A brief history of MTV

MTV (Music Television) is an American music channel. It was created in 1977, but was launched in New York in 1981 by creator Robert W. Pittman, primarily just playing music videos guided by an on-air host. In the same year, the first music video to be shown was 'Video Killed The Radio Star'.

 2 years on, MTV broke the 'color barrier' by Micheal Jackson's 'Billie Jean', which then allowed to show music by more black artists.

In 1984, the VMAs (Video Music Awards) were created as an alternative to the grammys.

In '88. MTV ventured into television shows

 One of MTV's most highlighted development was when they launched MTV Europe in 1987, hoping to express their popularity worldwide.

In the early 1990s, MTV was playing a combination of pop-friendly hard rock acts, chart-topping metal and hard rock acts such as Nirvana and Guns N' Roses, pop singers such as Michael Jackson and Madonna and R&B quartets such as New Edition and Boyz II Men, while introducing hit rappers Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer.

By 1997, MTV focused heavily on introducing electronica acts into the mainstream, adding them to its musical rotation. Some of the more popular musicians of this group were The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim. That same year, MTV attempted to introduce neo-swing bands.

However, around 1999 through 2001, as MTV aired fewer music videos throughout the day. It regularly aired compilation specials from its then 20-year history to look back on its roots.

MTV celebrated its 20th anniversary on August 1, 2001, beginning with a 12-hour retrospective, which featured over 100 classic videos played chronologically.

From the start of 2000 to today, MTV grew to produce TV reality shows, such as Jersey Shore.

In 2010, the word 'music' was no longer featured on the logo.

MTV's original logo

'MTV' VMAs