 29, 2016|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309002327/https://www.thewrap.com/20-least-watched-entertainment-cable-channels-2016-mtv-classic-sprout/?mode=3|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://adage.com/article/media/small-change/308086/|title=Small Change: Why Niche Cable Nets Are on Their Last Legs | Media – AdAge|last=Crupi|first=Anthony|date=February 27, 2017|work=]|access-date=February 27, 2017|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224035857/https://adage.com/article/media/small-change/308086|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Internet<!--'MTV.com' redirects here--> === | |||
] | |||
In the late 1980s, before the ], MTV VJ ] began experimenting on the Internet. He registered the then-unclaimed ] "'''MTV.com'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->" in 1993 with the idea of being MTV's unofficial new voice on the Internet. Although this move was sanctioned by his supervisors at MTV Networks at the time, when Curry left to start his own web-portal design and hosting company, MTV subsequently sued him for the domain name, which led to an out-of-court settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loundy.com/CASES/MTV_v_Curry.html|title=MTV vs. Curry|access-date=March 28, 2007|archive-date=February 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210220119/http://www.loundy.com/CASES/MTV_v_Curry.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
The service hosted at the domain name was originally branded "MTV Online" during MTV's first few years of control over it in the mid-1990s. It served as a counterpart to the ] portal for MTV content, which existed at AOL keyword MTV until approximately the end of the 1990s. After this time, the website became known as simply "MTV.com" and served as the Internet hub for all MTV and ] content. | |||
MTV.com experimented with entirely video-based layouts between 2005 and 2007. The experiment began in April 2005 as ''MTV Overdrive'', a streaming video service that supplemented the regular MTV.com website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atmasphere.net/wp/archives/2005/04/06/mtv-overdrive|title=MTV today announced the launch of the new hybrid channel, "MTV Overdrive"|access-date=August 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106064216/http://www.atmasphere.net/wp/archives/2005/04/06/mtv-overdrive|archive-date=November 6, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly after the ], which were streamed on MTV.com and heavily used the ''MTV Overdrive'' features, MTV introduced a massive change for MTV.com, transforming the entire site into a ] video-based entity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://f6design.com/journal/2007/05/04/mtvcom-abandons-flash-experiment/#comment-68614|title=MTV switches to Adobe Flash-based website|access-date=August 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612172346/http://f6design.com/journal/2007/05/04/mtvcom-abandons-flash-experiment/#comment-68614|archive-date=June 12, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Much of users' feedback about the Flash-based site was negative, demonstrating a dissatisfaction with videos that played automatically, commercials that could not be skipped or stopped, and the slower speed of the entire website. The experiment ended in February 2007 as MTV.com reverted to a traditional ]-based website design with embedded video clips, in the style of YouTube and some other video-based websites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://labsblog.mtv.com/2007/02/05/mtvs-new-html-site-v02/comment-page-1 |title=MTV.com returns to HTML-based website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203063307/http://labsblog.mtv.com/2007/02/05/mtvs-new-html-site-v02/comment-page-1 |archive-date=February 3, 2012 }}</ref> | |||
From 2006 to 2007, MTV operated an online channel, ], targeted to the broad international market. The purpose of the online channel was to air commercial-free music videos once the television channels started concentrating on shows unrelated to music videos or music-related programming. | |||
The channel responded to the rise of the Internet as the new central place to watch music videos in October 2008 by launching MTV Music (later called ]), a website that featured thousands of music videos from MTV and ]'s video libraries, dating back to the earliest videos from 1981. | |||
A newly created division of the company, MTV New Media, announced in 2008 that it would produce its own original web series, in an attempt to create a bridge between old and new media.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/mtv-signs-hustle-director-web-117914/ | title=MTV signs 'Hustle' director to Web series | first=Andrew | last=Wallenstein | work=] | agency=] | date=August 21, 2008}}</ref> The programming is available to viewers via personal computers, cell phones, ]s, and other digital devices.<ref name="MTV, Craig Brewer team up for online drama">{{Cite news|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jul/10/midtown-to-star-in-online-drama/|title=MTV, Craig Brewer team up for online drama|date=July 10, 2008|work=]|access-date=December 3, 2008|archive-date=August 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824023649/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jul/10/midtown-to-star-in-online-drama/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
In the summer of 2012, MTV launched a music discovery website called the ] (also known as Artists.MTV). MTV explained, "While technology has made it way easier for artists to produce and distribute their own music on their own terms, it hasn't made it any simpler to find a way to cut through all the Internet noise and speak directly to all of their potential fans. The summer launch of the platform is an attempt to help music junkies and musicians close the gap by providing a one-stop place where fans can listen to and buy music and purchase concert tickets and merchandise."<ref name="artistsmtv">{{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1681181/artists-mtv-music-hub/|title=MTV To Launch Artists.MTV Music Hub|date=March 15, 2012|work=]|access-date=February 15, 2022|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216031119/http://www.mtv.com/news/1681181/artists-mtv-music-hub/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
