In the ‘90s, MTV is established enough to attract Bob Dylan to Unplugged and host its own Rock & Roll Inaugural Ball. But then a survey from the network’s research department turns up one small fact about the MTV audience that makes a massive impact on their programming, on popular music, and on traffic patterns in midtown Manhattan. Who Killed the Video ... Show More
Apr 2024
Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV | So Yesterday
As the moment of the boy bands and the pop girlies winds down, MTV gets new life by making celebrities into reality stars, and cranking out daily dating shows. But as the ratings soar, a revolution is brewing, and it's about to steal MTV's thunder.
34m 2s
May 2024
Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV | RIP MTV News
For now anyway, we have heard the last of the place where you used to hear it first. While we were recording this podcast, as part of a round of layoffs at Paramount, MTV News was officially euthanized. So we’re taking a moment to talk to some of the people who built the one news ... Show More
36m 29s
May 2024
Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV | The Robots Have Taken Over
In our finale, we try to get an answer for our central question: what happened to MTV? But also, for the deeper questions that have been bubbling up over the last eight episodes, what happened to everything? Why does the loss of MTV hit so hard? Is this optimized, algorithmicized ... Show More
50m 31s
Mar 2025
📺 MTV: How Video Killed the Radio Star | 23
In 1981, a scrappy ex-radio executive named John Lack had a wild vision: “What if there was a 24-hour television channel devoted entirely to music videos?” Back then, music videos weren’t really a thing, just a goofy way for record labels to promote new albums (Queen’s Bohemian R ... Show More
42m 32s
Aug 2024
Celebrating MTV’s Anniversary with the Real Story of MTV
In honor of the 43rd anniversary of MTV, we’re rereleasing a classic episode: the real story of MTV, as told by the founders. Today MTV is a cultural institution, but people forget what a long shot it was to get the channel off the ground. Bob Pittman led the team that created MT ... Show More
52m 59s
May 2023
MTV News Confidential: Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, and John Norris tell all
We mark the end of MTV News' 36-year run by talking to three iconic anchors — Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, and John Norris — about covering Kurt Cobain's death and interviewing Tupac Shakur, as well behind-the-scenes drama, being the face of music news for a generation, and much mo ... Show More
1h 11m