MTV, formerly an acronym of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.
The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.
At one time, MTV had a profound impact on the music industry and popular culture. Slogans such as “I want my MTV” and “MTV is here” became embedded in public thought, the concept of the VJ was popularized, the idea of a dedicated video-based outlet for music was introduced, and both artists and fans found a central location for music events, news, and promotion. MTV has also been referenced countless times in popular culture by musicians, other TV channels and shows, films, and books.
MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally, some of which, like the former MTV Tempo now known as TEMPO Networks, have gone independent. MTV’s moral influence on young people, including issues related to censorship and social activism, has been a subject of debate for years. MTV’s choice to focus on non-music programming has also been contested relentlessly since the 1990s, demonstrating the channel’s previous impact on popular culture.
When did MTV Jump the Shark ?
19 votes so far...
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I agree with everyone about how reality shows ruined MTV. MTV used to be a channel that showed mainly music related content, but now all we see is reality shows and less music related shows.
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Too easy. Havent watched MTV in years now.
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Laguna Beach/The Hills and all the newer reality tv shows are indeed pretty bad. But MTV was on the slide a long time ago when they starting showing ‘Date my Mom’,'Room Raiders’ and ‘Road Rules/The Real World’. That was when it really started changing. Fewer and fewer music videos and less exclusives.
Now the channel seems obsessed by teenage obesity. Get the music back on and help these kids dance away the fat.
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Obvious choice. What a farce this chanel has became.
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Its a no brainer in this page. Bring back music.
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Havent watched it a while. No point, all the music is on the other channels 24/7. The MTV we grew up with is long forgotten and probably wont ever come back. Shame.
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Yea agree with everything. What a disaster. Pandering to the easy reality tv audience.
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Agree with all the comments.
MTV is now the ITV2 of the music stations.
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MTV did show some great non music videos to begin with. I quite enjoyed the mix of tv show and music video. The Real World, Beavis and Butthead and Pimp my Ride to name afew.
But…the Reality TV obsession is killing MTV. My SuperSweet 16 is horrible, Bromance instantly forgettable and The Hills/Laguna Beach/The City are all mind numbingly similar to each other.
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Agreed with all the posts.
I get the impression shows like Laguna Beach and The Hills played a big part in what MTV has became now. Although they had reality tv in the shape of The Real World, Room Raiders and Road rules in the past. None of these became as hugely popular as some recent shows.
After the outings of Lauren and Co. I always got the impression they were trying hard to find there next big ratings winner and a tidal wave of crap hit the tv screens.
I think sadly this version of MTV is looking like its here to stay.
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Can only be the one reason.
Play some music !!!! Showcase some new bands !!! Show some live music or concert footage.
MUSIC!!!!!
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The home of the reality tv show. What happened ??
A visionary tv channel turned into a breeding ground for non-celebs.
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The visionary tv channel now changed to the home of the worst kind of tv shows. The 5 shows beside ‘see also’ above realy is just a small section of the dross churned out by MTV over the years.
Other crap shows include Road Rules, Rich Girls, Made, Totally Boyband, Totally Jodie Marsh and the ultimate comedy failure Wild’n'Out with the consistantly awfull Nick Cannon.
Mediocure Television
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There is no more music in Music Television.
The endless seas of reality tv shows on MTV is sickening. WTF happened ?? This was must see when i was growing up.
Its now a string of bad shows one after another.
Jumped biiiiiiig time
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