Monday, October 09, 2006
MTV (Music Television)
- A cable television network headquartered in New York City.
- Originally devoted to music videos.
- Now shows almost no music oriented programming.
- Has become an outlet for a variety of different television shows aimed at adolescents and young adults.
- Broadcast began on 1st August 1981 as an operation of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company, a joint venture of Warner Communications and American Express known as WASEC.
- In 1984, Warner and Amex attempted to take some cash out of their WASEC investment. The companies divested (reduced the asset) WASEC and it was renamed MTV Networks Inc.
- The parent companies registered for a stock IPO( first sale of a corporation's common shares to public investors), which eventually went public at $15.00 per share.
- 1985: MTV saw the introduction of a sister channel, VH1, short for Video Hits One.
- 1986: MTV Networks Inc. was acquired by Viacom Inc., and was renamed MTV Networks, still a division of Viacom today.
- 1987: Viacom itself was the target of a successful hostile takeover by National Amusements.
- Viacom is an American Media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET- Black Entertainment Television), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures movie studio and DreamWorks).
a_moran at 9:33 pm