MTV@40
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 25 December 2021
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the early '80s the idea of a television channel showing nothing but music videos 24 hours a day was completely revolutionary. It 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. The arrival of MTV in 1981 quickly led to an explosion in the production of music videos in both Europe and the US, many of which went on to define the decade. From Thriller to Live Aid, Britney to Beyonce; MTV has been the soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in popular culture for the last 40 years.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It seems to me that no matter where you go in New York, with all sorts of different things |
| 0:21.6 | you're spoiled for choice. |
| 0:23.9 | And it's particularly true with television because believe it or not, with this little |
| 0:27.4 | box here, I can get over 30 different TV channels. |
| 0:32.1 | The reason for that is that this is cable TV. |
| 0:34.3 | It's something we've been hearing a lot about recently. |
| 0:36.7 | 30 channels just seems incredible. |
| 0:39.0 | I mean, what sort of things are enough for that? |
| 0:41.3 | Well, there's one channel that just has weather 24 hours a day where you could just tune |
| 0:45.6 | in and find out whether to grab the raincoat or just a light sweater. |
| 0:49.4 | Another channel would have sports features, all different types of hockey, basketball, |
| 0:53.6 | baseball, another channel would be one that you would pay extra for, which would be movies. |
| 0:58.7 | And what tends to be the most popular channel? |
| 1:00.5 | One of the most popular across the country is a pop music channel, 24 hours of pop music |
| 1:06.1 | videos and that's music television, MTV. |
| 1:09.6 | 40 years ago, television history was made. |
| 1:15.2 | When MTV came along, every college student became glued to the closest TV they could find |
| 1:21.4 | that had cable. |
| 1:23.3 | For the next hour here on the BBC World Service, we're going to tell the story of a groundbreaking |
| 1:27.9 | TV channel that not only changed my life, but the world of music forever. |
| 1:32.2 | I knew we would touch a chord with kids if we could give them their music 24 hours a day. |
| 1:37.4 | He changed my life. |
... |
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