1981 "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The
Buggles becomes the first music video to air on MTV.
1984 First Video Music Awards are held.
1986 MTV holds the first Spring Break.
1987 "MTV News: The Week in Rock" premieres as the
first music news program on MTV. 1989 Cindy
Crawford becomes the first host of the fashion program "House of
Style". 1990 MTV donates commercial air time to
Rock the Vote, beginning a relationship with the nonprofit
organization that continues to this day. 1991 The
first MTV Movie Awards are held. 1992 The first
season of "Real World" is shot in New York City.
1992 Bill Clinton appears to answer the questions
of 200 18 to 25 year-olds on air. 1992 The first
season of "Beavis and Butt-head" airs. 1992 UCLA
is host to the Video Music Awards, which are held in Pauly
Pavilion. 1996 M2, a sister-station to MTV,
debuts. It is designed to concentrate on music videos rather than
shows. 1997 Marilyn Manson defeats Charles Manson
in the first episode of "Celebrity Deathmatch."
1998 "Total Request Live" with Carson Daly
premiers. Original graphic by TIMOTHY NGO/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Web adaptation by CHRISTINE TAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s been 20 years, and our little MTV is all grown
up.
It was once the new cable network that a 45-word article in the
Wall Street Journal said would “feature tapes of contemporary
musical groups singing or acting out their songs,” (untitled,
March 4, 1981). Today, MTV Networks has become a conglomeration of
MTV, MTV2, VH1, Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite.
Much more than just a corporate growth, MTV’s increasing
popularity has left a mark on popular culture. Few would have
guessed the station’s future influence as they saw The
Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the first
video aired on MTV, flicker onto their televisions.
From documenting great moments in musical history to delving
into politics to creating national pop culture phenomena, MTV has
become the icon of youth culture.
It all started in 1981 when the station played only music
videos, all the music was rock and pop, and the artists were white.
This state didn’t last though. Before long, TV series began
to dominate the programming, Michael Jackson broke into rotation,
and several years later hip-hop and rap groups made their debut on
the MTV scene.
After a few years, in 1984, the first of the long-lasting
phenomena was born: the Video Music Awards. The show’s
highlight came when Madonna performed “Like a Virgin”
in a wedding dress.
In the years that followed, this event would come to
UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion once, in 1992, a mistake that
apparently MTV does not intend to repeat.
Objections from the music industry about parking and difficulty
seeing the stage were so strong that MTV was forced to move the
event back to Universal the next year.
“This year (1993), because of all the ramifications of the
music industry being upset, and some of the informality we lost, I
agreed to try it again at the Amphitheater,” said the
event’s producer Joel Gallen, as reported in the Los Angeles
Times (“MTV Video Music Awards; 10 Years of Heavy Rotation; a
Bash that Puts the Rock in Raucous,” Sept. 2, 1993).
 Photos from MTV Networks Kurt Cobain,
the lead singer of Nirvana, gives a legendary performance that
aired on MTV’s "Unplugged" for the first time on Dec. 16, 1993,
four months before he committed suicide.
The annual, out-of-control “Spring Break” show began
in 1986, taking college students to Daytona Beach, Fla. for a
party, the details of which their parents would probably rather not
know.
Another MTV show that was not scoring points with parents was
“Beavis and Butt-head.” Episodes featured the animated
duo sitting around in their AC/DC and Metallica T-shirts burning
things, abusing animals and coming to the epiphany that a music
video they were watching “sucks.”
“They’re so politically incorrect in a politically
correct time that I thought it would be a breath of fresh
air,” said executive producer Abby Terkuhle, as quoted in
Newsday (“Rude, Crude… and Cool,” July 25, 1993).
 Photo courtesy of MTV Networks Billy Idol’s "I want my
MTV"
A more recent phenomenon is “Total Request Live.”
With an emphasis on viewer participation, the show has become a
marker of who is hot in pop music.
Even though many of the series focus on what could be called
“MTV culture,” taking a look at the viewers rather than
the artists, there were also those shows that provided a new
perspective of bands that had previously been seen only in their
videos.
One such series of shows was “Unplugged.” Featuring
acoustic performances from bands like Nirvana and R.E.M., the show
proved that bands could sing and play, as well as rock.
Not to limit itself to just the musical world, MTV started
getting involved in politics. “Rock the Vote,” a
non-profit organization made up of members of the recording
industry, started running public service announcements urging 18-
to 25-year-olds to register to vote.
“Young people feel the candidates don’t speak to the
issues they care about,” said Becky Cain, president of the
National League of Women Voters, as quoted in USA Today
(“Rock the Vote pulls the MTV generation to the polls,”
Nov. 3, 1992).
This may have been the thinking behind then-governor Bill
Clinton’s appearance on the station in June of ’92. He
met with 200 young people and answered any questions they had.
This move was unique both for presidential candidates and for
MTV.
 Photo courtesy of MTV networks Madonna
at the “˜84 VMA’s “It’s smart of MTV to cover
politics, but it’s even smarter of Bill Clinton to use MTV to
reach young voters,” said Howard Polskin on a CNN report on
June 26, 1992.
Not everyone was as impressed with MTV’s move toward
politics, however. A USA Today article (“You shouldn’t
want your MTV News,” Aug. 8, 1991) accused the station of
being too leftist.
“The 10th anniversary revelry continues, culminating in a
November ABC special. We are asked to join in celebrating a message
to children that conservatives are evil, abortion is acceptable and
religion should be dismissed. Parents should ask themselves: Do we
really want our MTV?” the article read.
MTV also led the way into reality programming with “Real
World,” which premiered in 1992, and influenced the influx of
shows like “Survivor” and “Big
Brother.”
Along with the decision to increase programs rather than videos,
there was a shift in the types of videos that were made.
In general, they have become more expensive, showier and laden
with special effects.
 Photo courtesy of MTV Networks Original VJ’s
“It has forced us to raise our budgets and … that …
affects which artists’ videos we make and don’t
make,” said Wendy Griffiths, vice president of video
promotion for Reprise Records.
Overall, the videos have placed increasing pressure on bands to
have an image. From boy bands to metal bands, the way the groups
look in their videos influence their success.
“It did become form over substance and I think it affected
the credibility of pop music,” said Dave Wakeling of the
1980s bands The English Beat and General Public.
Taking another perspective, Romeo Dejai, of the KPWR afternoon
show “Goodfellas and Tito,” sees it as an opportunity
for artists to show their unique style.
“It means so much in music,” he said. “I think
MTV allows artists to be trend-setters.”
When that first video played on MTV, no one could have
anticipated the way the station would grow and change, from a music
video outlet to an icon.
With reports from Scott Schultz, Daily Bruin Senior Staff