It all started in 1981.

A television station dedicated to nothing but music videos, 24/7.

It was different.

It was revolutionary.

It was awesome.

Now it’s 2011. Thirty years after the launch of the station. It still exists, but it’s hardly recognizable to what it once was.

The station once packed with the best of multiple artists spanning all varieties of music is now preoccupied with more pressing matters. Like pregnant teenagers, the awkward adventures of American teens, and of course, the powerful chronicles of life in the state of New Jersey.

While music videos have not been totally erased from Music Television, it’s hard to say that they have not been put in the backseat when it comes to programming on the station. One can still see a Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga video appear once in a blue moon. But it’s extremely rare to see artists who aren’t superstars.

A variety of music videos was something the old MTV shined upon. It was able to show videos of the most popular stars in the music industry, and also show videos from musicians that weren’t. Musical diversity was prevalent and welcome. That’s not the case today.

Somewhere in the long history of MTV, the tide shifted from music to reality as the top programming on the station. A show called “The Real World” aired in 1992 and became a smash hit. Today it’s one of the longest running shows in MTV’s history, and one of the longest running reality shows altogether. From this point on the name of the game was pumping out as many reality shows as possible while at the same time pushing the music to near extinction.  

As the reality shows have multiplied, new shows like “Teen Mom” and “Jersey Shore” have become some of the most popular shows on cable. Unfortunately, these shows have little to do with music and don’t represent the best of television programming. The new emphasis on reality over music has also spread to some of MTV’s sister stations such as MTV 2, and VH1. The question remains, is there any music based station that does show music videos on a regular basis?

The answer to that question is a yes and a no. VH1 Classic still provides a nostalgic look back at the era of classic rock and hair metal while also acknowledging videos from other genres, including music of the 1980’s. It originally started out playing only music videos, but in time, included other programming. But unlike MTV, the more varied programming didn’t seem to hamper the music aspect of the station and shows like “That Metal Show” promote a form a music that may not be as mainstream as the few videos that are shown on MTV.

VH1 Classic was also the home of the 30th anniversary celebration of, how coincidentally, MTV. In fact, the 30th anniversary was treated very quietly on its home station. And in a new world that has reality blasting almost every station on television, it seems as if MTV wants to forget it’s past in order to forge its reality filled future. Maybe MTV will get a clue from a station that was inspired from its originality. An originality it now lacks.