MTV2
Encyclopedia
MTV2 is a cable
network that is widely available in the United States
on digital cable
and satellite television
, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation. The channel is also broadcast over-the-air in selected markets where the former all-request music channel known as The Box was broadcast.
Launched on August 1, 1996, the original purpose of the channel was to give music
fans a place to see constant, commercial-free music video
s, once the original MTV
had started to change its direction from music and concentrate on reality television
and soap opera
s. Today, MTV2 airs a selection of music videos, other music-related specials, and non-music shows focused on youth culture and pop culture. These shows are aimed at viewers in their teens and early 20s.
's "Where It's At
" being the first video to air. M2 was created to show more alternative types of music and older music videos than regular MTV did in 1996, priding itself on being a diverse mix of all types of music.
In its first couple of years on the air, M2 was restricted to less widely available digital and satellite television, which limited its viewership to around 12 million viewers by 2000. M2 also broadcast live over the Internet
during its early years, which means it was similarly ahead of its time in a period when few people had broadband
Internet connections.
During the early years of the channel, the music videos ran on 8-hour rotations, so that the same block of videos repeated three times every day: from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and finally from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.. A new block would then start again at 6 a.m.. During these years, M2 only had three VJs: Jancee Dunn
, Matt Pinfield
, and Kris Kosach
. They were rarely seen on screen. They hand-picked all of the music videos that were played for the eight hours every day. Throughout the next few years, Pinfield left to continue hosting shows on MTV and Kosach went on to host programs for TechTV
, while Dunn remained at the channel through 2001.
M2 was almost always just a random blend of music, though occasional themed specials were aired. One of the first ones was the Smashing Pumpkins Videography, in which all of the band's videos were played in chronological order. M2 would often invite musicians to hand pick blocks of videos or air hour-long blocks (which would eventually be known as Artist Collection
s) of videos by one band or musician. On January 1, 1999, the channel played the music video "1999
" by Prince
continuously all that day.
In 1997, Viacom
, MTV and MTV2's parent company, bought out the independent, viewer-requested "jukebox" music video channel known as The Box. Starting on January 1, 2001, all households that had received The Box began to receive MTV2 in its place, putting the channel into millions of additional households. MTV2 also began adding television commercials
to its broadcasts; beforehand, cable or satellite providers interrupted MTV2's feed to insert their own ads. MTV2 also began to separate the types of videos it played by genre. Hip-hop and soul music
(hosted by a new VJ, Steph Lova) was played for an hour every weekday at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Rock music played every weekday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. (hosted by another new VJ: former K-Rock and then-WXRK radio DJ Chris Booker
).
A new show hosted by Jancee Dunn called MTV2 Request aired every weekday between 11 a.m. and 12 a.m. and again between 11 p.m. and midnight. All of the videos played on MTV2 Request were selected by online viewer requests. Another new show called Control Freak began in 2001, airing weekdays from 8 to 9 p.m. It used real-time viewer voting to select the next video to be played on the channel (out of three choices), while the current video was playing. The majority of the daytime schedule still featured a somewhat diverse mix of rap, rock, and pop, and new and old videos. By 2003, the network had 50 million subscribers in the United States.
, Chris Booker
, and Dave Holmes
all disappeared. They were replaced with Jim Shearer
(who would go on to become the main VJ in the heavily genre-segregated MTV2), Abby Gennet
(who began to host MTV2 Rock, which was now being played between 3 and 5 p.m. every weekday afternoon), Quddus
(a regular MTV VJ, who would host MTV2 Soul, which would air between 9 and 11 a.m. every weekday), and La La & DJ Clue
(both of whom would host MTV2 Hip-Hop, which was played between 10 p.m. and midnight every weeknight).
During the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve of 2001, MTV2 claimed to play every video that had debuted on the channel during the entire year of 2001, Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day, alphabetically by video title. As had happened with the marathon of all music videos in 2000, several videos were skipped over as a result of unfortunate scheduling and an overemphasis on fitting in commercials.
With the start of 2002, MTV2's block of techno and dance music, AMP, which had aired Sunday nights between 10 p.m. and midnight, was replaced by a show called MTV2 Dance. This became a three-hour block of dance and techno, which featured some more obscure music by little-known techno DJ's, but also incorporated the videos for mainstream, popular dance songs, by artists such as Amber
and Kylie Minogue
. The show also was known for playing dance remixes of pop videos, such as the Hex Hector Remix of Jennifer Lopez
' "Waiting For Tonight," the Metro Remix of Enrique Iglesias
' "Hero," and the Thunderpuss Remix of Whitney Houston
's "It's Not Right, But It's OK." MTV2 Dance originally aired every Sunday morning between 1 and 4 a.m..
