wishbone

We had Much Music (now Fuse) on our dorm cable system for my first semester of college. I liked Much Music a lot better because they played a greater variety of videos than MTV did at the time circa 1990. This changed second semester when the music channel was switched to MTV. At least at that time there was a mix between shows and videos on MTV but not so much now.

I watched M2 (now MTV2) in the late '90s but that of course went the same way that MTV did...

darichestman

Amen to that.I really hate mtv now all they show is a bunch of spoiled brats on my sweet 16 and the hills. I don't watch those shows anyway.

wm lopez

I used to love MTV. I remember MTV was the reason I got cable back in the late 80's.

islandclaws

I hate MTV and I hope everyone on that channel dies. It used to be awesome to watch, now it's one of the most painful things I can think of.

tonyc3742

I despise "reality" shows, especially ones that have a bunch of Gen-X attention whores. I dislike the "MTV" style of filming.
I like music videos, but I don't like much modern music. I watch VH1 Classic. And even that, I don't like the "Wild About the x0's" programs. Why do I care what some nobody standup comedian thinks? (I know, sometimes there are actual talents on these shows.) I do like themed music/music video shows (countdowns, "Top One Hit Wonders", etc.)
The only non-music related show I watched and enjoyed on MTV was The Young Ones, and occasionally B&B, and even those had some music focus in them.

devilshalo

I keep asking "What happened to the Music in M(usic)TV"?

dx23

Just by looking at the early results of the poll, it seems that MTV has lost a big portion of its audience. If you search around the internet, the opinion is basically the same. So, has MTV become a "Paris Hilton"? Nobody likes them, yet they still pop everywhere and get more exposure than more talented things.

And by the way, I forgot to mention that MTV 3 is one of the most insulting channels I ever encountered. Its supposed to be targeted for Latinos, yet all the crap is in English with bad Spanish thrown once in a while and a lot of the stuff that goes there is rather condecending and stereotipical.

fumanstan

While I don't disagree that MTV has lost a lot of their audience, most people here aren't really MTV's demographic anymore. People here seem to be mid 20's and up and aren't into the modern pop and radio hits based on browsing music talk. Not to mention MTV seems to be skewing younger and younger to teens with those Sweet 16 and Laguna Beach/The Hills type shows.

stingermck

Used to watch it all the time when they played music. Now its just shit. Though a friend of mine got me watching Americas Best Dance Crew this season

macnorton

I always said that if a show on the network somehow was related to music (Beavis & Butt-head riffing on videos for example) it could be on the network. Over time my opinion changed because MTV stopped being MTV around 1992 ish.

Take the Real World. In the beginning (up to the London cast) it was actually pretty edgy for its time. And well it was actually...real. Now it is pretentious frat boy crap to fill an hour for commercials.

The one that gets me is the Laguna Beach type shows. Granted I don't watch them, but I have seen one just to see what it was all about. It sucked, but that goes without saying. Then it hit me, when you look at all the programming, it is really one giant advertisement for 24 hours a day. Cribs, Pimp my Ride, Sucker Free....it is all how the other (some may say better) half lives. It has kids chasing after things that are material things and not actually thinking for themselves. I always get a chuckle when they have the "Choose or Lose" thing running on the channel. Or Diddy with his "Vote or Die" shirts, I mean really? Oh well, I guess I am just an old man bitching about how MTV used to be.

clckworang

I haven't watched anything on the regular MTV channel in quite a long time. I did watch WonderShowzen on MTV2, though, but even that has been a couple of years now. It is a little sad to see just how far MTV has fallen since it first debuted.

mndtrp

The last thing I watched on MTV was actually on MTV2, and that was the restored Headbanger's Ball. MTV2 disappeared from over the air, and MTV3 eventually took it's place. As far as MTV3 is concerned, dx23 nailed it with his description.

Giles

that was a fun show... 120 Minutes was the last truly great MTV produced show though.

MovieExchange

I remember the beginning of MTV. Back in the eary 80's, a family having cable TV was as rare as a family today having no cable or satellite TV. I didn't have it yet (got it in 84). Before then, it was many many hours spent at my friend's house watching non-stop videos. Back when MTV was the bastard step-child that couldn't get anything from the "big" acts, and instead was supported by the up-and-coming musicians and the talented fringe performers that had always been ignored by mainstream.

I watched as the station evolved, adding the occasional goof show (Al TV FTW), and legendary shows like 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball (I still remember Adam Curry trying to host Headbangers, looking so uncomfortable in that leather jacket).

I saw MTV launch the careers of many performers, some deserving and some not so deserving.

I watched MTV become the deciding force in what was popular, and that's when things started to take a turn for the worse. Much like the journalist that starts to fail because instead of reporting the story he made himself the story, MTV went from supporting the music to deciding what the next big thing would be. They actually contacted performers that had been staples of the network for years and told them that their music was no longer welcome on the network because MTV wanted to push bands that sounded like Nirvana.

Then came The Real World. Back then, it really was *REAL*. The kids came in excited about their new place, and what was the center of attention? The fact that they had a FISH TANK IN THE LIVING ROOM. Now what do we get? Like all other "reality" shows, we get jackasses mugging for the camera acting anything other than how they do in "real life," thinking that they're going to get famous.

Eventually, MTV gave up altogether. For a while, MTV2 filled it in, but now I'm told that it's become a dumping ground for reruns and second-runs of MTV programming.

So yeah.... I voted that they should all burn in hell.

FatTony

As much as I hated the concepts of Cribs and Pimp My Ride, I have to admit that anytime I came across them I got sucked in.

I also have to give credit where credit is due: If it wasn't for MTV, I wouldn't be the music enthusiast I am today.

