MTV went on the air on August 1, 1981, cutting from Apollo 11 moon landing footage to a mutating spray-painted logo and The Buggles singing “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment hired the collective Manhattan Design, which built a heavy block letter M with graffiti TV letters and refused to fix any brand colors. To pressure cable operators into carrying the channel, adman George Lois adapted the 1950s “I want my Maypo” cereal slogan, and Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Pat Benatar and later Madonna looked into the camera and told fans to demand their MTV. The early album-oriented rock format nearly shut out Black artists: Rick James was furious when “Super Freak” was rejected, and in 1983 Bowie confronted VJ Mark Goodman on air about it. According to multiple accounts, CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull his labels’ music unless Michael Jackson was played, and “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and the 14-minute “Thriller” followed.

MTV then began making its own events: the first Video Music Awards in 1984 with Madonna in a wedding dress, 16 hours of live Live Aid coverage in 1985, Spring Break broadcasts from Daytona Beach starting in 1986, and the 1992 Choose or Lose campaign, which helped register a reported 20 million people and hosted a forum with Bill Clinton. Because record labels owned the videos, the network moved toward shows it owned. Beavis and Butt-Head was pushed to a later slot after a fire incident, MTV produced the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show for CBS that triggered FCC investigations, and Jersey Shore in 2009 drew cancellation demands from UNICO National while Dell and Domino’s pulled ads. The logo dropped “Music Television” in 2010, and on December 31, 2025, Paramount ended MTV’s dedicated music channels across Europe, Africa and Australia.

• The logo’s fill changed constantly, from a brick wall to an apple with a snake wrapped around the letters TV.
• Carolyn B. Baker, MTV’s original head of talent and acquisition, said the market research behind the rock format was rooted in ignorance.
• ABC aired only selected Live Aid highlights in prime time, while MTV cleared its whole schedule for the concerts.
• MTV later backed Rock the Vote and in 2020 was a principal founder of Vote Early Day.
• The last song played on the UK music feed before shutdown was the same Buggles video that launched the network 44 years earlier.