2. MTV and where it began…
MTV was first launched in 1981
where footage of the first Space
Shuttle launch countdown of
Columbia was played (from
earlier on in the year) with John
Lack saying:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock
and Roll”.
Those words were immediately
followed by MTV’s official theme
song a crunching rock tune
composed by Jonathan Elias and
John Petersen, playing over
photos of the Apollo 11 moon
landing, with the flag featuring
MTV's logo changing various
colours, textures, and designs.
3. MTV’s Purpose (1980–1994)
At the time, MTV’s sole purpose was
to play music videos 24/7, guided by
on-air personalities known as video
jockeys.
Original taglines of the channel were:
"You'll never look at music
the same way again.“
"On cable. In stereo.”
Although the original MTV channel no
longer plays music videos 24/7,
several of its spin-off channels do,
including MTV Hits and MTV Jams. In
addition, viewers can play music
videos on-demand at MTV.com. MTV
continues to support a broad selection
of music videos on its international
channels as well.
4. MTV VJS (Video Jockeys)
The VJs would record "intro" and
"outro" segments to music videos,
along with music news, interviews,
concert dates and promotions.
These segments would appear to
air "live" and debut across the
MTV program schedule 24/7,
though the segments themselves
were pre-taped within a regular
work week at MTV's studios.
The original five MTV VJs in 1980
were Nina Blackwood, Mark
Goodman, Alan Hunter,
J.J. Jackson and Martha
Quinn.
5. The Music
During this period of time, MTV
music ranged from new wave, rock
and heavy metal.
Artists included Duran
Duran, The Police, Bon
Jovi, Van Halen etc…
MTV also played and featured
classic Rock acts such as
Journey, Rush, Linda
Ronstadt, Genesis, Billy
Squier, Aerosmith, The
Rolling Stones,
6. Fewer Music Videos… (2000-08)
From 1995 to 2000, MTV played
36.5% fewer music videos.
MTV president Van Toeffler
quotes:
"Clearly, the novelty of
just showing music
videos has worn off. It's
required us to reinvent
ourselves to a
contemporary audience.“
The rise of the internet has
clearly had an impact on the
reduction of music videos that are
played on MTV daily. In 2000, it is
reported that there used to be 8
hours of music playing everyday
compared to 2008 where there
were only 3 hours.
7. MTV Today
MTV in the recent years has
mainly aired reality TV shows
more than actual music videos
now.
For example:
Run’s House, My Sweet
Sixteen, Punk’d etc…