Around this time, 120 Minutes
, was moved to Sunday nights between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Jim Shearer also took over hosting duty from Kevin Dunn.
In spring of 2002, MTV2 altered its format once again. New shows such as Chart2Chart (hosted by Jim Shearer
), which aired the most popular videos from the pop
, rap
, rock
, and dance
, singles
and album
s charts, began. Spankin' New was a show that featured the newest videos of the week, and Extreme Rock began to air late nights on weekdays, showcasing hard rock and metal music, such as Godsmack
, Metallica
, Iron Maiden
, and Guns N' Roses
. Riffs & Rhymes appeared on the daily weekday schedule between 5 and 6 p.m., and it featured videos and bands that combined the sounds of rock and rap music, such as The Roots
, Linkin Park
, P.O.D.
, and Limp Bizkit
. Chris Booker, after only a brief absence from the channel, was brought back in order to host the show. Riffs & Rhymes only lasted until the summer of 2002, but Extreme Rock, Spankin' New, and Chart2Chart remained through the end of 2003.
documentary on the subject. The two-hour documentary on MTV was rated TV-14 and hosted by MTV News reporters Iann Robinson
and SuChin Pak
. MTV2 aired the top 20 videos in full, many of which were previously banned from MTV, in a three-hour late-night special, rated TV-MA and hosted by Andrew W.K.
. In addition to playing the top 20 videos that were discussed on MTV's special, which included The Prodigy
's "Smack My Bitch Up
", Pearl Jam
's "Jeremy
", Eminem
's "Stan
"," Nine Inch Nails
' "Closer", and Madonna
's "Justify My Love
", MTV2 played Björk
's "Pagan Poetry
", Metallica
's "Turn the Page", Aphex Twin
's "Come To Daddy
", The Cardigans
' "My Favourite Game," and U.N.K.L.E.'s "Rabbit In Your Headlights" as bonus controversial videos.
During the Memorial Day
weekend of 2002, MTV2 played a special called Increase The Beat. DJ Paul Oakenfold
hosted the special and played videos from such artists as Fatboy Slim
, Beastie Boys
, and Jay-Z
. The videos were arranged in order from slowest to fastest, based on the number of beats per minute of the song.
MTV2's next major special programming came during the Fourth of July
weekend in 2002. For the entire four-day extended holiday weekend, MTV2 aired a special called Box Set Weekend. The channel played an artist's Artist Collection (by this time, there were around 100 episodes of Artist Collection), and then followed it by other MTV programming that featured the artist, such as Making The Video
, Ultrasound, and/or a live performance, depending on what was available in the MTV archives. Although it was not the first time that MTV2 played programming other than music videos, Box Set Weekend then had the highest concentration of non-video programming on the channel.
Prior to that weekend, non-video programming and specials were few and far between, and were never longer than 30 minutes at a time. Box Set Weekend began the trend for MTV2 to play fewer music videos and more archived MTV specials, which may have annoyed and alienated some of MTV2's original viewers, who had initially tuned in just to see the videos, without having to sit through documentaries and interviews which could already be seen on MTV and VH1. However, it was said that MTV2's ratings increased as a result of their incorporation of documentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes specials along with music videos.
On August 24, 2002, MTV2 aired an 18 hour long special called VMA Winners, which aired the most memorable winning videos from the entire history of MTV
's Video Music Awards, in anticipation of the award show on August 29, 2002. Each hour was dedicated to a certain year of the awards, beginning at 6 a.m. ET with 1984 and ending at the 11 p.m. ET hour with 2001. Approximately nine videos were shown per hour from each year. MTV2 VJs Jim Shearer
and Abby Gennet
hosted the special, contributing three segments per hour. Either Shearer or Gennet hosted the first two segments per hour, then they joined each other for the third segment, in order to switch off hosting duties for the next hour. By the end of the special, the music videos for more than 160 past VMA winners were shown. MTV2 aired similar specials in 2003 and 2004, hosted solely by Jim Shearer and incorporating the additional years of VMA winners.
