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Article: Music Television
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MUSIC TELEVISION
MUSIC TELEVISION.
MTV (Music Television) is a cable channel launched by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment in 1981 and acquired by Viacom in 1987. Supported by advertising, it began as a service providing music videos twenty-four-hours per day in programs hosted by "video jockeys" (VJs), a term coined by MTV. Before long, programming diversified as the channel introduced game shows (
Remote Control, Singled Out
); animated series (
Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria
); news programs; and later, a soap opera,
Undressed.
Perhaps more than any other channel, MTV helped launch the cable explosion in America. Many viewers who had been reluctant to sign up for pay cable services ...