About MTV
MTV (formerly an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable and satellite television channel, owned by Viacom through Viacom Media Networks and based in New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the channel originally aired music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys" (VJs). In its early years, MTV's main target demographic was young adults, but today it is primarily towards teenagers, high school and college students.It has toned down its music video programming significantly in recent years, and its programming now consists mainly of original reality, comedy and drama programming and some off-network syndicated programs and films, with limited music video programming in off-peak time periods. It has received criticism towards this change of focus both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTV's influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, have also been a subject of debate for several years.
