1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:12,800
Speaker 1: This Day in a History classic production of My Heart Radio. Hello,

2
00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,080
Speaker 1: and welcome to This Day in History Class, a show

3
00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,520
Speaker 1: that gives a quick look. It's something that happened a

4
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:23,800
Speaker 1: long time ago. Today I'm Gabe Lousier and in this episode,

5
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,800
Speaker 1: we're talking about a monumental moment in TV history, the

6
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 1: launch of the world's first all day music channel. The

7
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:44,080
Speaker 1: day was August one. MTV went on the air for

8
00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,600
Speaker 1: the first time at twelve oh one am. It was

9
00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 1: the first cable channel devoted entirely to music videos, which

10
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,880
Speaker 1: had aired around the clock seven. That programming concept had

11
00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,600
Speaker 1: been developed through a joint venture between Warner Commune, Occasions,

12
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,960
Speaker 1: and American Express. The idea was to copy the format

13
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,920
Speaker 1: of Top forty radio stations by having on air hosts

14
00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,960
Speaker 1: here known as video jockeys or VJs, introduced music videos

15
00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 1: and then banter about music related topics in between the clips.

16
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 1: Not many people saw the channel when it first launched,

17
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,279
Speaker 1: as it was originally available only to households in certain

18
00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,320
Speaker 1: parts of New Jersey. The channel was picked up by

19
00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,240
Speaker 1: cable operators in Kansas City shortly after its debut, but

20
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,959
Speaker 1: larger markets like New York City and Los Angeles didn't

21
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,679
Speaker 1: carry the channel until considerably later. Despite that slow start,

22
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,240
Speaker 1: MTV or Music Television went on to shake up the

23
00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,800
Speaker 1: entire music industry, driving record sales and creating new ways

24
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,600
Speaker 1: for audiences to find and fall in love with music.

25
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,520
Speaker 1: It's a little surprising, then, that MTVS broadcast began now

26
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,880
Speaker 1: with a music video, but with a countdown played over

27
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 1: footage from a Space Shuttle launch and the Moon Lady.

28
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,040
Speaker 1: As the footage played and the rockets began to blast off,

29
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 1: a voice announced the channel's arrival, saying, quote, Ladies and gentlemen,

30
00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,480
Speaker 1: rock and roll. At that point, the now iconic MTV

31
00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,080
Speaker 1: logo filled the screen and the network's original theme song,

32
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,840
Speaker 1: called Man on the Moon began to play. A moment later,

33
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,560
Speaker 1: viewers were introduced to Mark Goodman, one of the networks

34
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,680
Speaker 1: first VJs, against the background of a studio made up

35
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 1: to look like a cozy loft style apartment. Goodman gave

36
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,359
Speaker 1: a brief description of the channel's concept and what had

37
00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:46,000
Speaker 1: hoped to achieve. Take a listen, this is it. Welcome

38
00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,400
Speaker 1: to MTV Music Television, the world's first twenty four hour

39
00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,680
Speaker 1: stereo video music channel. Just moments ago, all of the

40
00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,760
Speaker 1: VJs and the crew here at MTV collectively hit our

41
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,120
Speaker 1: executive producer su Steinberg over the head the bottle of champagne,

42
00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,519
Speaker 1: and behold, a new concept is born. The best of

43
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,720
Speaker 1: TV combined with the best of radio. Starting right now,

44
00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 1: You'll never look at music the same way again. We'll

45
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,200
Speaker 1: be right back to introduce the other VJs and the

46
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,280
Speaker 1: other folks who are gonna be with us on MTV.

47
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,040
Speaker 1: After a short commercial break, the other four VJs introduced themselves.

48
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,639
Speaker 1: Nina Blackwood and j J. Jackson both had backgrounds in radio,

49
00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,960
Speaker 1: as did Mark Goodman. The other two VJs were Alan Hunter,

50
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 1: a struggling actor and waiter, and Martha Quinn, a recent

51
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,560
Speaker 1: graduate of n y U who had worked at the

52
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,400
Speaker 1: campus radio station. All the VJs hoped the gig at

53
00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,320
Speaker 1: MTV would be their big break, but some of them

54
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 1: knew it was a long shot and kept their day

55
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080
Speaker 1: jobs for several months just in case the network fell apart.

56
00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,320
Speaker 1: That seemed like a plausible outcome, as the channel's success

57
00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,520
Speaker 1: was hardly a sure thing. According to MTV studio producer

58
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,880
Speaker 1: Robert Morton, part of the problem was that many people

59
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,360
Speaker 1: didn't even know what a music video was, including potential investors.

60
00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,960
Speaker 1: And advertisers. Music videos had existed in some form for

61
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,040
Speaker 1: more than four decades, but they weren't a top priority

62
00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,280
Speaker 1: for artists or record companies, as there was no reliable

63
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,720
Speaker 1: way to distribute them. That started to change in the

64
00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,919
Speaker 1: late nineteen seventies has more established cable channels like HBO

65
00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,920
Speaker 1: and USA began to dedicate single programs to the airing

66
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,160
Speaker 1: of music videos. However, a channel that played nothing but

67
00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,120
Speaker 1: music videos was a completely different story, and it was

68
00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,080
Speaker 1: tough to get people on board with the concept, but

69
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,360
Speaker 1: the creators of MTV had faith in their medium. In fact,

70
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,719
Speaker 1: the first music video ever played on the channel was

71
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,920
Speaker 1: for the Buggles song video Killed the Radio Star. The

72
00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,599
Speaker 1: track was already two years old at the time, but

73
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,440
Speaker 1: it was a fitting introduction to a channel bold enough

74
00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,680
Speaker 1: to believe that video really was the of the future.

