Former MTV VJ talks about where the 30-year-old channel went wrong
Aug 2, 2011, 5:46 PM | Updated: Oct 10, 2012, 7:28 am
As MTV marks its 30th birthday, fans, and former fans alike, are taking a look at the channel that once turned garage bands into arena rockers, as opposed to the 30-minute programming it is now.
When Kennedy started her VJ career in the early ’90s as a 19-year-old, the complaint wasn’t that the channel didn’t play enough music. The ‘Teen Mom’s’ ‘Real World’ wasn’t getting ‘Made’ on the small screen yet.
Instead, people said they had to endure too many commercials between music videos. But that was about to change.
“When I showed up in 1992, that’s when they launched the first “Real World,” and people were up in arms about that,” Kennedy told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Dori Monson Show.
“For a long time, MTV was just happy with people dropping in for a little bit, like the weather channel, but then eventually we went to longer form programming because that’s what makes money. That’s what drives viewers, and it’s sad, because the biggest casualty, obviously, was the music.”
Kennedy hosted an evening music video and interview program called “Alternative Nation.”
“A lot of the bands on “Alternative Nation” were platinum selling artists because there was MTV to showcase their music and videos.”
Now, according to Kennedy, even successful bands have trouble acquiring the money from their record labels to produce a music video.
“Making videos [in the ’90s] was an art form,” Kennedy remembers. “I guess I was at MTV when it was an art form and I loved seeing what bands and great video directors could collaborate on.”
According to Kennedy, MTV’s music video legacy lives on, online. She said bands that can make interesting music videos can share them on YouTube, and it helps lead to their discovery. “So much of it is viral.”
