Like most of you, I once loved MTV!

In fact, at one time, I watched MTV more than I listened to the radio, and being in radio was my lifelong dream. When MTV contacted me to co-host their big spring break or music festivals, it helped my own career catch fire. I was one of the few radio people who quickly embraced MTV.

Fast forward to 2025. The sad truth is that most of us didn’t even realize MTV was still on the air, but now it has officially laid itself to rest. It was inevitable, without ceremony, without relevance, and without barely a media ripple, which is the reason MTV decided to lie down and rest in peace, finally. The truth is, it died decades ago with the decision to stop doing what made them successful in the first place, playing music videos. For 30 years now, MTV has been lying like a stiff corpse in a freezer, just waiting for the final burial.

MTV ended the final broadcast with “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.  That is the exact same song that launched MTV on August 1, 1981, when it aired the very first music video. Beginning and end. Same song. Full circle. However, doing so was by humbly admitting a forfeit. You see, video never did kill the radio star. No. Not even close. 

Radio itself killed the radio star, and it didn’t start to happen until about 3 decades later, when new technology was the final bullet that killed the radio star. In fact, radio outlasted MTV by at least a decade before radio also fell into a coma. Once a year, they would tag the old MTV name to an awards show, desperately trying to keep the myth alive. Nobody cared. Not even the artists. Winning the award was an inside industry joke, and the award would be accepted tongue-in-cheek, which was the ultimate insult for an old brand trying to remain relevant. 

Look, I was one of the few radio personalities who immediately embraced MTV. I loved it!! I was one of the few radio personalities who did not view MTV as a threat, but instead as an opportunity to grow! During my radio rise, the radio industry was going through a stale period and needed some energy. Radio needed some life. At that time, most radio “disc-jockey’s,” were trying to be cool. They were wearing sunglasses in dark studios, dragging on cigarettes, and in their lowest voice, introducing a deep 4^th track off an album. They thought it was rebellious. Who cared. They were basically playing a song. That’s all.  A few listeners thought it was “cool” but most listeners were bored silly. A change was needed. MTV was a breath of fresh air. MTV was CPR.

MTV brought fun back to presenting music, and it introduced personalities who could smile and laugh again! They did not take themselves so seriously. They knew that anybody could play a song. There is no talent in being a radio “disc-jockey”. Instead, MTV brought in personalities to relate with new artists like Pat Benatar, The Police, The Cars, Run-DMC, Go-Go’s, Eurythmics, Billy Idol, U2, INXS, Duran Duran, Blondie, Pretenders, Bryan Adams and many more. They also made proven rock artists more relevant to a newer audience, like Van Halen, Scorpions, REO Speedwagon, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Ozzy, Aerosmith, KISS,  Heart, Alice Cooper, J. Geils, Bob Seger, Huey Lewis, Tom Petty, Rush, Eddie Money, Loverboy, Queen, Genesis, and even Springsteen! There are too many to name them all, but once getting airplay on MTV, radio had new exposed artists to play and a new energy for artists they were already repeating over and over and over.

For a few years, MTV was king. No doubt. Then, it too became stale. MTV started bringing in talk shows to try to give itself some life again, but more and more viewers tuned out as they wanted the music videos that MTV was known for in the beginning. Plus, MTV began facing the challenges of an aging audience. It happens. Like any radio station, MTV had to eventually decide whether to play its older videos to please its aging audience or play new videos that might alienate its older audience.  They eventually had to make the same decision with their aging air staff. Do they keep them and risk becoming old, or replace them and risk alienating the audience that brought them success?

When the radio station I was on, KUPD in Phoenix, sold from the local ownership that had my loyalty to just another corporate owner, I lost interest in staying. I was open to new opportunities. Auditioning at MTV was incredibly disappointing and boring. A 5-hour MTV air shift could be hosted in 10 or 15 minutes. Yes, seriously. The job was all about sitting there, looking pretty, and reading cue cards to introduce the next song or plug a sponsor. Then the job was to attend events to represent MTV by shaking hands and kissing babies. Even worse, the pay was low, especially for living in New York. MTV figured the notoriety they were providing was part of the pay. No thanks.

At that time, I realized that MTV was neither rebellious nor new. It was corporate, just like the new owners at KUPD. Hell, I didn’t want to be at either place, but at least at KUPD, my family could remain in Phoenix. Plus, the pay was much better at the time. This was before the decline of radio in general.

The official sign-off of MTV serves as just another reminder of a moment in youth now being officially gone. MTV marked an era. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a bitter way.  It just marked a period on the calendar that keeps flipping. Just one of those quiet moments where you realize that time keeps moving, platforms keep changing, and the things that once defined an entire generation eventually fade into memory.