MTV.com remains the official website of MTV, and it expands on the channel's broadcasts by bringing additional content to its viewers. In 2022, it was revised to mostly focus on directing consumers to content on ] and ]. The site featured an online version of ] and podcasts. It has ] authenticated streaming. The news site is defunct but still can be accessed with prior movie features, profiles and interviews with recording artists and from MTV's television programs. A related MTV app was available on mobile platforms and connected TV devices. | |||
== See also == | |||
{{Portal|1980s|United States|Music|Television}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
** ] | |||
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== References == | |||
=== Citations === | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
=== Bibliography === | |||
{{Refbegin}} | |||
* Blackwood, Nina; Goodman, Mark; Hunter, Alan; Quinn, Martha; Edwards, Gavin (2013). ''VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave''. Atria. {{ISBN|1-4516-7812-6}}. | |||
* Denisoff, R. Serge (1988). ''Inside MTV''. Transaction. {{ISBN|0-88738-864-7}}. | |||
* McGrath, Tom (1996). ''MTV: The Making of a Revolution''. Running Pr. {{ISBN|1-56138-703-7}}. | |||
* ''MTV Uncensored''. MTV, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7434-2682-7}}. | |||
* Prato, Greg (2011). ''MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video''. Createspace. {{ISBN|0-578-07197-5}}. | |||
* Tannenbaum, Rob/Marks, Craig (2012). ''I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution''. Plume. {{ISBN|0-452-29856-3}}. | |||
{{Refend}} | |||
== External links == | |||
{{Wikiquote}} | |||
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* | |||
{{MTV Network programs}} | |||
{{Music based programs on MTV}} | |||
{{EmmyAward GovernorsAward}} | |||
{{Paramount Global}} | |||
{{Paramount Media Networks}} | |||
{{Music industry}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 07:08, 7 January 2025
American cable television channel This article is about the flagship American cable channel. For other uses, see MTV (disambiguation). "Music Television" redirects here. For the genre, see Music television.Television channel
Logo since February 5, 2021, paying homage to the original 1981 logo | |
Type | Music channel (formerly) Entertainment |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Broadcast area | United States Canada |
Headquarters | One Astor Plaza, 1515 Broadway, Times Square, Manhattan, New York, NY |
Programming | |
Language(s) |
|
Picture format | 1080p HDTV |
Timeshift service | MTV East (New York City) MTV West (Los Angeles) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Paramount Media Networks (Paramount Global) |
Parent | MTV Entertainment Group |
Key people | Chris McCarthy (President/CEO, MTV Entertainment Group) |
Sister channels | List |
History | |
Launched | August 1, 1981; 43 years ago (1981-08-01) |
Founder |
|
Former names |
|
Links | |
Website | mtv |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Affiliated Streaming Service | Paramount+ |
Philo | Internet Protocol television |
Hulu | Internet Protocol television |
MTV (originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television channel. It was officially launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global.
The channel originally aired music videos and related programming as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys, or VJs. MTV, as one of the American cable channels available in other countries, eventually gained a massive cult following, becoming one of the major factors in cable programming's rise to fame and American corporations dominating the television economy in the 1990s. In the years since its inception, the channel significantly toned down its focus on music in favor of original reality programming for teenagers and young adults.
As of November 2023, MTV is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households.
History
Main article: History of MTVPart of a series on |
MTV |
---|
Programs on MTV |
MTV personalities |
Censorship on MTV |
MTV Generation |
MTV News |
MTV was launched on Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m, under the ownership of the Warner-American Express Satellite Entertainment Company.
On June 25, 1984, Warner Communications spun-off Nickelodeon, MTV into a new public corporation called MTV Networks. Warner would later acquire American Express' 50% stake the following year. From August 27, 1985 to May 20, 1986, Warner would sell 31%, and later, 69% of MTV Networks to Viacom.
Programming
See also: List of programs broadcast by MTVAs MTV expanded, music videos and VJ-guided programming were no longer the centerpiece of its programming. The channel's programming has covered a wide variety of genres and formats aimed at adolescents and young adults. In addition to its original programming, MTV has also aired original and syndicated programs from Paramount-owned siblings and third-party networks.
MTV is also a producer of films aimed at young adults through its production label, MTV Films, and has aired both its own theatrically released films and original made-for-television movies from MTV Studios in addition to acquired films.
In 2010, a study by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that of 207.5 hours of prime time programming on MTV, 42% included content reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgender people. This was the highest in the industry and the highest percentage ever.
In 2018, MTV launched a new production unit under the MTV Studios name focused on producing new versions of MTV's library shows. It was later consolidated into MTV Entertainment Studios
Video Music Awards
Main article: MTV Video Music AwardsIn 1984, the channel produced its first MTV Video Music Awards show, or VMAs. The first award show, in 1984, was punctuated by a live performance by Madonna of "Like a Virgin". The statuettes that are handed out at the Video Music Awards are of the MTV moonman, the channel's original image from its first broadcast in 1981. As of 2012, the Video Music Awards were MTV's most watched annual event.
