On August 1, 1981, a brand new wave of the music industry launched on cable television. The first music video premiering on this channel was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles (cite). While at the time, no one could predict the success of MTV, this song seemed to foreshadow the impact of this new music television. Music videos, while having been around for a long time, had never had a format all to themselves on television. MTV provided artists who could harness the full capabilities of the format a way to become instantly successful. It made artists successful with the masses of people that watched them on television, who continued to spurn the success of the channel. After being inspired by cultural circumstances of a new generation, MTV had a major impact on the
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One important aspect of cable television for MTV was “the advent of stereo TV and the deregulation of the airwaves” (Szatmary 280). By using satelittle cable, television networks could be broadcast around the country, opening up a new means for the dispersion of commercial music (Wicke 158). With this new capability, MTV was able to be shown in “2,700 cable networks with about 24 million subscribers” (160). In addition to these high numbers of success, another aspect of cable television contributed to MTV’s success. MTV was one of the view channels that was able to “be received free of charge apart from a monthly basic fee for the cable connection” (ibid). MTV was created with an investment from the Warner Bros. company, who helped the channel pay for the costs of satellite programming. Although the set-up of MTV was inexpensive to control, as artists paid for the production of the music videos, the high price of airing satellite transmission was much more expensive. MTV did benefit from a high amount of advertising, but still, “the company’s initial losses still ran into the millions”
One important aspect of cable television for MTV was “the advent of stereo TV and the deregulation of the airwaves” (Szatmary 280). By using satelittle cable, television networks could be broadcast around the country, opening up a new means for the dispersion of commercial music (Wicke 158). With this new capability, MTV was able to be shown in “2,700 cable networks with about 24 million subscribers” (160). In addition to these high numbers of success, another aspect of cable television contributed to MTV’s success. MTV was one of the view channels that was able to “be received free of charge apart from a monthly basic fee for the cable connection” (ibid). MTV was created with an investment from the Warner Bros. company, who helped the channel pay for the costs of satellite programming. Although the set-up of MTV was inexpensive to control, as artists paid for the production of the music videos, the high price of airing satellite transmission was much more expensive. MTV did benefit from a high amount of advertising, but still, “the company’s initial losses still ran into the millions”