On September 21, 2002, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Love
, a live special hosted by Courtney Love
. For the special, Love took control of MTV2's airwaves for 24 hours, playing a selection of videos that she wanted to see, taking calls from viewers, and inviting guests into the studio.
In the fall of 2002, amid complaints that the channel was slowly following the same path that regular MTV had taken, away from music videos — especially older and rarer ones — MTV2 debuted a new weekly show called The Definitive. Its purpose was to showcase videos, many of which might not have otherwise still been played on MTV2, in themed blocks. It began airing on Sunday nights between 10 and 11 p.m., and showcased an hour of videos grouped by a different theme every week. Its first episode played all animated music videos such as "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
and "Do The Evolution" by Pearl Jam
. Since then, the show had nearly 50 episodes. Some of the final themes were videos featuring Snoop Dogg
, videos featuring motorcycles, and videos by musicians who have famous fathers, in honor of Fathers' Day 2003. The final episode of The Definitive aired on September 14, 2003 showcasing videos that featured rooftops.
Near the end of the year, MTV2 also began to play Retro Videos weekdays between 7 and 8 a.m. This evolved into a show that was later called Back In Play, which also aired between 2 and 3 p.m., and with each of the two hours being a completely different block of older videos that were not currently on MTV or MTV2's playlist. In December 2002, MTV2 once again tried to air every video that debuted on the channel in 2002. As happened in the past, several videos were not actually played.
's Dee Snider
was selected as the host of MTV2 Rock, replacing Abby Gennet. In addition, MTV2 Rock was reduced to one hour per day, and hip-hop related programming was expanded to 5 hours per day. Much of the daily schedule was occupied by other music-related specials and documentaries, with random-rotation music videos occupying only the late-night hours. Other new programming included Track 2, a series going "behind the scenes" of music videos, and Nose Dive, profiling past popular artists.
In April 2003, MTV2 aired Madonna Weekend, a special that commemorated Madonna's new album at the time, American Life
. The network showed classic MTV specials and interviews featuring Madonna, as well as a four-hour collection of Madonna videos called Madonna A-Z. The weekend ended on Sunday, April 20, with the premiere of The Definitive: Madonna. It was the first episode of The Definitive to be 2 hours, and it was completely determined by online viewer voting at MTV2.com. Madonna's controversial "Erotica" video was voted into the number one spot. Although MTV originally banned the video from its airwaves, MTV2 played the video uncensored and in its entirety.
In May 2003, the long-running alternative music show 120 Minutes
, which started on MTV in 1986 and moved to MTV2 at the end of 2000, came to an end with a final episode, featuring host Jim Shearer interviewing former hosts Matt Pinfield
and Dave Kendall
. After the final episode, the series was renamed to Subterranean
and given a shorter 60-minute format. The series also moved from Sunday to Friday nights.
Also in May 2003, MTV2 resurrected the old MTV show Headbangers Ball
, which featured a wide array of heavy metal and hard rock music videos. Metallica
hosted the first episode, followed by Rob Zombie
for the next few weeks. Jamey Jasta
from the band Hatebreed
was then selected as host of the show, though touring responsibilities prevented Jasta from hosting on several occasions. The show was preceded on Saturdays by MTV2 Rock Countdown with Jesse Snider and other rock-related music specials and documentaries.
In June 2003, MTV2 began an 8-hour block of hip-hop programming on Sundays called Sucker Free Sunday. Each week, a different guest host served up Artist Collections, countdowns, and other hip-hop music specials. In July of that year, the channel also introduced a new advertising campaign—aimed at differentiating itself from its parent network, MTV—featuring The Talking Baby, a foul-mouthed baby doll operated by Charlotte-based comedian Sean Keenan.
Around this time, MTV2 sponsored two albums in the MTV2 Album Covers series, in which a band covers another band's songs. The first was Dashboard Confessional/R.E.M., and the second was Guster/Violent Femmes
.
As part of this transition, MTV2 Rock was moved to a half-hour at 8 p.m., followed by a daily half-hour version of Headbangers Ball. MTV2's daily Hip-Hop Show was expanded further, airing the newest hip-hop hits every day from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the same videos played again from 10 p.m. to midnight. A new show called Greatest Hits replaced Artist Collections, so MTV2 could play only the particular artist's best videos instead of every video that they ever made. The arrival of the new Greatest Hits show meant MTV2's popular The Definitive was cancelled as well. Around this time, MTV2's daytime schedule halted regular music video rotation. As a result, music-related specials and documentaries were scheduled for daytime on MTV2.