Special, annual events
Further information: List of MTV special eventsMTV began its annual Spring Break coverage in 1986, setting up temporary operations in Daytona Beach, Florida, for a week in March, broadcasting live eight hours per day. "Spring break is a youth culture event", MTV's vice president Doug Herzog said at the time. "We wanted to be part of it for that reason. It makes good sense for us to come down and go live from the center of it, because obviously the people there are the kinds of people who watch MTV."
The channel later expanded its beach-themed events to the summer, dedicating most of each summer season to broadcasting live from a beach house at different locations away from New York City, eventually leading to channel-wide branding throughout the summer in the 1990s and early 2000s such as Motel California, Summer Share, Isle of MTV, SoCal Summer, Summer in the Keys, and Shore Thing. MTV VJs would host blocks of music videos, interview artists and bands, and introduce live performances and other programs from the beach house location each summer.
MTV also held week-long music events that took over the presentation of the channel. Examples from the 1990s and 2000s include All Access Week, a week in the summer dedicated to live concerts and festivals; Spankin' New Music Week, a week in the fall dedicated to brand new music videos; and week-long specials that culminated in a particular live event, such as Wanna be a VJ and the Video Music Awards.
At the end of each year, MTV takes advantage of its home location in New York City to broadcast live coverage on New Year's Eve in Times Square. Several live music performances are featured alongside interviews with artists and bands that were influential throughout the year. For many years from the 1980s to the 2000s, the channel upheld a tradition of having a band perform a cover song at midnight immediately following the beginning of the new year.
Live concert broadcasts
Throughout its history, MTV has covered global benefit concert series live. For most of July 13, 1985, MTV showed the Live Aid concerts, held in London and Philadelphia and organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. While the ABC network showed only selected highlights during primetime, MTV broadcast 16 hours of coverage.
Along with VH1, MTV broadcast the Live 8 concerts, a series of concerts set in the G8 states and South Africa, on July 2, 2005. Live 8 preceded the 31st G8 summit and the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. MTV drew heavy criticism for its coverage of Live 8. The network cut to commercials, VJ commentary, or other performances during performances. Complaints surfaced on the Internet over MTV interrupting the reunion of Pink Floyd. In response, MTV president Van Toffler stated that he wanted to broadcast highlights from every venue of Live 8 on MTV and VH1, and clarified that network hosts talked over performances only in transition to commercials, informative segments or other musical performances. Toffler acknowledged that "MTV should not have placed such a high priority on showing so many acts, at the expense of airing complete sets by key artists." He also blamed the Pink Floyd interruption on a mandatory cable affiliate break. MTV averaged 1.4 million viewers for its original July 2 broadcast of Live 8. Consequently, MTV and VH1 aired five hours of uninterrupted Live 8 coverage on July 9, with each channel airing other blocks of artists.
Logo and branding
MTV's logo was designed in 1981 by Manhattan Design (a collective formed by Frank Olinsky, Pat Gorman and Patty Rogoff) under the guidance of original creative director Fred Seibert. The block letter "M" was sketched by Rogoff, with the scribbled word "TV" spraypainted by Olinksky. The primary variant of MTV's logo at the time had the "M" in yellow and the "TV" in red. However, unlike most television networks' logos at the time, the logo was constantly branded with different colors, patterns and images on a variety of station IDs. Examples include 1988's ID "Adam And Eve", where the "M" is an apple and the snake is the "TV". And for 1984's ID "Art History", the logo is shown in different art styles. The only constant aspects of MTV's logo at the time were its general shape and proportions, with everything else being dynamic.
MTV launched on August 1, 1981, with an extended network ID featuring the first landing on the Moon (with still images acquired directly from NASA), which was a concept of Seibert's executed by Buzz Potamkin and Perpetual Motion Pictures. The ID then cut to the American flag planted on the Moon's surface changed to show the MTV logo on it, which rapidly changed into different colors and patterns several times per second as the network's original guitar-driven jingle was played for the first time. After MTV's launch, the "Moon landing" ID was edited to show only its ending, and was shown at the top of every hour until early 1986, when the ID was scrapped in light of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. (since then the space theme and the Moonman became a fixture of MTV’s branding most notably in its award show statue) The ID ran "more than 75,000 times each year (48 times each day), at the top and bottom of every hour every day" according to Seibert.
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, MTV updated its on-air appearance at the beginning of every year and each summer, creating a consistent brand across all of its music-related shows. This style of channel-wide branding came to an end as MTV drastically reduced its number of music-related shows in the early to mid 2000s. Around this time, MTV introduced a static and single color digital on-screen graphic mainly grey during on-air and some color to be shown during all of its programming.
