Heard a guy at the diner say MTV used to play music videos 24/7 for like 5 years straight

I was grabbing breakfast this morning and overheard this older dude telling his friend that when MTV first launched in 81, they literally just played music videos nonstop, no commercials even at first. He said it took until like 86 or 87 before they started throwing in shows like Remote Control. Made me realize how wild it is that the channel went from all music to basically all reality shows in under 20 years. I remember watching Total Request Live after school in the late 90s and it felt like music was still the focus then. Does anyone here remember when they finally stopped playing videos altogether during the day?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason_foster681mo ago

Used to think people exaggerated this, but you're right that it changed fast.

-1

spencer_chen61mo ago

Yeah @mason_foster68, but I gotta gently push back on the "changed fast" part. It was actually a slow creep for months before it suddenly felt like overnight. Remember when neighborhoods just looked a little different gradually, not all flipped at once? That was the wild part for me. One spring I noticed three coffee shops on my street turned into banks and insurance offices, but nobody really paid attention until the rent spikes hit everyone.