Worst Part Of MTV’s 40th Anniversary? They Didn’t Celebrate It

Did you hear? MTV turned 40 on August 1st. The year was 1981 for those who don't want to count backwards to figure out what year it was.

I remember the teasers leading up to the launch of MTV. This was new territory for the world at the time, and I personally didn't understand or could wrap around my head, what exactly the concept was all about or even why anyone would want to watch a TV network showing music videos endlessly. And how would they come up with so many to even make it work?

And then there was the question those of us in radio had. How would it impact radio listening? Would people change their music habits from just audio to audio and video together? Well, turns out you can't take MTV with you wherever you go like a radio, so that was never a threat to the world of radio.

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But, I did enjoy watching music videos on MTV. The early videos were a bit crude, but as technology advanced, music videos got more sophisticated and complex. And some of us who are mobile DJs incorporated music videos into some of our gigs, but it never really replaced just playing music from whatever platform a DJ used like records, cds or digital audio.

But now, on the 40th anniversary of MTV, we would have looked forward to some kind of special on the anniversary date or even the entire weekend. You know, maybe playing back the top 500 most popular music videos that used to air.

Well, no that didn't happen. And the question is why did the powers that be, not take advantage of the anniversary? Maybe they are waiting until 2031 when MTV celebrates it's 50th anniversary?

On the 40th anniversary, no mention of the milestone on any of their social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... nothing.

I don't even know what the show 'Ridiculousness' is. Or care. Even Primetimer weighed in on the lack of 40th anniversary awareness on MTV, stating how much the network meant to so many people growing up and about the state of the network is currently.

We understand it all comes down to airing product that will bring in viewers in the long run, but it wouldn't it have been cool for even just one day to turn on MTV and relive wall to wall music videos? "I Want My MTV" is now just a line in a Dire Straits song.

via Twitter, Primetimer