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History Daily

The Launch of MTV

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 1, 1981. MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.6

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com.

0:20.4

Music It's the summer of 1977 on a beach in Los Angeles, California.

0:33.2

35-year-old musician Mike Nesmith sits on a deck chair on a rocky bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

0:39.7

Sitting next to him are three beautiful women. They give Mike flirty looks as they sip cocktails,

0:45.2

but it's all for show. Mike and the women aren't actually flirting. They're performing for the camera

0:50.0

and film crew on the bluff with them. Mike is making a promotional video to accompany his

0:55.4

latest single, Rio. Since his heyday as a member of the 60s boy band The Monkeys, he has

1:00.9

struggled to find consistent success in his solo career. But that's not for lack of trying. Mike has

1:06.6

experimented with all manner of different ways to promote his music. At one point, he even released a tie-in novel to accompany one of his albums.

1:14.6

His latest venture is this music video, which he hopes will promote the newest release.

1:19.6

But as Mike continues to mug for the camera, behind him, a large beach umbrella collapses

1:24.8

in the wind, ruining the take.

1:27.3

The director calls for a pause in filming while the crew fixed the problem.

1:31.3

Waiting for the next take, Mike gets out of his deck chair and moves toward a craft

1:34.7

services table stocked with food and drinks.

1:37.7

As Mike picks through what's on offer, he hears two crew members snickering and making

1:42.1

comments about this absurd project.

1:44.6

They stop when they realize he can hear them and quickly scoot away to make themselves busy.

1:49.3

Mike just pours himself with coffee and smiles.

...

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