2. Creation and Debut
MTV started in 1981 but dates back all the way to the
1970's, The creator of MTV Robert W. Pittman had tested
a music show on the WNBC network where he hosted
the show and produced it. with a little persuasion from
the head of departments at WNBC. John Lack had help
promote a TV series called PopClips, this then over the
years lead to the creation of MTV. “Ladies and
Gentlemen, Rock and Roll” were the official words that
started the everlasting era of MTV. These words were
spoken by John Lack . The first music video was Video
Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Then for the first
day of MTV they had managed to play 87 music videos.
3. The First MTV Opening
The first idea was to use the famous words
“one small step” originally said by Neil
Armstrong, however when Armstrong refused
MTV to use it the idea was forgotten However
they managed to alter it and they used the
Apollo 11 landing clip because of it being public
footage. The MTV opening was a montage of
the Apollo 11 moon landing combined with the
MTV logo on the American flag with it changing
colours, fonts and textures.
4. Video Jockey's
The term "video jockey" is a taken from the
term "disc jockey", "DJ" as used in radio. MTV
believed this was correct because instead of
playing records they were playing music videos.
MTV had taken the idea of VJ s from the radioʼ
show top 40. This lead to them hiring five men
and women to host MTV and to introduce the
video that were being played. The original five
were Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan
Hunter, J.J. Jackson and Martha Quinn.
5. The Change of MTV
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, MTV placed a stronger focus on
displaying reality TV shows The Real World in the 1990s. Then came the
game shows such as Singled Out. Towards the late 90s MTV started to
move further into shows, they began to focus on prank/comedy shows.
These included Jackass. In 2000, MTV's Fear became one of the first scare-
based reality shows and the first reality show in which contestants filmed
themselves. They also kept to MTV musical roots by doing reality shows on
the lives of musicians. The most famous one of these is the show The
Osbournes, a reality show based on the everyday life of Black Sabbath front
man Ozzy Osbourne, as well as his family Sharon, Jack and Kelly
Osbourne. The show became one of the networks biggest success stories.
In 2003, MTV added a prank show called Punk'd, hosted by Ashton Kutcher
who plays pranks and sometimes use current event to make it realistic on to
the various celebrities. They also added another show Pimp My Ride, a
show about adding functional modifications to cars and other vehicles. In
2005 and 2006, MTV continued its focus on reality shows, with the debuts of
popular shows such as Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, NEXT,
Two-A-Days and My Super Sweet 16.
6. The Change of MTV
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, MTV placed a stronger focus on
displaying reality TV shows The Real World in the 1990s. Then came the
game shows such as Singled Out. Towards the late 90s MTV started to
move further into shows, they began to focus on prank/comedy shows.
These included Jackass. In 2000, MTV's Fear became one of the first scare-
based reality shows and the first reality show in which contestants filmed
themselves. They also kept to MTV musical roots by doing reality shows on
the lives of musicians. The most famous one of these is the show The
Osbournes, a reality show based on the everyday life of Black Sabbath front
man Ozzy Osbourne, as well as his family Sharon, Jack and Kelly
Osbourne. The show became one of the networks biggest success stories.
In 2003, MTV added a prank show called Punk'd, hosted by Ashton Kutcher
who plays pranks and sometimes use current event to make it realistic on to
the various celebrities. They also added another show Pimp My Ride, a
show about adding functional modifications to cars and other vehicles. In
2005 and 2006, MTV continued its focus on reality shows, with the debuts of
popular shows such as Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, NEXT,
Two-A-Days and My Super Sweet 16.