In the spring of 2004, MTV2 ended its contract with Jesse Snider. Jim Shearer remained with the channel and also picked up hosting duties for all rock shows previously hosted by Jesse. Jamey Jasta remained the host of Headbangers Ball. Around this time, MTV2 also welcomed Amanda Diva
as its new hip-hop VJ.
. Only some music video programming remained, including a daily MTV2 Hip-Hop hour at 6 p.m. and an MTV2 Rock hour at 8 p.m.
At this time, MTV2's freeform music video format, which featured a diverse mix of new and old videos from all genres since the channel's beginning, completely ended. Even during MTV2's late night Music Videos rotation (4 a.m. to 7 a.m.), a programmed playlist determined the videos that were to be played. As 2004 came to a close, MTV2 made very little changes to its programming, with non-music shows and documentaries continuing to occupy most of the daily schedule.
on February 6, 2005, both MTV and MTV2 aired a 15-minute preview of MTV2's second relaunch, which took place at midnight on February 7, 2005. The purpose of this relaunch was to create a unique brand identity for MTV2, targeting 12-34 year old male viewers and separating the channel from being perceived as simply an MTV spin-off.
Also as part of the relaunch, MTV2 added "sharts" (nonsensical video clips from old B-movie
s, as well as short clips collected from the Internet and others created in-house) between normal video rotation, commercial breaks, and at the top of each hour. These clips began to serve as station IDs for the new MTV2 and were most likely intended to present a random, "anything goes" attitude for the channel. Although Viacom, MTV2's parent company, denied any influence from competing music video channel Fuse
, the attitude and identity associated with Fuse most likely played a part in the decision to relaunch MTV2 and add these random clips. Sharts mostly played before Sic' Em Fridays during the show before it.
All original shows that were made after the relaunch were given new opening themes with "sharts" as well. Throughout each opening sequence, pieces of broken bars appear all around the screen and eventually, at the end of the random video clip, form into a bar in the center that reads the name of the show.
The channel also introduced a new way to credit videos. At the beginning and end of each video, three large, brightly colored bars (either blue, yellow or pink) would appear in the middle of the screen which display the video's information, rather than the traditional MTV style of small white letters in the lower left corner. Also during each show, MTV2's two-headed dog logo would change colors, and a large bar would appear in the middle of the screen to inform the viewer of what program is being shown. During regular music video rotation, random comments such as "Stop thinking about your hair", "Never fear them", and "Envy is admiration turned upside down" would appear. The new video credits and show information bars were met with mixed reviews from viewers.
Some new non-music video shows were also added to the schedule. On March 11, 2005, MTV2 premiered a block of shows called Sic 'Em Friday
, at the time featuring Wildboyz
, which was previously aired on MTV but moved to MTV2, as well as brand new series Team Sanchez, Stankervision
, and Wonder Showzen
, and repeats of The Andy Milonakis Show
that originally aired on MTV during its first season.
On June 11 and 12, 2005, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Foo
, a live special hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters
, which was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love
, a live special hosted by Courtney Love
that the channel aired in 2002.
In February 2008, during black-history month, MTV2 made the effort to glamorize the African-American influence in America by eliminating almost all non-black music and reality programming. In fact, MTV2, regardless of programming, changed the color of the two-headed dog logo to black throughout the entire month.
The channel's focus on non-music video programming continued, with most promotion centered around its Sic 'Em Friday
block of "outrageous" shows, consisting of Wildboyz
and Team Sanchez in a season beginning January 6, 2006, as well as The Andy Milonakis Show
and Wonder Showzen
in a season beginning March 31, 2006.
On June 10, 2006, the network premiered a related block of animated shows called Sic'emation, featuring new episodes of Celebrity Deathmatch
, two new animated series (Where My Dogs At?
and The Adventures of Chico and Guapo
), as well as repeats of the classic MTV series Beavis and Butt-head
.
While music was still played on MTV2, the other programming on the network was given more airtime and promotion. In order to find music video programming to watch, viewers must know the schedule and check weekly listings. MTV2 does not promote most of its music video shows, and it does not directly inform viewers about the times in which music videos will be aired.
