WHEN MTV launched in 1981 as the world’s first 24-hour rolling music channel, it ushered in an exciting era for pop culture.
The first clip to air was an iconic choice, The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star — yet four decades on, it is streaming that has killed the video star.
At 5.59am tomorrow, the UK-based MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and Live HD will all stop broadcasting, as first reported in The Sun back in October.
It is a seismic shift for an already battered industry that has struggled to keep up with technological advances over the years.
The broadcaster has been a breeding ground for our best-loved presenters including Maya Jama, Emma Willis, Edith Bowman, Cat Deeley, Davina McCall, and Kelly Brook.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Davina fondly recalls joining the station in 1992 and admits she often winged it.
‘Foot on the ladder’
Back then — and until MTV’s headquarters closed its doors for the final time earlier this month — it was based at Hawley Crescent in Camden, North London.
Davina said: “I joined MTV in 1992. It was peak MTV. I’d spent years trying to get a job as a VJ and couldn’t quite believe it when I finally walked through the doors of Hawley Crescent.
“It was the most exciting place to work. Live shows put together and recorded in the blink of an eye.
“People from all over the building were being given the opportunity to direct/produce/write if they fancied it. Everybody got to have a go.
“It was fly by the seat of your pants television, which is what made it feel so exciting to watch.
“And it was full of the nicest people you could ever meet. I’m so grateful to MTV for giving me the best foundation in television I could’ve ever asked for.”
Davina went on to become one of the biggest names in TV, famously hosting Big Brother on Channel 4 from 2000 until 2010.
She has also fronted The Million Pound Drop, Long Lost Family and Stand Up To Cancer, as well as appearing on the panel of ITV1 hit The Masked Singer, which is presented by another MTV alumni, Joel Dommett.
Joel, who is also the face of I’m A Celeb spin-off, Unpacked, as well as the National Television Awards, is thankful MTV took a chance on him when he lacked confidence.
They saw something that I didn’t see in myself and gave me a foot on the rickety ladder of showbiz
Joel Dommett
Joel told The Sun: “I learnt so much from my time at MTV. It was my first proper TV job, first time reading autocue and the first and last time interviewing Flo Rida.
“The fact MTV gave me that opportunity is quite frankly ridiculous. There were way more experienced people who would have been much better at it.
“They saw something that I didn’t see in myself and gave me a foot on the rickety ladder of showbiz”.
It is a sentiment echoed by Emma Willis, who got her big break at MTV in 2002. She fears the channel’s closure could be detrimental to grassroots music.
Emma, who is married to Busted rocker Matt Willis, said: “It is your training ground. There was lots of telly, there was T4, CITV, MTV all of these places where you really learned your craft.
“And it was somewhere for bands and musicians to go.
“Now there is only really radio. I think it’s quite difficult.”
Edith Bowman, who started out as an MTV newsreader in the late Nineties, credits its then head of programming for daring to use a Scottish presenter.
She said: “I’m gutted about MTV. I wouldn’t have the career I have today without the opportunities and grounding that MTV UK gave me.
“Christine Boar took a chance on an unknown Scottish voice when no one else wanted one on air, and I’ll be forever grateful for that leap of faith.
“One of my favourite memories was being flown to New York — my first time there — to interview The Beastie Boys. I was literally living the dream.
“It was pure joy; chaotic, brilliant fun and the best training ground I could’ve asked for, from writing scripts and interviewing my heroes to fronting live shows and learning on the fly every single day.”
Maya, who hosts ITV2’s Love Island and is also a panellist on The Masked Singer, cut her teeth as a presenter on MTV News — as did current Big Brother host AJ Odudu.
The channel has a special place in her heart, as it was at the final Europe Music Awards (EMAs) in Manchester, in November 2024, that she met her boyfriend, Manchester City footballer Ruben Dias.
Meanwhile, Cat Deeley had her first major presenting role with the channel’s Hitlist UK alongside Edith.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that MTV and music television changed the industry forever
Source
But MTV has been plagued with controversy over the decades, including outrage over a steamy lesbian kiss, explicit nudity, and allegations of racism and Satanism.
But it only served to make the channel more popular with teenagers.
The UK headquarters were located just a couple of minutes’ from The Hawley Arms, which became the music industry’s favourite boozer, as stars would regularly nip in for a pint after performing at the studios.
By the mid-2000s, it was popular with hell-raisers Liam Gallagher, Noel Fielding, Kate Moss, Pete Doherty, and, most famously, Amy Winehouse, who lived nearby.
Following its success, MTV was followed by its first international 24-hour channel, MTV Europe. It launched in 1987 with Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing, which included the line: “I want my MTV”.
Frontman Mark Knopfler later admitted the song came to be after an encounter with a delivery driver in New York, who was watching a wall of TVs showing MTV.
He overheard the angry man mutter that the musicians were getting “money for nothing and chicks for free,” which ended up as lyrics.
In 1997, The Prodigy released Smack My Bitch Up, but the UK rave group’s explicit video showing drug use, violence and sex drew significant criticism and was banned by MTV within a week.
Three years later, Boyzone’s Ronan Keating received a death threat during a live performance on MTV’s Select programme.
Police urged the singer to cancel the broadcast, claiming the glass-fronted studio left him vulnerable. He refused, but instead filmed elsewhere in the studio.
‘Syringe of blood’
In 2003, Madonna’s controversial same-sex kiss with Britney Spears during their performance at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) dominated headlines — and is still considered one of the most memorable events in pop culture.
Two years later, MTV was condemned for “incessant sleaze” with critics claiming young viewers were being exposed to far higher levels of sex and violence than any other prime- time broadcasters.
The Parents Television Council’s report followed other risque moments including the MTV-produced Super Bowl half-time show in 2004 when Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s breast.
MTV then had to pull the plug on an interview with Pete Doherty in 2006 when he squirted a syringe full of blood at a camera during an interview in Berlin.
But, for youngsters, MTV remained the bastion of “cool”.
It even helped birth reality TV with shows including The Osbournes in 2002 and, later, Geordie Shore.
And there were countless more iconic moments from its awards ceremonies, such as Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift during her 2009 acceptance speech, and Miley Cyrus twerking on Robin Thicke in 2013.
Thankfully, the VMAs have not been dropped yet. But by the end of the week, only the flagship MTV channel — mainly airing reality TV repeats — will remain.
The Sun first exclusively revealed MTV’s UK production arm had been quietly axed in August.
A source told The Sun: “It’s not an exaggeration to say that MTV and music television changed the industry forever.
“It’s somewhat ironic, if sad, that it has essentially been killed off by streaming, social media and free-to-view platforms.”
So, as we bid farewell to MTV, it appears the next generation of presenters are destined to rise from social media . . .
