TV Networks That Went Downhill

[Woops]

Though I only like a handful of hits (pre 1990, though "Vogue" is OK), I find Madonna very overrated since the media constantly kisses up to her and consider her as one of the "greatest" artists. Especially that there was many Madonna marathons on both MTV & VH1...

 Honestly could name better pop artists from the '80's over her... 


Used to watch "The Big '80's", "Sex Appeal", "Rock Show", "Pop Up Video", select episodes of  "Behind the Music", "Where Are They Now?", & "Before They Were Rock Stars", and various specials on VH1.

Though recalled that they aired a lot of Celine Dion videos and that the music videos were edited for some reason (>cough<time>cough<)...

MTV focused too much on  rap, alternative (though I like select hits and artists from Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, & U2)  numetal, and "TRL" era pop acts (despite of the "music", the videos weren't shown in their entirety).

Not to mention a certain reality show, which the channel aired countless marathons of it.

Mostly liked their retrospect specials/video countdowns, animation, and will admit to have watched "Singled Out" & "The State" (which isn't even funny in retrospect).

[Out of the Blue]

Even though I did like Vh1 more than MTV, I haven't watched either one of them in years.

[Woops]

Stop watching MTV regularly around 2000/2001 and VH1 about 6 years ago

Got VH1 Classics a few years ago, though now only watch it time to time.

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"Rocky & Bullwinkle" will air on Boomerang this October, which wasn't shown for about 7 years... Though will air on the early morning.

Also "The Flintstones" marathon will air on the 30th of September to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show.


Some cartoons the channel should acquire...besides Looney Tunes, which is a very popular choice: (most very unlikey, though would be cool)

1. "Woody Woodpecker" with other Lantz cartoons

2. "Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show" with non Holiday Peanuts specials


3. A "Toon Heads" type show that features trivia, uncut cartoons shown in a specific theme (ie directors, eras, cartoons that take place in any paritcular setting or whatever)

4. return of  "Late Night Black & White" with early Warner Bros, MGM, and Popeye cartoons. (could happen)

5. "Retro Saturday Morning" block with about 5 hours with cartoons from a particular year

6. '90's WB cartoons from "Batman The Animated Series", "Tiny Toons", etc. to ad variety

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Long thread from UKmix forum about the MTV Top 20 Countdown, with several lists from 1980's and 1990's

Interesting thread...

The year end countdowns alone gives some insight to what bands and/or genres that were popular /kissed-up upon at the time on the channel, IMHO.

Example: about half of the 10 from 1989 were hard rock bands (ie Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Living Colour, Great White) along side pop stars Madonna, Paula Abdul, & Bobby Brown and the Top 100 lists from 1992 (onwards 'til the "TRL" era) focused more on rap, R&B, alternative, and a very few rock. .

The most jarring would be MTV's Top 20 Year End of 1984, IMHO. (don't know why they didn't rank the Top 100  though "MTV Top 20" started that year)


Also music videos that were given heavy rotation, though there's glaring omissions  from songs from  "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack in 1986 (ie Psychedelic Furs & OMD) and only one Janet Jackson song ranked for that year, Taylor Dayne being absent in 1988 & 1989, and Debbie Gibson in 1987 plus "Foolish Beat" in 1988, which made her the youngest female artist to write, produce, & record a #1 hit  (though "Out Of The Blue" was ranked) to name a few...

In 1986 did MTV start basing their countdown on times they played the video instead of where they peaked on the countdown? The "Take On Me" fiasco in 85 could've been a big reason for that. Even if "West End Girls" only got to #16, it was played a lot and #23 is a pretty fitting year-end rank. In comparison, I remember in 1989, Debbie Gibson's "Lost In Your Eyes" ranked in the 90's for the year (I believe it was 92 or 93) even though the video had been a #1 on the countdown that spring.

All in all, this thread is a testament to how MTV has jumped the shark and lost its mission statement. Sure "Jersey Shore" gets ratings but does anyone really think in 2033-2035 that people will still be interested in discussing it the way we're interested in old MTV Video Countdown peaks from 1985? Doubt it. Hell, The Osbournes were everywhere a few years back and now you can't even give the DVD's away.

true

"Lost In Your Eyes" was #13 in Billboard's year end for 1989


"Take On Me" was actually #10 on Billboard's Top 100 for 1985.  

Even on the MTV's 100 Greatest of the 1980's (ranked in 1989) and All Time (ranked in 1999) it's never on the Top 10. Though VH1 have placed it as the 8th greatest video on their list of the greatest videos ever in 2001.

Personally, it deserves to be among the Top 5.

[Out of the Blue]

If I had a fortune teller back in the 80s tell me what MTV would be like in the 90s and into the 21st Century I just wouldn't have believed them.  It's just unbelieveable how a network that had it like it did 20+ years ago could lose it so bad.  It just boggles the mind.