Starting with the premiere of the short-lived program FNMTV: Friday Night MTV in 2008, MTV started using a updated and cropped version of its original logo for the 30 years during most of its on-air programming. It became MTV's official logo on February 8, 2010, and officially debuted on its website. The channel's full text "MUSIC TELEVISION" was eliminated, with the revised and chopped down on the logo largely the same as the original logo, but without the initialism, the bottom of the "M" being cropped and the "V" in "TV" no longer branching off. This change was most likely made to reflect MTV's more prominent focus on reality and comedy programming and less on music-related programming. However, much like the original logo, the new logo was designed to be filled in with a seemingly unlimited variety of images. It is used worldwide, but not everywhere existentially. The new logo was first used on MTV Films logo with the 2010 film Jackass 3D. MTV's rebranding was overseen by Popkern.
On June 25, 2015, MTV International rebranded its on-air look with a new vaporwave and seapunk-inspired graphics package. It included a series of new station IDs featuring 3D renderings of objects and people, much akin to vaporwave and seapunk "aesthetics". Many have derided MTV's choice of rebranding, insisting that the artistic style was centered on denouncing corporate capitalism (many aesthetic pieces heavily incorporate corporate logos of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, which coincidentally include MTV's original logo) rather than being embraced by major corporations like MTV. Many have also suggested that MTV made an attempt to be relevant in the modern entertainment world with the rebrand. In addition to this, the rebrand was made on exactly the same day that the social media site Tumblr introduced Tumblr TV, an animated GIF viewer which featured branding inspired by MTV's original 1980s on-air look. Tumblr has been cited as a prominent location of aesthetic art, and thus many have suggested MTV and Tumblr "switched identities". The rebrand also incorporated a modified version of MTV's classic "I Want My MTV!" slogan, changed to read "I Am My MTV". Vice has suggested that the slogan change represents "the current generation's movement towards self-examination, identity politics and apparent narcissism." MTV also introduced MTV Bump, a website that allows Instagram and Vine users to submit videos to be aired during commercial breaks, as well as MTV Canvas, an online program where users submit custom IDs to also be aired during commercial breaks.
On February 5, 2021, MTV began to use a revised logo in tandem with the 2010 version, doing away with the 3D effect inherited from its predecessors (much akin to the current MTV Video Music Awards variant). That logo is revealed to be an alternate variant of the current logo designed by the design agency Loyalkaspar, which pays homage to MTV of the past with the red-yellow-blue color combination and the 3D effect mainly inherited from its predecessor logo. The new logo's rollout was completed in time for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
"I Want My MTV!"
The channel's iconic "I Want My MTV!" advertising campaign was launched in 1982. It was first developed by George Lois and was based on a cereal commercial from the 1950s with the slogan "I Want My Maypo!" that Lois adapted unsuccessfully from the original created by animator John Hubley.
Lois's first pitch to the network was roundly rejected when Lois insisted that rock stars like Mick Jagger should be crying when they said the tag line, not unlike his failed 'Maypo' revamp. His associate, and Seibert mentor Dale Pon, took over the campaign, both strategically and creatively. Pon was able to get the campaign greenlit when he laughed the tears out of the spots. From then on–with the exception of the closely logos on the first round of commercials–Pon was the primary creative force.
All the commercials were produced by Buzz Potamkin and his new company Buzzco Productions, directed first by Thomas Schlamme and Alan Goodman and eventually by Candy Kugel.
The campaign featured popular artists and celebrities, including Pete Townshend, Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, David Bowie, the Police, Kiss, Culture Club, Billy Idol, Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Lionel Richie, Ric Ocasek, John Mellencamp, Peter Wolf, Joe Elliott, Stevie Nicks, Rick Springfield, and Mick Jagger, interacting with the MTV logo on-air and encouraging viewers to call their pay television providers and request that MTV be added to their local channel lineups. Eventually, the slogan became so ubiquitous that it made an appearance as a lyric sung by Sting on the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing", whose music video aired in regular rotation on MTV when it was first released in 1985 and also served as the first video played on its European arm, and became the basis of the music used in the MTV Entertainment Studios production logo.
Influence and controversies
The channel has been a target of criticism by different groups about programming choices, social issues, political correctness, sensitivity, censorship, and a perceived negative social influence on young people. Portions of the content of MTV's programs and productions have come under controversy in the general news media and among social groups that have taken offense. Some within the music industry criticized what they saw as MTV's homogenization of rock 'n' roll, including the punk band the Dead Kennedys, whose song "M.T.V. – Get Off the Air" was released on their 1985 album Frankenchrist, just as MTV's influence over the music industry was being solidified. MTV was also the major influence on the growth of music videos during the 1980s.
Breaking the "color barrier"
During MTV's first few years, very few black artists were featured. The select few in MTV's rotation between 1981 and 1984 were Michael Jackson, Prince, Eddy Grant, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Joan Armatrading, Musical Youth, The Specials, The Selecter, Grace Jones, John Butcher and Herbie Hancock. Mikey Craig of Culture Club, Joe Leeway of Thompson Twins and Tracy Wormworth of The Waitresses were also black. The Specials, which included black and white vocalists and musicians, were also the first act with people of color to perform on MTV; their song "Rat Race" was the 58th video on the station's first broadcast day.
