As of today, MTV is officially done as a music video channel. Here is a eulogy.

At 12:01 am on August 1, 1981, a new cable channel signed on. Coverage was spotty across America because few cable systems believed that anyone would want to watch music videos 24/7. But MTV pushed ahead, even though its entire library consisted of about 250 videos, 30 of which were by Rob Stewart. Here’s how it looked.

MTV was off and running. Here’s a list of the first 209 songs broadcast.

• Count the Rod Stewart songs.
• The first Canadian act with a video on MTV was April Wine with “Just Between You and Me” at number 14 (repeated at number 101; “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” was at number 57 and repeated at 136.)
• The first metal song was “Wrathchild” by Iron Maiden at number 70 (repeated at 121, 152 and 195).
• The first punk song had to wait until number 105 when they played “Do You Remember Rock’n’Roll Radio” by The Ramones.

The backers of MTV truly believed that music videos were the future of the industry. And for a long time, they were right. Once labels discovered that screening videos led to higher record sales (the big shock was a spike in Duran Duran records in, of all places, Oklahoma City), they happily spent millions on making videos and giving them to MTV for free.

MTV became a cultural juggernaut, spreading music (from mostly American and British acts) globally.

• It was a tremendous exercise in American soft power. US culture reached places it never would have otherwise had it not been for MTV. The channel opened outposts around the world.
• How you looked as an artist became as important–and in some cases, more important–that how you sounded. Music became visual. No wonder hair metal was so popular. The visuals that accompanied rap and hip-hop blew that genre into the stratosphere.
• Would Michael Jackson have been as big–especially with Thriller–without MTV? Probably not.
• British acts, long accustomed to making promotional clips for shows like Top of the Pops, initially had a huge advantage. Their videos were insanely popular, launching a new British invasion.
• MTV changed consumption patterns for music fans. If the video was cool, then they bought the CD. Kids everywhere tuned in for shows like TRL, Headbangers Ball, Yo! MTV Raps, 120 Minutes, Amp, and, of course, the whole MTV Unplugged phenomenon. And thanks to Beavis and Butthead, a lot of hard rock/metal bands got a boost–except for poor Winger, of course. The relentless mocking they got sunk them.
• The annual MTV Video Music Awards were required watching. An appearance could make or break a career.

Video was going to kill the radio star. But it did not. Radio is still very much alive. MTV, as a music channel, is now officially dead. Today (December 31) at 6:00 am British time, MTV video channels across the UK and Europe played their last video. Guess which one it was?