MTV (Music Television), a New York City-based cable channel, goes on the air at one minute after midnight, premiering with the Buggles’ music video “Video Killed The Radio Star”. This heralds the beginning of the dominance of music videos in the music industry, though at first MTV’s format is to concentrate heavily on mainstream rock, new wave and semi-obscure acts (Split Enz features twice within the first 30 videos played). MTV quickly comes in for criticism that black artists are sorely underrepresented in its rotation. In later years, MTV uses its influence with younger viewers to raise political awareness, though it will eventually replace much of its music-related programming with game shows, reality shows, and other programming, until the “music” of “Music Television” becomes somewhat misleading.