MTV refused other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak", because they did not fit the channel's carefully selected album-oriented rock format at the time. The exclusion enraged James, who publicly advocated the addition of more black artists to the channel. David Bowie also questioned MTV's lack of black artists during an on-air interview with VJ Mark Goodman in 1983. MTV's original head of talent and acquisition, Carolyn B. Baker, who was black, questioned why the definition of music had to be so narrow, as did a few others outside the network. Years later, Baker said, "The party line at MTV was that we weren't playing black music because of the research – but the research was based on ignorance… We were young, we were cutting-edge. We didn't have to be on the cutting edge of racism." Nevertheless, it was Baker who rejected Rick James' "Super Freak" video "because there were half-naked women in it, and it was a piece of crap. As a black woman, I did not want that representing my people as the first black video on MTV."
The network's director of music programming, Buzz Brindle, told an interviewer in 2006: "MTV was originally designed to be a rock music channel. It was difficult for MTV to find African American artists whose music fit the channel's format that leaned toward rock at the outset." Writers Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum noted that the channel "aired videos by plenty of white artists who didn't play rock." Andrew Goodwin later wrote: " denied racism, on the grounds that it merely followed the rules of the rock business." MTV senior executive vice president Les Garland complained decades later, "The worst thing was that 'racism' bullshit ... there were hardly any videos being made by black artists. Record companies weren't funding them. They never got charged with racism." However, critics of that defence pointed out that record companies were not funding videos for black artists because they knew they would have difficulty persuading MTV to play them.
In celebrating the 40th anniversary of the network's launch in 2021, current MTV Entertainment Group president Chris McCarthy acknowledged that "(o)ne of the bigger mistakes in the early years was not playing enough diverse music ... but the nice thing that I've always learned at MTV is we have no problem owning our mistakes, quickly correcting them and trying to do the right thing and always follow where the audience is going."
Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled for MTV airtime. To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier", the president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, denounced MTV in a strong, profane statement, threatening to take away its right to play any of the label's music. However, Les Garland, then acquisitions head, said he decided to air Jackson's "Billie Jean" video without pressure from CBS, a statement later contradicted by CBS head of Business Affairs David Benjamin in Vanity Fair.
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." But change was not immediate. "Billie Jean" was not added to MTV's "medium rotation" playlist (two to three airings per day) until it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the final week of March, it was in "heavy rotation", one week before the MTV debut of Jackson's "Beat It" video. Prince's "Little Red Corvette" joined both videos in heavy rotation at the end of April. At the beginning of June, "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant joined "Billie Jean", which was still in heavy rotation until mid-June. At the end of August, "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer was in heavy rotation on the channel. Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" and Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" were placed in heavy rotation at the end of October and the beginning of November respectively. In the final week of November, Donna Summer's "Unconditional Love" was in heavy rotation. When Jackson's elaborate video for "Thriller" was released late that year, raising the bar for what a video could be, the network's support for it was total; subsequently, more pop and R&B videos were played on MTV.
Following Jackson's and Prince's breakthroughs on MTV, Rick James did several interviews where he brushed off the accomplishment as tokenism, saying in a 1983 interview, in an episode of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus on James, that "any black artist that their video played on MTV should pull their off MTV."
Subsequent concepts
HBO also had a 30-minute program of music videos called Video Jukebox, that first aired around the time of MTV's launch and lasted until late 1986. Also around this time, HBO, as well as other premium channels such as Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel, occasionally played 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 that MTV initially ignored received airplay. The program ran until the end of May 1992.
Playboy TV launched their own music video program called "Playboy's Hot Rocks" that premiered on July 15, 1983 featuring uncensored versions of music videos that were shown in nightclubs by artists from Duran Duran and Mötley Crüe to Nine Inch Nails and 2Pac. At times, they would do a certain theme like the all Prince theme on the channel back in the 90s.
A few markets also launched music-only channels including Las Vegas' KRLR-TV (now KSNV), which debuted in the summer of 1984 and branded as "Vusic 21". The first video played on that channel was "Video Killed the Radio Star", following in the footsteps of MTV.
Shortly after TBS began Night Tracks, NBC launched a music video program called Friday Night Videos, which was considered network television's answer to MTV. Later renamed simply Friday Night, the program ran from 1983 to 2002. ABC's contribution to the music video program genre in 1984, ABC Rocks, was far less successful, lasting only a year.
TBS founder Ted Turner started the Cable Music Channel in 1984, designed to play a broader mix of music videos than MTV's rock format allowed. But after one month as a money-losing venture, Turner sold it to MTV, who redeveloped the channel into VH1.
The founders of Financial News Network, Glenn Taylor and Karen Tyler tried to capitalize on the concept by launching Discovery Music Network, which was set to be a cable network, and has plans to set up the Discovery Broadcasting System, which consists of the aforementioned network, along with computer and business networks, but it never got off the ground.
