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The Documentary: MTV@40

MTV@40

25/12/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, MTV@40

The birth of a ground-breaking concept - MTV, 24-hour music TV

The birth of a ground-breaking concept - MTV, 24-hour music TV. Presenter Mark Goodman, the very first ‘Video Jockey’ on MTV, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the channel.

In the early 1980s the idea of a television channel showing nothing but music videos 24 hours a day was completely revolutionary. 

The arrival of MTV posed the first real threat to the dominance of Top 40 Radio across America and went on to completely redefine how artists marketed themselves and the way popular music was consumed by the fans.

In ‘MTV@40’ presenter Mark Goodman, the very first ‘Video Jockey’ to appear on the channel after it launched in 1981, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the channel’s successes and controversies.

From MTV’s inauspicious launch night, to broadcasting all 17 hours of Live Aid in 1985, to how Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ helped the channel combat claims of racial bias in its music policy; MTV has been the soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in popular culture for the last four decades.  

Through extensive use of archive and new interviews with people who have first-hand experience of working at the channel, the BBC World Service tells the story of how a daring experiment 40 years ago changed both music and television forever. 

Presenter: Mark Goodman
Producer: Mike Williams




Image: The MTV Music Television logo circa 1982. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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