MTV's Music-Only Channels Go Off the Air (rollingstone.com)
- Reference: 0180503325
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1832200/mtvs-music-only-channels-go-off-the-air
- Source link: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mtv-music-only-channels-off-air-1235492854/
> MTV [1]shut down many of its last dedicated 24-hour music channels Dec. 31. The move, announced back in October, affected channels around the world, with the U.K. seeing five different MTV stations going dark. These include MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live. As Consequence notes, MTV Music -- which launched in 2011 -- notably ended its run by airing the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," the first visual to air when MTV launched in the United States in 1981.
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> MTV's parent company, Paramount Skydance, is also expected to shutter music-only channels in Australia, Poland, France, and Brazil. Despite axing much of its dedicated music programming, MTV's flagship channels are still expected to keep broadcasting in the U.K. and elsewhere. Like in the U.S., these channels primarily air massively popular reality programs, as opposed to music videos.
[1] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mtv-music-only-channels-off-air-1235492854/
That's a surprise (Score:2)
I honestly thought they changed to purely reality content decades ago. If these "actual Music TV" channels were still available where I live, they seem to have been hiding well. I would be sad, if I didn't hold my MTV lament some time around the turn of the millennium. Still, a belated toast from my teenage self for the after midnight version of Poison.
Video killed the radio star, apparently (Score:1)
The typical demographic for MTV when it began is near retirement age now.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably makes sense as they're mostly set in a music genre now and less likely to be ear-wormed
"They don't play many videos anymore" - Butthead, (Score:3)
"They don't play many videos anymore" - Butthead, 1993
Re: (Score:2)
"Internet killed the video star"
W/ all due apologies to Buggles
Internet killed the video star? (Score:2)
Honestly, I didn't know MTV still had music-only channels.
Or even music channels, for that matter.
Re: (Score:1)
Back when I was a teen in the early 80s we only looked forward to Friday Night Videos. My friends and I just didn't understand the appeal of watching music videos all the time on a dedicated channel. There was too much to do outside with friends. Cooped up in a house was not a thing back then.
Re: (Score:2)
Precisely, same here!
Re: (Score:2)
Correct. What may have been the final nail in the coffin on MTV showing music videos happened in 2012, when PSY's "Gangnam Style" was posted on YouTube and within a few months, it became a gigantic worldwide sensation without needing MTV. That very success using YouTube drove record companies to start posting home videos instead of waiting for MTV. Indeed, you wonder would Beyoncé would have done the "visual album" version of her acclaimed album _Lemonade_ if it weren't for it being able to be posted o
Too much competition for attention (Score:4, Insightful)
When MTV got its start music was still a big deal because there just wasn't a lot else. You had a stereo in your room and if you were really well off you might have had a small television set and if you were lucky cable that you were probably stealing.
I Remember getting a game boy so that I could play the games on it without having to fight for the TV.
I don't know how much longer it'll last since AI is basically taking all the electronics manufacturing for itself but at least for the last decade or two cheap televisions and cheap game consoles and cheap internet means that people have a lot of entertainment options besides music. So it's no surprise that MTV is struggling.
MTV (Score:2)
Changed from Music Televison to Moronic Television.
The Dead Kennedys called it (Score:3)
Hi, I'm your video DJ
I always talk like I'm wigged out on quaaludes
I wear a satin baseball jacket everywhere I go
My job is to help destroy
What's left of your imagination
By feeding you endless doses of sugar-coated mindless garbage
You've turned rock and roll rebellion into Pat Boone sedation
Making sure nothing's left to the imagination
MTV get off the
MTV get off the
MTV get off the air!
Expensive? (Score:1)
Was it expensive to send music videos 24/7? Did the revenue from advertising not cover the expenses? Couldn't/didn't they charge the record companies for rotation?
Intuitively I would have expected it to be extremely cheap to broadcast music videos while it also would make a reasonable revenue from commercials = profitable, but maybe my intuition is off?
Re: (Score:2)
MTV had to pay to run the videos, as I understand it they also had to share ad revenue, and ad revenue was a challenge because audience attention span was measured in 3-5 minute increments rather than in half-hour or hour-long blocks of time. The economics were never favourable for them; the only reason they've hung around this long is because they had the right idea at the right time in the early 1980s with running music videos on cable television, and they pivoted out to reality TV a decade later.
So... (Score:2)
Its just TV now?
As long as we can keep Rage (Score:2)
As long as Rage keeps going. They get famous musicians in to play whatever they like. Tonight's DJ is Jocko Homo from Devo. One of my favorites was Mike Patton from Faith No More. So many great guests.
From looking at [1]the current playlist [abc.net.au] isn;t as long as I expect, it generally plays music videos from 12:00 am to 7am without a single commercial, not that I can stay awake all night anymore to find out. lols Still great to just have on. Enjoy!
[1] https://www.abc.net.au/rage/playlist/saturday-night-3-january-2026-on-abc-entertains/106150030
"Massively Popular" (Score:1)
Yeah, for idiots and those with very low IQ.
MTV was better off playing music videos. The downfall started with Jenny McCarthy on that dumb show 'Singled Out'. Stopped watching it after that and never went back.
But to be fair, there doesn't appear to be a lot of interest in music videos anymore, otherwise, someone would air them.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]Money for nothing [youtube.com] intro where Sting sings is no longer working.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0
Re: (Score:2)
Sting?!?!
You might wanna double-check that, bro!
Re: (Score:2)
> Sting?!?!
> You might wanna double-check that, bro!
i was right there with you... but then:
> The song features a guest appearance by Sting, who sings the signature falsetto introduction, background vocals and a backing chorus of "I want my MTV" set to the same notes as the chorus of the Police's hit "Don't Stand So Close To Me"
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
(and it does sound like him...)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_for_Nothing
Re: (Score:1)
You might want to double check. Sting sang the intro part of Money for Nothing
Re: (Score:2)
YouTube and social media kinda ate the entire music video market but bands are still making them.
If you go on some of those free steaming services like pluto.tv there are still music video channels, which is fun to check out now and again, particularly as they at least have genre and time period specific channels so it's a bit more focused.
Re: "Massively Popular" (Score:3)
Artists are still making pretty creative music Videos in the post cable TV era. They just post them on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.... If MTV was smart, they would have moved everything to Twitch, YouTube, etc... and kept some live programing there... My guess is that they want easy revenue generators, and a music video channel would let them print "investor value"...
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A real squandered opportunity, MTV used to be synonymous with popular music, it was probably the most powerful brand in the industry, they could make or break entire acts. There's a different world where MTV is playing the tole that Spotify is today, a Blockbuster sized downfall.
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+1 Insightful, it's incredible that MTV couldn't capitalize on the explosion of online media in some way.
Re: "Massively Popular" (Score:2)
Not that fast. Many artists are hostages of their labels, even those who own their music. Justin Hawkins from The Darkness fame has an YT channel, and the other day he was being interviewed and shared [1]how often he receives copyright strikes when using his own music [youtube.com].
[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aqT4EUrbz8c
Re: (Score:3)
> Yeah, for idiots and those with very low IQ.
Sadly, a HUGE demographic.
Re: (Score:2)
> But to be fair, there doesn't appear to be a lot of interest in music videos anymore, otherwise, someone would air them.
People go to Youtube for them now, since they have nearly all of them, and you can watch them in whichever order you like.