Shortly after its launch, the Disney Channel aired a program called DTV, a play on the MTV acronym. The program used music cuts, both from past and upcoming artists. Instead of music videos, the program used clips of various vintage Disney cartoons and animated films (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Fox and the Hound) to go with the songs. The program aired in multiple formats, sometimes between shows, sometimes as its own program, and other times as one-off specials. The specials tended to air both on the Disney Channel and NBC. The program aired at several times between 1984 and 1999. In 2009, Disney Channel revived the DTV concept with a new series of short-form segments called Re-Micks.
Hanna-Barbera created HBTV, similar to DTV in 1985 and in 1986.
Censorship
Main article: Censorship on MTVMTV has edited a number of music videos to remove nudity, references to drugs, sex, violence, weapons, racism, homophobia, and/or advertising. Many music videos aired on the channel were either censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.
In the 1980s, parent media watchdog groups such as the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) criticized MTV over certain music videos that were claimed to have explicit imagery of satanism. As a result, MTV developed a strict policy on refusal to air videos that may depict Satanism or anti-religious themes. This policy led MTV to ban music videos such as "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden in 1991 and "Megalomaniac" by Incubus in 2004; however, the controversial band Marilyn Manson was among the most popular rock bands on MTV during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
On September 28, 2016, on an AfterBuzz TV live stream, Scout Durwood said that MTV had a "no appropriation policy" that forbid her from wearing her hair in cornrows in an episode of Mary + Jane. She said, "I wanted to cornrow my hair, and they were like, 'That's racist.'"
Trademark suit
Magyar Televízió, Hungary's public broadcaster who has a trademark on the initials MTV, registered with the Hungarian copyright office, sued the American MTV (Music Television) network for trademark infringement when the Hungarian version of the music channel was launched in 2007. The suit is still ongoing.
Andrew Dice Clay
During the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, comedian Andrew Dice Clay did his usual "adult nursery rhymes" routine (which he had done in his stand-up acts), after which the network executives imposed a lifetime ban. Billy Idol's music video for the song "Cradle of Love" originally had scenes from Clay's film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane when it was originally aired; scenes from the film were later excised. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Clay was in attendance where he confirmed that the channel lifted the ban.
Beavis and Butt-Head
Main article: Beavis and Butt-Head § Allegations of promoting dangerous behaviorIn the wake of controversy that involved a child burning down his house after allegedly watching Beavis and Butt-head, MTV moved the show from its original 7 p.m. time slot to an 11 p.m. time slot. Also, Beavis's tendency to flick a lighter and yell "fire" was removed from new episodes, and controversial scenes were removed from existing episodes before their rebroadcast. Some extensive edits were noted by series creator Mike Judge after compiling his Collection DVDs, saying that "some of those episodes may not even exist actually in their original form."
Dude, This Sucks
A pilot for a show called Dude, This Sucks was cancelled after teens attending a taping at the Snow Summit Ski Resort in January 2001 were sprayed with liquidized fecal matter by a group known as "The Shower Rangers". The teens later sued, with MTV later apologizing and ordering the segment's removal.
Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show
Main article: Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversyAfter Viacom's purchase of CBS, MTV was selected to produce the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show in 2001, airing on CBS and featuring Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Aerosmith. Due to its success, MTV was invited back to produce another halftime show in 2004; this sparked a nationwide debate and controversy that drastically changed Super Bowl halftime shows, MTV's programming, and radio censorship.
When CBS aired Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, MTV was again chosen to produce the halftime show, with performances by such artists as Nelly, P. Diddy, Janet Jackson, and Justin Timberlake. The show became controversial, however, after Timberlake tore off part of Jackson's outfit while performing "Rock Your Body" with her, revealing her right breast. 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 (FCC), ordered an investigation the day after the broadcast. In the weeks following the halftime show, MTV censored much of its programming. Several music videos, including "This Love" and "I Miss You", were edited for sexual content. In September 2004, the FCC ruled that the halftime show was indecent and fined CBS $550,000. The FCC upheld it in 2006, but federal judges reversed the fine in 2008.
Nipplegate
Timberlake and Jackson's controversial event gave way to a "wave of self-censorship on American television unrivaled since the McCarthy era". After the sudden event, names surfaced such as nipplegate, Janet moment, and boobgate, and this spread politically, furthering the discussion into the 2004 presidential election surrounding "moral values" and "media decency".
Moral criticism
In 2005, the Parents Television Council (PTC) released a study titled "MTV Smut Peddlers", which sought to expose excessive sexual, profane, and violent content on the channel, based on MTV's spring break programming from 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: "the incessant sleaze on MTV presents the most compelling case yet for consumer cable choice", referring to the practice of pay television companies to allow consumers to pay for channels à la carte.
In April 2008, PTC released The Rap on Rap, a study covering hip-hop and R&B music videos rotated on programs 106 & Park and Rap City, both shown on BET, and Sucker Free on MTV. PTC urged advertisers to withdraw sponsorship of those programs, whose videos PTC stated targeted children and teenagers containing adult content.
