MTV (channel): Difference between revisions

In [[The Nineties]], MTV started bringing hip-hop acts into regular rotation, and the [[Grunge]] and [[Alternative Rock]] that had been popularized on ''120 Minutes'' started displacing [[Hair Metal]]. Later in the decade, MTV was instrumental in the rise of [[Boy Band|boy bands]], [[Girl Group|girl groups]] and [[Idol Singer|idol singers]] like [[Britney Spears]], [[Christina Aguilera]], [[TLC]], [[Destinys Child]], the [[Backstreet Boys]] and 'N Sync, which themselves partly displaced rock music. Grunge pressed on into [[Post-Grunge]], with [[Nickelback]] and [[Creed]] leading the way, and [[Nu-metal]] bands like [[Linkin Park]], [[Korn (Music)|Korn]] and [[Slipknot]] emerged to bring a harder sound into the mainstream -- and act as [[Gateway Series|Gateway Music]] to a whole generation of metalheads [[Old Shame|no matter how loath]] [[Deader Than Disco|they are to admit it]]. The music videos became more professional, having evolved from marketing tools to encourage album sales into the main attraction. ''Total Request Live'', or ''TRL'', a program where viewers got to vote for their favorite music videos to air, became a sensation, turning host Carson Daly into a celebrity in his own right. It was with the launch of this show that MTV opened its famous studio in [[Big Applesauce|Times Square]].

 

 

The [[Turn of the Millennium]] was when the [[Network Decay]] that had been setting in at MTV for the last decade really began to take over. Carson Daly's departure from ''TRL'' in 2003 set that show on a slow decline, finally being cancelled in 2008. Non-music-related shows took over the schedule, pushing music videos into the late night and early morning hours. Most importantly, the rise of online sources such as [[YouTube]], iTunes, and now MTV's own [http://mtvmusic.com MTV Music] meant that people no longer needed to watch MTV to get their music video fix, which led to MTV diverting even more hours away from music programming. Today, MTV only plays three hours of music a day (most of it in the early morning hours, and despite music videos being the first to film consistently in the format, never in [[High Definition]]), the kids of the "MTV Generation" are in their thirties and forties and having kids of their own, and the network's popularity has faded a great deal since the [[Glory Days]] of the '80s and '90s (almost to the point where it can be called [[Deader Than Disco]], although hit reality shows like ''[[The Hills]]'' and ''[[Jersey Shore]]'' have kept it relevant). But to deny that MTV has, for better or worse, fundamentally shaped popular culture into what it is now would be impossible.

** [[VH-1]] Classic: Focused on older music (and occasionally new music from classic artists), and still shows a large amount of music videos. Almost insanely devoted to music and seems to be fighting [[Network Decay]] to the death.

** [[VH-1]] Soul: A channel mostly devoted to soul, R&B and funk music.

** CMT Pure Country: Essentially what CMT was circa 1994.

* [[Comedy Central]]