Still Kicking, Still Relevant

While the Internet is the primary vehicle for watching music videos, the reality is that music videos are still a part of television programming today. In fact, contrary to the urban myth that there are no music videos on television anywhere in the world, a careful review reveals a number of stations that consistently play music videos, in the United States, and in various places around the globe.

A sample of these include:

4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland. 

40 TV is a television channel in Spain. The channel specializes in music and broadcasts music videos throughout the day. The channel is available 24 hours a day through Movistar+ and some cable providers.

Aux is a Canadian channel whose programs offer music video and music-related programs profiling new and emerging artists in alternative, hip hop, indie rock, indie pop and other genres.

BET Jams is an American digital cable television network that is controlled by BET Networks and owned by Viacom Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos.

BET Soul (Originating as VH1 Soul, a spinoff of VH1),  is an American digital cable network that is controlled by the BET Networks division of Viacom, which owns the network. The channel showcases R&B, funk, soul, neo soul, hip hop, jazz and Motown music from various decades.

Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the BET Networks division of Viacom. It is the most prominent television network targeting African American audiences.

Channel AKA is a British digital satellite TV channel, owned by All Around the World Productions, available through Sky within the UK and Ireland, and is a  music channel that focuses on playing upcoming UK urban/grime/hip-hop music.

Channel O is a South African-based music channel whose main concept is African music in Africa and the diaspora.

Channel V is the brand name for multiple international music television networks owned by Fox Networks Group, fully owned subsidiaries of 21st Century Fox.

California Music Channel (CMC-TV) is an American music video service based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the longest running local music video television stations in the world.

Country Music Channel (CMC) is an Australian cable and satellite music television channel owned and operated by Foxtel Networks, and is the only country music video channel in Australia.

Country Music Television (CMT) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, and was the first nationally available cable channel devoted to country music and country music videos.

Croatian Music Channel is a Croatian television channel broadcasting Croatian music and music of Croatian production.

CMT is a Canadian English language channel that airs country music and family-oriented general entertainment programs in the form of music videos, award shows, concerts and sitcoms.

CMT Music is a digital cable television channel and a sister network to CMT that showcases country music videos for its full broadcast day.

Fuse is an American digital cable and satellite television channel dedicated largely to music, and features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts, and blocks of music videos.

Great American Country (or GAC) is an American digital cable and satellite television network that is based in Knoxville, Tennessee,  that features country music programming including music videos, music performance specials and live concerts.

JUCE TV is a youth-oriented Christian television network owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network that aims at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 30 years.

Kerrang! TV is a digital television station owned by The Box Plus Network, which is loosely connected to the magazine, Kerrang!.

Kiss TV is a music television station located in Bucharest, Romania.

MAD TV is a television network in Greece that broadcasts music related programming including video clips, music news and interviews as well as concert footage that was the first music station in Greece.

MCM is a French music video channel owned by Groupe MCM and started as the French version of MTV.

MTV (as we’ve discussed at length) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel headquartered in New York City, which launched the music video era on August 1, 1981, guided by television personalities known as “video jockeys,” or VJs.

MTV2 is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that was launched initially as a constant, commercial-free music video station once the original MTV had started to change its direction to reality television and serial documentaries.

MTV Hits is an American digital cable television network that primarily broadcasts music videos and its format resembles that of MTV before the addition of other programming and the slow decrease in its reliance on music video programming.

MTV Tres (stylized as tr3́s, and taken from the Spanish word for the number three, tres) is an Americanbroadcast, digital cable and satellitetelevision network that celebrate Latino culture, music and artists.

mtvU is an American digital cable television network that is available to more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States as part of internally originated cable systems that are a part of on-campus housing or college closed-circuit television systems. Music videos played on the channel primarily consist of offerings from the indie rock, pop punk and hip-hop genres, along with limited original programming.

M3 is a Canadian channel that is owned by Bell Media. As with its sister networks, the network is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario.

Much is a Canadian channel owned by Bell Media whose history primarily aired music programming, which in current years has been downplayed in favor of teen dramas and comedies.

MusiMax is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel focusing primarily on adult contemporary music.

MusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel that primarily airs music programming, including pop, R&B, and rock music videos; however, the network has increasingly branched out into entertainment programming, such as comedy, films, and reality shows.

Music 24 is an Israeli popular music channel which has different music-related shows, including interviews with musicians, live performances, music-oriented talk shows and programs which are dedicated to a specific genre of music.

Music Channel Romania, also known as MusicChannel or 1Music, is a Romanian music television channel, known for also airing Latin pop, adult contemporary, J-pop and K-pop among other genres that don’t receive significant airplay from other music stations. Compared by many to VH1, the TV station conceived many Top-Tens and Top-100s.

Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American company that programs music and produces music-related content for digital cable television, mobile phone and cable modem users in the United States.

Myx is a Filipino cable television network based in Quezon City. It is targeted to youth audiences with music videos as its primary content, a strategy reminiscent of the early days of MTV.

MTV Live (formerly Palladia) is an American digital cable and satellite television network that exclusively broadcasts in 1080i high definition, music videos and music-related programming from Viacom-owned networks MTV, VH1, MTV Classic and CMT, along with other concert and live music programming from outside producers.

PMC (shortened from Persian Media Corporation or Persian Music Channel) is a free-to-air satellite TV network owned by Persian Media Corporation with its headquarters in Dubai Media City, that is also widely viewed in Iran, the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and Northern Africa via free-to-air satellite.

Ritmoson (Used to be”Ritmoson latino”) is a Mexico-based pan-Spanish American music video channel, part of Televisa Networks, owned by Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster.

An important distinction should be made here and this is that the number of stations airing music videos itself is not so drastically reduced from the MTV hey day era. In fact the sample of 51 stations listed on this page came from a total review of 65 stations who originally aired music video programs. A 23% drop. Significant on the surface. But when one considers this as a reduction over the “era” of music videos, which spans over 35 years (if we use MTV’s August 1, 1981 station debut as its birth), this does not really convey the abandonment of the concept altogether. And actually, a number of stations did not actually cease operations, but merely transformed into another station on the list (BET Soul, for example, began as VH1 Soul). And of course, the success or failure of any television station cannot be attributed solely to the supposed transition of music videos to the Internet. If so, there would be no stations whatsoever. Station closures have innumerable factors involved so this “reduction” cannot be theorized as a “fact” of the disinterest in music videos as a whole. It is an accepted “fact” that MTV, alone, by shifting its focus on programming to reality shows and other productions, was the primary change agent. However, it is another “fact” that the majority of stations who aired music video programs in the past continue to do so today. MTV is actually an example of this. Contrary to popular belief, they have not stopped featuring music videos entirely, but have changed to just show them during the overnight time slots.¹

 

¹And even as we have kind of summarized the current state of affairs of music videos on television, it is important to note the industry continues to evolve. For MTV, 35 years to the day after first announcing to the world, “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,” announced that it was going back to its old model. See: Why MTV is going back to being MTV.