Jersey Shore
Main article: Controversies of Jersey ShoreMTV received significant criticism from Italian American organizations for Jersey Shore, which premiered in 2009. The controversy was due in large part to the manner in which MTV marketed the show, as it liberally used the word "guido" to describe the cast members. The word "guido" is generally regarded as an ethnic slur when referring to Italians and Italian Americans. One promotion stated that the show was to follow, "eight of the hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos," while yet another advertisement stated, "Jersey Shore exposes one of the tri-state area's most misunderstood species ... the GUIDO. Yes, they really do exist! Our Guidos and Guidettes will move into the ultimate beach house rental and indulge in everything the Seaside Heights, New Jersey scene has to offer."
Prior to the series debut, Unico National formally requested that MTV cancel the show. In a formal letter, the company called the show a "direct, deliberate and disgraceful attack on Italian Americans." Unico National President Andre DiMino said, "MTV has festooned the 'bordello-like' house set with Italian flags and red, white and green maps of New Jersey while every other cutaway shot is of Italian signs and symbols. They are blatantly as well as subliminally bashing Italian Americans with every technique possible." Around this time, other Italian organizations joined the fight, including the NIAF and the Order Sons of Italy in America.
MTV responded by issuing a press release which stated in part, "The Italian American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture." Following the calls for the show's removal, several sponsors requested that their ads not be aired during the show. These sponsors included Dell, Domino's Pizza, and American Family Insurance. Despite the loss of certain advertisers, MTV did not cancel the show. Moreover, the show saw its audience increase from its premiere in 2009, and continued to place as MTV's top-rated programs during Jersey Shore's six-season run, ending in 2012.
Social activism
In addition to its regular programming, MTV has a long history of promoting social, political, and environmental activism in young people. The channel's vehicles for this activism have been Choose or Lose, encompassing political causes and encouraging viewers to vote in elections; Fight For Your Rights, encompassing anti-violence and anti-discrimination causes; think MTV; and MTV Act and Power of 12, the newest umbrellas for MTV's social activism.
Choose or Lose
In 1992, MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called Choose or Lose, to encourage over 20 million people to register to vote, and the channel hosted a town hall forum for then-candidate Bill Clinton.
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 US 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. MTV worked with P. Diddy's "Citizen Change" campaign, designed to encourage young people to vote.
Additionally, MTV aired a documentary covering a trip by the musical group Sum 41 to the Democratic Republic of the 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.
The channel also began showing presidential campaign commercials for the first time during the 2008 US presidential election. This has led to criticism, with Jonah Goldberg opining that "MTV serves as the Democrats' main youth outreach program."
Rock the Vote
MTV is aligned with Rock the Vote, a campaign to motivate young adults to register and vote.
MTV Act and Power of 12
In 2012, MTV launched MTV Act and Power of 12, its current social activism campaigns. MTV Act focuses on a wide array of social issues, while Power of 12 was a replacement for MTV's Choose or Lose and focused on the 2012 US presidential election.
Elect This
In 2016, MTV continued its pro-democracy campaign with Elect This, an issue-oriented look at the 2016 election targeting Millennials. Original content under the "Elect This" umbrella includes "Infographica," short animations summarizing MTV News polls; "Robo-Roundtable," a digital series hosted by animatronic robots; "The Racket," a multi-weekly digital series; and "The Stakes," a weekly political podcast.
Vote Early Day
In 2020, MTV was the principal founder of Vote Early Day. Initially, the primary target audience was young voters. The MTV campaign launched with partners across media, consumer brands, and advocacy organizations, and its strength being that it isn't ‘owned’ by any one entity.
Beyond MTV
Since its launch in 1981, the brand "MTV" has expanded and includes many additional properties beyond the original MTV channel, including a variety of sister channels in the US, dozens of affiliated channels around the world, and an Internet presence through MTV.com and related websites.
Sister channels in the US
MTV operates a group of channels under MTV Networks – a name that continues to be used for the individual units of the Paramount Media Networks, a division of corporate parent Paramount Global. In 1985, MTV saw the introduction of its first regular sister channel, VH1, which was originally an acronym for "Video Hits One" and was designed to play adult contemporary music videos. VH1 is aimed at celebrity and popular culture programming which include many reality shows. Another sister channel, CMT, targets the southern culture market.
The advent of satellite television and digital cable brought MTV greater channel diversity, including its sister channels MTV2 and Spanish-speaking MTV Tr3́s (Tr3́s), which initially played music videos exclusively but later focused on other programming. MTV also formerly broadcast MTVU on campuses at various universities until 2018, when the MTV Networks on Campus division was sold, and the channel remained as a digital cable channel only. MTV formerly also had MTV Hits and MTVX channels until these were converted into NickMusic and MTV Jams, respectively. MTV Jams was later rebranded as BET Jams in 2015.
