Did The Internet Kill MTV?

It was a seminal moment in the history of popular culture. On 1 August 1981, MTV launched in America with the simple words: "Ladies and Gentlemen... Rock and Roll." The phrase was followed by a montage of the Apollo 11 Moon landings. While the pictures of Neil Armstrong bounding across the lunar landscape conveyed the channel's imperialistic ambitions, its first video, played seconds later, impressed its disdain of subtlety. It was Video Killed the Radio Star, by The Buggles.

And so with this unique blend of brash, rapid-fire imagery and cutting edge rock 'n' roll, the channel went on to revolutionise the way the world saw music. MTV popularised music videos at a time when people's attention spans were waning, the angry licks of its theme tune vibrating through sitting rooms worldwide. The channel first appeared in Britain in 1987, through the launch of MTV Europe. Blighty's passion for music video was thus ignited.

But it was not to last forever. On Wednesday, the channel's knuckles were rapped after MTV Networks Europe was slapped with a £255,000 fine by the media regulator Ofcom. Its crime? Airing "offensive" language which prompted a spate of viewer complaints. One singularly rude text message broadcast on an MTV channel asked the searching question: "What is a spunkbelly?" Mary Whitehouse would be spinning in her grave.

In fact, such crass gaffes are only a snapshot of MTV's hand slipping from the pulse of the global consciousness. Ofcom's reprimand accompanies a slump in popularity among viewers. The company's channels, which include MTV2 (for lovers of "alternative rock"), and MTV Base (for R'n'B fans) have haemorrhaged audiences between 2003 and this year, the biggest loss being among its core audience, the highly sought-after 16- to 24-year-old males.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[vandegrasse]

Rap killed MTV!

[GBartrem]

But it sure was fun watching Music in the 80's...... but like you all say MTV killed itself.

[booksnmore4you]

What's MTV?

;-)

[Bobleblah1]

MTV is some of the most Wankster TV on the air.

Those channels have been played out for quite a while now.

Thank God.

[Ides]

MTV killed MTV by throwing out music and focusing on Reality Television. Just like videogames didn't hurt Hollywood, crappy remakes did.

[DanniD]

I'm with the consensus that MTV committed suicide when it stopped focusing on the M(usic) in MTV!

[castlerider]

Maybe now that it has become so apparent that low class, chasing-the -newest -fad BS that they have tried and failed with SO MANY TIMES, everything besides just the good, straight- ahead music format they started with, it will stop being EMPTY-V and go back to just giving us good rock we can watch, admire, and have fun with.

So many comments, hundreds on here truly ALL tell the simple fact....
Stop being all complicated. TURN OFF all that other crap! We just wanna rock.

[ScandalousCandice]

The internet did not kill MTV. Shows like Wh-ore Island aka The Real World and all the other reality trash that they have killed Music Television. The stupid dating shows and every other ridiculous thing they have going on. They do not show videos anymore. Almost no music at all accept for a tiny block at 5 am or some odd hour like that. MTV was great because it was all music all the time. And every kind of music. They pushed music to their other channels when the reality trash should have gone to the other channels. The Real World is awful anymore and is about nothing but getting drink and having sex. TRL doesn't even play the whole videos that have been voted on and requested.

They could really redeem themselves if they overhauled everything. Put music back on and run nothing but continuous hours of music. Take all the other garbage and put it on MTV2 or whatever channels they have. If you really cared about that trash then you can pay for the extra cable channel. The rest of us who have cable with MTV attached to it should be allowed to have music television back.

[Topfeeder]

Who cares what killed it. Let's just rejoice that it is indeed dead.

[loki]

Not at all. Its easy to see what killed MTV. Programmers.
What was the music channel, and after a troubled time of playing only white music, became almost exclusively hip hop and rap with the occasional 1 hour show early in the morning with different music.
If they would have kept a nice mix and played a little bit of everything it would have helped. I think.
I also think they stepped on their you know whats, when they made the back bone of their company into the higher cost channels. So basic and middle subscribers got a little music , and hours of crap tv shows, while the premium subscribers would get the music. I watched tv from the first day they came on the air , from Radio killed the video star and co founder X monkey Nesmiths elephant parts production videos all the way into the late 90s. I guess once Viacom got their grubby mitts fully into the production and the Programming of MTV, they thought they could do things better and it went totally down hill from there. To bad, but hey, it makes room for someone who wants to start a real music channel.

[ohiomark]

Really bad programing aimed at the lowest common denominator is what killed MTV.

That and the fact that "music" is not really a part of the equation.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

Rebellious music with rebellious lyrics scares them.

[Blurp]

Good f@#$in' riddance!

[realityczech4u]

I mourn the fate of the network that brought us such cultural icons as "Jackass". No media outlet has ever been better at pandering to it's 'target market'.

[08politicaljunkie]

The best music doesn't have videos.

[NoSillyName]

Poetic justice. MTV killed music when videos became more important than the musicians.

[loki]

You hit the nail right on the head ! Bravo.

[missviv]

I second that. Just the other day I was listening to Ottis Redding and wondering if in today's blatantly disposable mainstream musical landscape, an artist like him would've been as succesful. No gimmicks, no lip synching, no designer haircut, no spot on "Cribs", just TALENT.
*sigh*
Every time I try to watch or listen to pop music, it makes me want to die.

[NoSillyName]

missviv, You're so right. It all became about how good the musicians looked or how innovative the videos could be. They rarely even had anything to do with the lyrics. That's when we got all the "hair" bands and scantily clad over-endowed women. That's also when we started getting performers who don't sing well, just look good, with computer-tweaked voices. Without all that, people like Britney would never have made it.

Most hip hop videos are disgustingly sexist as well as the lyrics.

Truly the art & science of video production can be amazing. That's a talent in itself. Just don't want videos to replace musicianship.

I like performance videos, where you can see the musicians actually playing the music, regardless of how they look. Taped live performances are even better, of course. "Austin City Limits" on PBS is very good as are all the concerts on PBS.

Guess I'm just not of the MTV generation, boo hoo.