Independent magazine of the MTV era · Updated About us

Music television, the VJs and the gear of the decade that wanted its MTV.

80sVJs

All stories · Contact

Home / Section

MTV History

How a cable channel built on music videos changed pop, why the videos faded from its schedule, and the shows fans still look up.

MTV History
Photo: anagoria / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
When MTV Stopped Playing Videos
Latest in MTV HistoryWhen MTV Stopped Playing Videos

MTV did not stop playing music videos on a specific date. Instead, the cable channel's shift away from video broadcasting was a gradual process. To understand this transition, let's look at…

MTV's Specialty Shows ExplainedMTV HistoryMTV's Specialty Shows Explained

MTV owed something to fans of metal, alternative rock, and hip-hop. The upstart channel had emerged in the early 1980s as the force driving a pop-music video wave. For a time, MTV did seem…

From the archive

Pages first published on this domain in 2011, kept as they ran.

MTV at 30: The Press ClippingsFrom the archiveMTV at 30: The Press Clippings

Articles Rolling Stone: MTV Turns 30, Original VJ Mark Goodman recalls networks first days: “I think we only had 300 videos” MTV: 30th Anniversary Timeline…

Behind the Scenes at Early MTVFrom the archiveBehind the Scenes at Early MTV

We’ve dug through boxes, called on old friends and scoured the Internet to find some behind the scenes photos of the early years of MTV. Mark Goodman, Sting…

Readers' MTV MemoriesFrom the archiveReaders' MTV Memories

August 1 marks the 30th Anniversary of MTV. MTV revolutionized the way we looked at music and the VJs were a big part of shaping that vision. We want to know…