In January 2006, MTV launched MTV HD, a 1080i high-definition simulcast feed of MTV. Until Viacom's main master control was upgraded in 2013, only the network's original series after 2010 (with some pre-2010 content) are broadcast in high definition, while music videos, despite being among the first television works to convert to high definition presentation in the mid-2000s, were presented in 4:3 standard definition, forcing them into a windowboxing type of presentation; since that time, all music videos are presented in HD and are framed to their director's preference. Jersey Shore, despite being shot with widescreen HD cameras, was also presented with SD windowboxing (though the 2018 Family Vacation revival is in full HD). The vast majority of providers carry MTV HD.
MTV Networks also operates MTV Live, a high-definition channel that features original HD music programming and HD versions of music related programs from MTV, VH1 and CMT. The channel was launched in January 2006 as MHD (Music: High Definition). The channel was officially rebranded as MTV Live on February 1, 2016.
In 2005 and 2006, MTV launched a list of channels for Asian Americans. The first channel was MTV Desi, launched in July 2005, dedicated towards Indian 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 US programming, promos, and packaging. All three of these channels ceased broadcasting on April 30, 2007.
On August 1, 2016, the 35th anniversary of the original MTV's launch, VH1 Classic was rebranded as MTV Classic. The channel's programming focused on classic music videos and programming (including notable episodes of MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers), but skews more towards the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The network aired encores of former MTV series such as Beavis and Butt-Head and Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The network's relaunch included a broadcast of MTV's first hour on the air, which was also simulcast on MTV and online via Facebook live streaming. MTV Classic only retained three original VH1 Classic programs, which were That Metal Show, Metal Evolution, and Behind the Music Remastered, although repeats of current and former VH1 programs such as Pop-Up Video and VH1 Storytellers remained on the schedule. However, the rebranded MTV Classic had few viewers, and declined quickly to become the least-watched English-language subscription network rated by Nielsen at the end of 2016. At the start of 2017, it was reorganized into an all-video network.
Internet
In the late 1980s, before the World Wide Web, MTV VJ Adam Curry began experimenting on the Internet. He registered the then-unclaimed domain name "MTV.com" in 1993 with the idea of being MTV's unofficial new voice on the Internet. Although this move was sanctioned by his supervisors at MTV Networks at the time, when Curry left to start his own web-portal design and hosting company, MTV subsequently sued him for the domain name, which led to an out-of-court settlement.
The service hosted at the domain name was originally branded "MTV Online" during MTV's first few years of control over it in the mid-1990s. It served as a counterpart to the America Online portal for MTV content, which existed at AOL keyword MTV until approximately the end of the 1990s. After this time, the website became known as simply "MTV.com" and served as the Internet hub for all MTV and MTV News content.
MTV.com experimented with entirely video-based layouts between 2005 and 2007. The experiment began in April 2005 as MTV Overdrive, a streaming video service that supplemented the regular MTV.com website. Shortly after the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, which were streamed on MTV.com and heavily used the MTV Overdrive features, MTV introduced a massive change for MTV.com, transforming the entire site into a Flash video-based entity. Much of users' feedback about the Flash-based site was negative, demonstrating a dissatisfaction with videos that played automatically, commercials that could not be skipped or stopped, and the slower speed of the entire website. The experiment ended in February 2007 as MTV.com reverted to a traditional HTML-based website design with embedded video clips, in the style of YouTube and some other video-based websites.
From 2006 to 2007, MTV operated an online channel, MTV International, targeted to the broad international market. The purpose of the online channel was to air commercial-free music videos once the television channels started concentrating on shows unrelated to music videos or music-related programming.
The channel responded to the rise of the Internet as the new central place to watch music videos in October 2008 by launching MTV Music (later called MTV Hive), a website that featured thousands of music videos from MTV and VH1's video libraries, dating back to the earliest videos from 1981.
A newly created division of the company, MTV New Media, announced in 2008 that it would produce its own original web series, in an attempt to create a bridge between old and new media. The programming is available to viewers via personal computers, cell phones, iPods, and other digital devices.
In the summer of 2012, MTV launched a music discovery website called the MTV Artists Platform (also known as Artists.MTV). MTV explained, "While technology has made it way easier for artists to produce and distribute their own music on their own terms, it hasn't made it any simpler to find a way to cut through all the Internet noise and speak directly to all of their potential fans. The summer launch of the platform is an attempt to help music junkies and musicians close the gap by providing a one-stop place where fans can listen to and buy music and purchase concert tickets and merchandise."
MTV.com remains the official website of MTV, and it expands on the channel's broadcasts by bringing additional content to its viewers. In 2022, it was revised to mostly focus on directing consumers to content on Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The site featured an online version of MTV News and podcasts. It has TV Everywhere authenticated streaming. The news site is defunct but still can be accessed with prior movie features, profiles and interviews with recording artists and from MTV's television programs. A related MTV app was available on mobile platforms and connected TV devices.
See also
References
Citations
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