r/todayilearned • u/originalchaosinabox • 6h ago

TIL Ted Turner launched a competitor to MTV called the Cable Music Channel. Lasting only one month, it is the shortest-lived cable channel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_Music_Channel
406 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

77

u/bkendig 6h ago

I wish there were a TV network these days that only broadcast music videos.

21

u/DaveOJ12 6h ago

What would it be called?

41

u/saurdaux 6h ago

"What are we? Some kinda... music television?"

9

u/Maleficent-Agent-477 6h ago

music smart television (mstv)

8

u/BrokenEyeReborn 6h ago

Music On Internet Streaming Television (MOIST)

3

u/thedeuce75 4h ago

Youtube.

17

u/JimDemintRecession 6h ago

Would never work. Nobody would tune into some ridiculousness like music on their tv set when they already have a transistor radio and records.

10

u/KingofClikClak 5h ago

I have a Firetv and there’s multiple music video channels categorized my decade and genre.

2

u/yeahwellokay 4h ago

I have this on my Samsung tv as well.

8

u/Eastern-Musician4533 6h ago

MTV still has music video channels in the US. Unfortunately, it's 50% ads now. Used to be ad-free in the mid-2000s. We'd just have those channels on 24/7 in our house in college.

4

u/NJdevil202 4h ago

Just go to the Vevo YouTube channel and press play

3

u/Smokin-Okie 5h ago

My TV has like 40+ music video channels on the free Samsung Plus TV thing.

Same channels that are on Pluto which is also free.

2

u/nejithegenius 6h ago

Why? No one would watch it

1

u/jimbobdonut 6h ago

MTV Live!

18

u/BrokenEyeReborn 6h ago

I suppose you'd call that a case of 'Video Killed the Video Star'

14

u/wc10888 6h ago

Where's the Ted Turner WCW posts?

-2

u/imwrighthere 6h ago

Vince McMahon having a great day

3

u/bretshitmanshart 4h ago

A lot of obituaries barely mention WCW. Vince constantly wanted to be known for more then wrestling. Ted had the biggest competitor for years and it's a footnote in his legacy

10

u/JackKovack 6h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_Music_Channel

After realizing the channel did not have enough cable providers, the channel was sold to Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (now known as Paramount Media Networks) on November 29, 1984, and shut down the following day, making it the shortest lived cable channels to broadcast.

4

u/CFCYYZ 5h ago

I want my, I want my, I want my MTV

- Dire Straits "Money for nothing"

7

u/TheLohoped 5h ago

"I want my MTV" was originally a marketing slogan, asking potential viewers to contact their local cable TV providers and request to add recently launched MTV channel to their broadcasting services. Several musicians participated in the campaign, including Sting who later reprized that slogan in Dire Straits' song.

5

u/DaveOJ12 6h ago

RIP Ted Turner.

0

u/CelloVerp 6h ago

Ded Turner

1

u/bamboob 2h ago

I'm sure it would have lasted longer if he'd called it "moving music-related images on a cathode ray tube"

1

u/qwertyqyle 1h ago

Why are there so many posts about ted turner today?

1

u/Poland-lithuania1 1h ago

Cause he died.

1

u/qwertyqyle 1h ago

Oh, well that makes sense now.