The Real Reason MTV Stopped Playing Music Videos

March 2024 ยท 2 minute read

According to CNET, MTV VJ Adam Curry said that MTV actually never really made a lot of money from playing music videos 24-7. Financially, even during the best of times in the mid-80's, MTV was more or less staying afloat. That is, until it started introducing game shows and diversifying its network (even its first game show, "Remote Control", was hugely popular in comparison to music videos). VJs took the role of pre-YouTube video celebrities, and fostered a culture that tried to cater programming to MTV's music-watching base, but also noting that people watching music videos wasn't going to keep the lights on forever.

On that note, as explained in Hornet, if MTV didn't change it would have become known merely as "the nostalgia channel." All things, including music, changed, and so MTV attempted to not grow into an old, calcified version of itself that resembled its aging audience. In fact, there's a fair degree of internet blowback against nostalgia-hunters who whine about how MTV has changed. Additionally, all of the much-reviled non-music programming on MTV allowed it to attempt to keep up with generational changes in tastes and preferences.

Finally, there is simply no way, in 2020, that MTV can compete with YouTube when it comes to watching music videos. If MTV had launched YouTube, things might look different, but as it stands, MTV would be wise to let YouTube claim its old role for those who want to watch music videos all day.

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