It was announced this week's by MTV's Times Square studio's landlord that Viacom would not be renewing the lease on the space, effectively ending the former music network's 12-year presence in New York's most famous block (I say "former" because it has little if anything to do with music now).
While financial issues are surely the cause, the move is really symbolic of the cultural decline of MTV. During the '80s and '90s, MTV was a defining force in American popular music, arguably contributing to the household name status of everyone from Michael Jackson to Nirvana to Britney Spears. Dial MTV and later TRL gave viewer-listeners a voice to request the videos they liked best. Niche shows like Yo! MTV Raps, Headbanger's Ball, and Club MTV were showcases for subsets of popular music that helped pushed rap, heavy metal, and dance music (respectively) into the mainstream.
Nowadays, MTV's influence in popular culture is limited to contributing reality TV smut. It certainly is no longer the musical authority it once was. Such a shame.
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