MTV is an American based music channel that was launched on August 1st 1981 with the idea of playing music videos for 24 hours a day. The first music videos to be played on the channel was "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles, "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar and "She Won't Dance With Me" by Rod Stewart.
It was mainly rock bands/performers that got the most airplay in the beginning of MTV but the channel did start to branch out and play more heavy metal bands to new wave, bands like Bon Jovi, Blondie, Euthymics and The Police as well as the channel started playing Weird Al Yankovic who parodied other artists.
Very few black artists were being played on the channel other than Prince and Eddy Grant. The channel refused to show the video for "Super Freak" by Rick James, claiming it was out of their music range, which spurred James to demand a channel be created just for black artists. Whilst in an interview on MTV, David Bowie also questioned the lack of black artists being aired on the channel.
Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled to get airtime on the channel but the colour barrier, as its referred to, was broken when Les Garland, the head of MTV at the time, decided to show Michael Jackson's video for Billie Jean.
MTV has changed who it plays since it started airing, and the channel has gone through phases;
The Channel stopped airing music videos in 2008 and began introducing TV shows especially reality based ones like Jersey Shore, The Hills and 16 & Pregnant. However, MTV started showing more scripted shows as well like Teen Wolf, Awkward, Faking It and Finding Carter. The channel has several spin off channels like, MTV Hits, which do play music videos 24 hours a day.
VivaThe UK broadcasted channel was launched on the 26ths October 2009 with an exclusive performance from Alexandre Burke of her single at the time "Bad Boys." The first music video to be shown on the channel was Alphabeats "The Spell" in the Official UK Chart Top 20 Show.
It was originally broadcasted for 24hrs a day until Nick Jr. (an off shot Nickelodeon channel) was removed when the hours went down to 09:00 to 06:00. The unused hours are now used for teleshopping.
As well as airing music videos, it airs shows that are originally shown on MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central ( shows llike Pretty Little Liars, The Hills, Jersey Shore, Two and a Half Men and Scrubs).
4Music
The channel, that is broadcasted in the UK and some parts of Ireland, launched on the 15th August 2008. Its the only Channel 4 branded channel within the Box TV network.
The channel has several programmes including;
- 4Music Top 10
- Your official Top 20
- UKHot 40
- From The Beginning
The Channel launched with an on-screen countdown from 10 minutes down to 0, with clips from popular music videos faded through the screen. The channel launched with a promotional advert for the channel before going into "Davina and Steve's 20 Big Ones." The first music video to be shown on the channel was "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters as apart of the countdown, with "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue coming number one.
The Channel also airs some performances of T4 On The Beach and V Festival. T4 On The Beach was ended after T4 Closed down on 30th December 2012.
Kerrang! TVThe channel is loosely based on the magazine, and it launched in 2005. As of 2005, all of it's content were music videos of the pop punk/state punk although there are some unusual exceptions.
Some acts like Tenacious D, get a higher airplay than other artists but the channel is the only channel that plays music videos by request from the viewers rather than vote. The channel, still shares the same ethos as the magazine but sometimes will play un-signed artists.
Video countdowns are often showed including;
- A - Z Punk
- Today's 10 Most Rockin'
- Overdrive
- Rock 100
The first broadcast of Kerrang! TV had a countdown of voters most desired videos. The most popular and the first video to be shown on the channel was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.
KISS TV
The channel launched 26th June 1998 and is based on the same format as the radio station and plays mainly hip-hop,trance and R'n'B.
Within one year of the channel being launched it was beating MTV in time slots and gained a status for it's low budget coverage of dance music.
As well as showing music videos, it also features chart shows like;
- UKHot40Big Beats Chart
- Top 20 Productions
- Class of 2008: The Best so Far
- A-Z of R'n'B
Youtube & VEVO
VEVO launched on the 8th December 2009 and has become a part of Youtube and shows music videos from two of the big three record labels, UMG and SME. In June 2012, VEVO launched its Certified awards which honours artists with at least 100 million views on VEVO and it's partner website, like Youtube.
The channel itself is only available in North America however it is
looking to branch out to other countries. Unlike it's main partner, Youtube, VEVO can be viewed by anyone.
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