History of MTV Timeline

Flashdance (1983) was the first film whose promoters supplied MTV with musical clips to compose promotional videos, which the channel included in its regular rotation, blending cinema and music television.

In 1984, more record companies and artists began making clips, realizing the popularity of MTV and the growing medium of the music video.

It underwent a transition to emulate a full Top 40 station in 1984, broadening its appeal beyond rock audiences.

To accommodate the influx of videos, MTV announced changes to its playlists in the November 3, 1984, issue of Billboard that took effect the next week.

In response to the AIDS epidemic, MTV initiated a safe-sex campaign in 1985, believing that many youths would be more open to the message there than from their parents.

Rock bands and performers of the 1980s who appeared on MTV included Dire Straits, whose 1985 song and video 'Money for Nothing' included the slogan 'I want my MTV' in its lyrics, alongside acts like Michael Jackson, Prince, U2, and Van Halen.

On 10 September 1991, Nirvana released 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', the lead single to their second studio album Nevermind. Its video became an anthem for Generation X and helped bring alternative rock to mainstream MTV audiences.

Image source: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Rolling Stone placed the music video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' at number two on their 1993 list of 'The 100 Top Music Videos', cementing its cultural legacy.

Beginning in late 1997, MTV progressively reduced its airing of rock music videos, leading to the slogan among skeptics, 'Rock is dead.' In fall 1999, MTV announced a special Return of the Rock weekend featuring new rock acts, followed by a compilation album.

A year after the new Times Square studios opened, MTV merged Total Request and MTV Live into a live daily top 10 countdown show, Total Request Live, which became known as TRL.

Image source: Total Request Live

According to Nielsen, the average audience for TRL was at its highest in 1999 and continued with strong numbers through 2001.

In 2000, the Guinness World Records named 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' the 'Most Played Video' on MTV Europe.

In 2003, Carson Daly left MTV and TRL to focus on his late night talk show on NBC, removing TRL's most recognizable host.

TRL came to an end with a special finale episode, Total Finale Live, which aired November 16, 2008, and featured hosts and guests that previously appeared on the show. By then, MTV aired an average of just three hours of music videos per day.

MTV ventured into adult animation with shows like Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997), followed by Daria, Celebrity Deathmatch, Undergrads, and Clone High.

Image source: Beavis and Butt-Head

Daria (1997–2002) became one of MTV's signature animated series, also including two full-length television films: Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?, which originally aired on MTV in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

Image source: Daria

MTV spawned the paranormal reality TV genre with the broadcast of the show Fear in 2000, sending contestants into supposedly haunted locations.

MTV became known for its reality programming; The Osbournes, a reality show based on the everyday life of Ozzy Osbourne and his family, premiered in 2002 and became one of the network's premiere shows before production ended in November 2004.

2007's A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, chronicling MySpace sensation Tila Tequila's journey to find a companion, was the subject of criticism due to Tequila's bisexuality.

Image source: A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila

2009 saw the debut of Jersey Shore, which became a ratings success throughout its run and spawned the 'MTV Shores' franchise, though it attracted various controversies.

Image source: Jersey Shore

In June 2012, the network announced the development of a television series based on the Scream franchise, expanding further into scripted content.

Image source: Scream (TV series)

During his acceptance speech at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Justin Timberlake implored MTV to 'play more damn videos!' in response to the network's declining music video airplay, which had fallen from up to eight hours per day in 2000.

Image source: MTV Video Music Awards

AMTV, an early morning music block, debuted in 2009, and MTV Unplugged returned the same year, continuing the network's efforts to preserve music programming. AMTV later rebranded as Music Feed in 2013.

Image source: MTV Unplugged

Shortly after Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, the channel aired several hours of Jackson's music videos, accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV personalities and other celebrities.

Image source: Death of Michael Jackson

In February 2010, MTV dropped the 'Music Television' branding, formally acknowledging its evolution beyond a pure music video channel.

MTV aired similar one-hour live specials with music videos and news updates following the death of Whitney Houston on February 11, 2012, and the death of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys on May 4, 2012.

Chris McCarthy was named president of MTV in 2016, ushering in plans to restore music programming to the channel.

In April 2016, then-appointed MTV president Sean Atkins announced plans to restore music programming to the channel. On April 21, 2016, MTV announced new Unplugged episodes and a new weekly performance series called Wonderland.

In July 2017, it was announced that TRL would be returning to the network on October 2, 2017, reviving the iconic countdown brand nearly nine years after it ended.

By 2020, MTV had drawn criticism from various blogs and news outlets for its over-reliance on Ridiculousness marathons, highlighting how far the channel had drifted from its music video origins.

Image source: Ridiculousness

In 2021, Chris McCarthy was named president and CEO of MTV Entertainment Group, which also oversees Comedy Central, Paramount Network, TV Land, CMT, and Smithsonian Channel.

Image source: Paramount Media Networks