[Woops]

I find it suprising that the Video Music Awards is still around, though the ratings have always been low and it's mostly known for controversy rather than the music (like the channel).

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Nickelodeon: Worst To First

Retro Junk article about Nick during it's first 5 years


Excerpt:

Nickelodeon, the number one television network for kids, offers many programs for kids of all ages. These wacky and zany shows appeal to kids all across the country, and the world. But Nickelodeon was not all wacky and zany when it first started. The early days of Nickelodeon is referred to as the "green vegetable network" rather than the "green slime network". In fact, there was no slime on the network when it first started. Most of the programs they had on the network then did not appeal to most kids, which then lead to its near-failure in 1984. So how come Nickelodeon did not appeal to so many kids, why did it almost fail in 1984? This article will explain everything. Now I know what you are thinking, "Don't we have enough 'History of Nickelodeon' articles on this site, and usually it's just information taken off Wikipedia." This is not like those other articles. Most of the information you will see in this article are taken from lesser-known sources, which are the REAL sources (see list of sources at the bottom). Now let us get this article started.

Interesting that it had a rocky start was the ratings were low in 1984... Though admit that the channel wasn't really established by the late '80's with their well known  original game shows, their annual awards show,  and and other programming such as their original cartoons, called Nicktoons,  that would air by 1991.

Granted that in the early '80's it was mainly educational programs, it  aired some   British imports ("Danger Mouse")  and the cult hit "You Can't Do That On Television" (which itself was a Canadian import, which most tend to mistake as a Nick original).


Coincidently, there's an article about "Ren & Stimpy", one of the first Nicktoons and perhaps among the best cartoons of the 1990's that pushed the boundaries...

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Thinking back, MTV jumped when "The Real World" showed up.

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Agree

For some reason they literally dragged the show to the ground with countless marathons and also introducing spin-off "Road Rules" a few years later. It's probably also started a trend, which reality tv would be dominating other channels (also taking up 99.5% of MTV's programming next to movies and about 3 hours of music videos during the dusk  5 times a week) by the next decade.

Also  music videos were getting less airplay around that time,

[Out of the Blue]

I think that MTV will try and "reinvent" itself in the near future by changing their name.

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"Night Tracks" fan site

Actually, If had been a teenager in the '80's, I'd probably watch TBS, MTV, and maybe Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite. (also Fox). TBS appeared to had a wide variety of programming back in the day. Then again, Ted Turner was known to colorize vintage black & white movies...

If any Night Tracks fans are still out there, here's your chance to let TBS Superstation know that Night Tracks needs to be revived in order for the Viacom ruined eMpTyV Networks to have some competition. Also, eMpTyV was once owned by Warner AMEX but was sold to Viacom in 1986. Today, AOL Time Warner is the parent company of TBS Superstation. It's time to convince them to reenter the music video broadcasting business. Reviving Night Tracks and completely restoring its old timeslots would be a good start.

If Turner owned MTV...

Honestly, it'll probably be filled with  teen dramas (ie "Dawson's Creek", "90210") and movies like TNT is mostly "Law & Order" & TBS is 1990's/2000's sitcoms...

Don't get started on "Cartoon Network", though MTV's cartoons from the 1990's are much better than most of the junk from "Adult Swim".

[Woops]

VH1 Classic will air it's first original reality show "Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp"... 


That channel should definately get a revamp...

Music Vault, mostly vintage concert performances, documentaries, music related movies/programming, and music shows (ie "Midnight Special", "Sold Gold", "Best of American Bandstand", etc)... ironically regular VH1 aired them in the '90's, don't think they have the rights or is now more costly.

Since MTV & VH1 are supposedly into pop culture, a channel like the long defunct Trio could work with repeats of shows that wouldn't fit in TV Land or Nick at Nite/not shown anywhere (ie "SNL"), and also various programs from MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. Plus cult movies and also probably vintage music videos from time to time. Though would never happen considering that majority of the Viacom channels are unwatchable...

[Woops]

Discovery Kids will become The Hub in October...

Though doesn't really interest me, sounds better than Disney XD...


source: Cartoon Brew

I don’t know about where you live, but popping up all over L.A. are these scary billboards (see above) promoting The Hub, Hasbro and Discovery’s new cable channel. The Good News: it looks to be another 24-hour cartoon channel (remember those?). The Bad News: the cartoons seem to be based mainly on Hasbro branded toy lines (Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, The Transformers, etc.). Apparently, upon further research, there will be live action shows on the schedule (like Fraggle Rock) and several originals (Dan Vs.), but they aren’t advertising those yet… just these creepy looking bug-eyed buggers.

Nick and Disney have nothing to fear… but Cartoon Network better watch its back. The Hub begins broadcasting October 10th.

[Out of the Blue]

I'm wondering just what the future of cartoons is?