in full Music Television
U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music.
MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. Soon virtually every major pop or rock performer was making videos to be shown on MTV, and the reception of their videos directly affected future sales. The network later expanded to include original programming such as the animated Beavis and Butthead and the reality series Real World , separate international networks (e.g., MTV Europe, MTV Latin America, and MTV Russia), and the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV is controlled by the media conglomerate Viacom Inc.