With that said, you couldn't pay me to watch MTV these days. It seems to be 99% reality shows and 1% TRL (where they only play clips of videos, not the whole thing). I know it's not a new development, but I think a channel that's called Music Television should be at least marginally music-oriented. I dumped cable about 2 years ago and the only channels I miss are Comedy Central and Cartoon Network.

fumanstan

I think, as someone mentioned earlier, that the ease of finding videos online makes MTV specializing in videos harder to draw an audience and ratings. While I think it's silly that shows like TRL don't even show whole videos anymore, I can see why the old times where new video premieres would be a big deal are no longer the case.

Maybe it's just me, but it feels like music videos as a whole are less relevant then they used to be. Although I suppose that could be the end result of music TV channels not playing them as much.

dx23

I don't think MTV has to go back to play music video 24/7, but they could do shows that have new and old bands performing, documentaries and profiles on musicians and bands and even show concerts. You see, even that MTV fumbled several years back when Live 8 was shown in the networks. Instead of showing and paying attention to the acts, the imbeciles either cut to commercials, had no-clue hosts babbling or had the same hosts interviewing moronic, drunk fans.

rennervision

This is what really makes me mad, because a couple of years ago it wasn't like that. It was actually the last great hope for me involving anything MTV-related. Then, seemingly overnight, it turned into crap. It's almost as if it breezed along for years unnoticed by MTV executives. Then one day one of the suits in power switched it on and realized it was nothing like MTV1 or 2, so they immediately called an emergency staff meeting and had it changed.

I've given up and now just search the internet for videos. I'm surprised, by the way, that there isn't a bigger market for music artists releasing their videos on DVD.

Quack

What for? MTV stands for Music Television, not Reality TV. I haven't seen a music video on there since 1999 or so.

Josh-da-man

The great thing about shows like 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball is that they gave national exposre to artists and styles of music that had never had that kind of attention before.

Now, it's just a bunch of frat-boy/sorority slut crap.

tonyc3742

Yes, I loved Headbangers Ball, and though I didn't like some of the music on 120 Minutes, almost all of it was stuff you would not hear in the other public venues, unless you could get a good college radio station.
I agree, it doesn't have to pure music video, but there's lots of music-themed programs they could do. Even that Making the Band thing, though I dislike the "reality show" aspect of it, I would have to say it does fit what I would think "MTV" should be. But that can go too far...I really don't care about the behind the scenes of Jessica Simpson's life.
Interesting point on the relevancy of music videos nowadays. I think to an extent they are passe', but I don't know which came first, their lowered relevancy or the lowered exposure. Or both, compounded by the fact that there are very few creative videos any more--most of the ones for "popular" music I've seen are either concert footage (which can be cool, but it's sort of the "gimme" of videos) or pseudo-concert dance routines. I doubt we'll see too many more Sledgehammers or Take On Mes or even Thrillers for mainstream acts any more.

JeffTheAlpaca

I watched TRL and did they outsource their hosts?

Has MTV gotten so lame they can't get anyone from the US to host the show?

2 of the hosts speak with British accents.

Nicholas Vargo

I voted that MTV burn in hell.

It's a sad day that I must stoop to this, but I'll be honest, I wasn't even interested in MTV until the late '90s, when you had Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria, and Celebrity Deathmatch running the 10 spot. It was even at this time the MTV Movie Awards hit its peak as a real cutting edge awards show for the public. I even like WebRIOT with Ahmad Zappa for the short time that they bothered to air that as well. And SayWhat? Karaoke was fun too, just to watch people make asses of themselves. Even TRL wasn't wholly annoying, as Carson Daly made it quite good. Still, I hated that they didn't even bother to show the whole video after a while, or the fans who were wholly ignorent and just happy as hell that they were on TV.

But the truth is MTV has been going downhill in the past few years. My love for the channel ended in early 2001, as Daria and Celebrity Deathmatch were officially gone and they completely forgot that music vidoes were supposed to be the main focus of their programming. I caught full music videos on some of the overnights between 2002 and 2004, but that was about it.

Now, MTV is dead to me. Laguna Beach and My Sweet 16 are shows that can burn in hell for all I care. I never liked The Real World either, and I agree with previous posters that the show is more fake now than it was when it premiered, but at that time, I at least respected it for being real. Even the reboot of Celebrity Deathmatch blew up in their faces on MTV2, and it still airs. I never watch it anymore (mainly because I never know when the hell it's on) The only way MTV will get back to greatness is if they start going back to music videos. Stop the reality shows and bring back the music videos!

The consensus: MTV started great and was once a great channel with great music videos and programs (I know that now), but after its 20th anniversary, it's gone up in flames, and the heads don't give a shit. Change now or continue to lose more viewers!

Tscott

Last time I really cared about anything on MTV was when Kennedy was hosting Alternative Nation (loved her quirkiness in limited doses: J Mascis and Kennedy Collide, Tori and Kennedy get too chummy) and Matt Pinfield was hosting 120 Minutes (how awful was he? Him and Local H, 1 min to introduce "Chocolate Salty Balls", And I guess he's still at it)

As others have mentioned they did have some great animated shows: The Maxx, Aeon Flux, Daria, etc. but what passes for programing today is pathetic, and while some people have claimed that they do still show videos on occasion, I haven't seen any evidence to support that claim.

dx23

Is incredible to see, that even on an informal poll, not one person has voted that they watch MTV. Someone like Yahoo, should do a similar poll, so they can get a bigger pool of representatives from all generations.

To me is really silly that a channel that had an impact to many generations is just focused right now on the under 17 crowd by spewing disposable crap at them. If they went back to the late 80's till mid 90's formula of programming, they could easily attain the 18-35 demographic, who actually has money to spend. These brings more money to the channel in ads, since corporations doing commercials on the MTV channels would have the demographic they most cherish.