75
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,159
Speaker 1: If you've never heard the song before, here's a taste

76
00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:28,200
Speaker 1: wine We've gone to. After its flashy debut, MTV struggled

77
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,520
Speaker 1: to find an audience for its first few years. One

78
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 1: major hurdle was a lack of fresh content. The videos

79
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,200
Speaker 1: that played had been supplied for free by savvy record

80
00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: companies who had already invested in the medium. However, many

81
00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,400
Speaker 1: executives were wary of producing new videos for the network

82
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,440
Speaker 1: since it was still an unproven model. That left MTV

83
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,839
Speaker 1: with only a small library of videos to pull from,

84
00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,919
Speaker 1: reportedly just two hundred and fifty or so. Almost half

85
00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,599
Speaker 1: of that collection was shown on the channel's very first

86
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,240
Speaker 1: day on the air, with many of the videos being

87
00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 1: played multiple times. For example, April Windes Just Between You

88
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,320
Speaker 1: and Me, The Who's You Better You Bet? And Phil

89
00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,080
Speaker 1: Collins in the Air Tonight, where each played five times

90
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,320
Speaker 1: during the first twenty four hours. Luckily for music fans

91
00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,760
Speaker 1: and for employees of MTV, record companies eventually came around

92
00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,400
Speaker 1: to the idea of producing new music videos to be

93
00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,719
Speaker 1: played on the channel. This change of heart was due

94
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,719
Speaker 1: to an increase in album sales for artists who weren't

95
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,280
Speaker 1: being played on the radio but did air videos on MTV.

96
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,560
Speaker 1: As the industry began to realize MTVS potential, music promoters

97
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,840
Speaker 1: invested in the creation of increasingly creative and elaborate videos

98
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,960
Speaker 1: to showcase their acts. One of the first to make

99
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,520
Speaker 1: a big splash with the public was the three video

100
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,880
Speaker 1: for Michael Jackson's hit song Thriller Clocking in at nearly

101
00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,200
Speaker 1: fourteen minutes. The epic horror themed video boasted detailed costumes

102
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,800
Speaker 1: and special effects, and demonstrated the medium storytelling potential. It

103
00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,400
Speaker 1: also added some much needed diversity to the channels otherwise

104
00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:15,640
Speaker 1: mostly white line up. The promotion of artists like Jackson, Madonna, Duran,

105
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 1: Duran and Prince helped keep MTV afloat during its early

106
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,120
Speaker 1: years and also gave the singers a nice career boost

107
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,840
Speaker 1: in the process. Another turning point for the network was

108
00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,440
Speaker 1: the introduction of its famous slogan, I Want my MTV.

109
00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,600
Speaker 1: It was first featured in a nine two ad campaign

110
00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 1: and was meant to get kids and teens to demand

111
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,680
Speaker 1: their cable providers start carrying the channel. The popular commercials

112
00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,600
Speaker 1: featured rock stars like David Bowie, Cindy Lauper, Mick Jagger,

113
00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:52,360
Speaker 1: and the Police joining in the plea for MTV I

114
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,880
Speaker 1: want my TV, I want my MTV, I want my

115
00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:04,520
Speaker 1: MTV on compa. The ads worked well to get the

116
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 1: word out, an MTV star continued to rise throughout the

117
00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,840
Speaker 1: early nineteen eighties. In fact, it grew so successful that

118
00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,520
Speaker 1: in the network was purchased by Viacom, expanding its reach

119
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,240
Speaker 1: to even more markets. This change in ownership led to

120
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,520
Speaker 1: a shift in content as well. Instead of airing a

121
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: grab bag of videos from all different genres, the network

122
00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,560
Speaker 1: started packaging videos into single genre blocks like alternative rock,

123
00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,240
Speaker 1: heavy metal, and hip hop. By the late nineteen eighties,

124
00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,680
Speaker 1: the network had even expanded into non video programming, including

125
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,360
Speaker 1: game shows, animated cartoons, award shows, news, and of course,

126
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:49,360
Speaker 1: reality shows. As the years went by, MTV realized that

127
00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,800
Speaker 1: it's narrative programming, whether scripted or not, earned better ratings

128
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,640
Speaker 1: than its music videos. In response, it continued to broaden

129
00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,319
Speaker 1: its focus from popular music to you targeted pop culture

130
00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,520
Speaker 1: in general. By the early twenty one century, this transition

131
00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,680
Speaker 1: was all but complete, and viewers were hard pressed to

132
00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,240
Speaker 1: find any videos in the network's lineup. MTV may have

133
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,320
Speaker 1: strayed from its original mission, but it's continued to have

134
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,600
Speaker 1: a profound effect on the cultural landscape, both in the

135
00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,800
Speaker 1: US and abroad. In that sense, the network has grown

136
00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,880
Speaker 1: beyond its original branding as music Television. Just don't expect

137
00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:33,160
Speaker 1: the name change anytime soon. Without the M It's just TV.

138
00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,000
Speaker 1: I'm gay, Bluesier, and hopefully you now know a little

139
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,040
Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can

140
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,880
Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,

141
00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,080
Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if

142
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,800
Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to send

143
00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,920
Speaker 1: them my way at this Day at iHeart media dot com.

144
00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,800
Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks

145
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,439
Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again

146
00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:19,319
Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class. I'm I want

147
00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:30,840
Speaker 1: my MTV al right, I want. I won't I MTV

148
00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,240
Speaker 1: Wow twenty five hours a date on cable TV. I

149
00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,520
Speaker 1: wont md MTB. Yeah. Too much is never enough