MTV turns 25
August 1st, 2006
Today is MTV’s 25th birthday and, believe it or not, the network isn’t going to celebrate. Why? Because the average age of its current audience is 19, and being 25 simply isn’t cool anymore. What does that say about me? I’m 38 and I can remember the day that MTV launched, when it wasn’t really 24 hours a day and there were nothing but test patterns during the wee hours of the morning. Still, the experience of non-stop music videos was incredibly cool and my friends and I watched them all the time. In fact, I became a pretty accomplished air drummer (you know, like air guitar, only doing the drums) watching MTV as a teenager. Okay, that might be too much information.
Anyway, there is no doubt that MTV was an innovation in the world of entertainment. It made music nobodies into overnight sensations and it made stars into megastars. It’s true that some of the first videos, many of them performance clips from the 1970s, were pretty scary. But videos became an art form and MTV is definitely the reason why. The term VJ (for video jockey) was coined because of MTV and the first five VJs, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, the late J.J. Jackson and Martha Quinn, were instant legends for many of us who watched them. (Although at the time, we just thought they were dorks.)
Although MTV has long since abandoned music videos, I will always remember the impact the early days of MTV had on me. And so, even if MTV won’t officially celebrate its birthday, I will right here on the PI Blog! Happy Birthday MTV! And for all of you, here is a little present: the first video played on MTV on August 1, 1981, courtesy of YouTube. Enjoy!
Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, Announcements, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation
Ben Martin and P.I.
Association exec Ben Martin, CAE is P.I.’s Architect of Participation. Jeff and Ben help clients harness the power of the Web through the strategic application of social tools.
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