The music video programming that still aired on MTV2 remained stagnant in 2006. Each weekday, hour-long video countdowns of hits (Elite 8), hip-hop (Sucker Free), and rock (You Rock the Deuce, formerly known as T-Minus Rock) air primarily during the early morning hours, aside from (Sucker Free) which airs during primetime hours. The Unleashed video premiere was moved to Mondays. At the end of each week, an hour-long rock countdown and two-hour hip-hop countdown are aired, along with Sucker Free, Headbangers Ball, and Subterranean, which have remained in the same time slots since their debuts in 2003. The weekend rock countdown later evolved into Saturday Rock the Deuce, during which MTV2 plays seven or eight of the same videos from one week to the next, but was later moved to late Saturday nights.
show or any specific direction, MTV2 remains a mixture of music-related programming and non-music programming aimed at the 12-34 year old male and female audience. In recent years, MTV2 has stalled most of its original programming, instead choosing to play repeated programs from MTV and other channels for most of its broadcast schedule. Music video programming on the channel is rare, as it is with MTV, likely thanks to the immediacy and convenience of watching music videos on the Internet. Notable music-related programming changes on MTV2 and exceptions to the rule are listed as follows.
Later in 2007, MTV2 devoted Saturday evenings to rock music. The network introduced a Rock Block which is now known as "Saturday Drop A Deuce" that was shown Saturdays at 10:00 P.M., featuring hard rock and past grunge bands like Stone Temple Pilots
, Silverchair
and Pearl Jam
, similar to a Mainstream rock
radio station. Following Saturday Drop A Deuce was Headbangers Ball
. Initially, such blocks of programming were shown during the primetime hours on Saturdays, but currently the block is shown on late Saturday evenings starting at 10:00 P.M. However, MTV2 viewers residing in the West Coast
and receiving the channel via direct broadcast satellite
will see this block in the primetime hours, as their satellite service will most likely pick up the MTV2 feed from the Eastern Time Zone, in which MTV2 bases its scheduled times for its programming.
The network also continued to air blocks of videos known simply as AMTV, featuring a pre-determined playlist of predominantly current videos with occasional MTV News
segments, during the overnight and early morning hours, usually between 3:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. ET. Other formats in which MTV2 played music videos included a 30-minute block of videos simply titled Music Videos that aired some early mornings and late nights, as well as the No Break Video Hour, a music video block that excluded commercials
as mentioned in the title shown Tuesdays through Thursdays at 10:00 A.M.
's Times Square studios as they see fit for 24 hours, from noon
on Friday, May 18 to noon
on Saturday, May 19. Notable guests included Fred Armisen
and Bill Hader
from Saturday Night Live
, Will Arnett
, Michael Cera
, Bob Odenkirk
, Michael Showalter
, Todd Barry
, Zach Galifianakis
, Tapes 'n Tapes
, and Tegan and Sara
. The live event was the successor to 24 Hours of Love
in 2002, 24 Hours of Foo
in 2005, and a subsequent Jackass special on MTV in early 2008. Since then, there have been no other large-scale live broadcasts on MTV2.
(heavy metal
) or Sucker Free
(hip-hop), for 33 hours and 30 minutes. Throughout the month of July 2007, MTV2 broadcast music video programs during primetime Mondays through Thursdays in its efforts to play more music. In February 2008, MTV2 replaced the 10 p.m. Eastern rebroadcast of Elite 8 with a standard block of music videos.
The year 2008 saw a decreased availability for MTV2, as both the Comcast
cable service and Cox
cable service moved the channel from their widely received analog cable services to a digital cable line-up. This, however, is part of a larger initiative by the cable companies to move all of their non-must-carry
channels from analog cable to digital by 2010.
During the latter days of June 2008, MTV2 had a "mini-relaunch" of sorts. The MTV2 dog logo now remains a constant color throughout the weekdays (black on gold/yellow), turning black and white on Saturdays, a light and dark blue on Sundays, and the occasional nationality flag when Wildboyz comes on. In addition, all music videos are credited in a consistent format of text. Status messages have been moved from the middle of the screen to a quote box coming from the left dog's mouth. Also, the "sharts" that introduce the beginning of a show have been replaced with a more formal display, as it had been with tour dates. Recently they have been showing more music at late nights and early mornings.
On June 2, 2009 MTV2 added the MTV Playback line-up Fridays at 1:00am which aired episodes of Ren and Stimpy, The Young Ones
and The State
. It also premiered the new series MTV2 Legit which is a compilation of classic cartoons, skits, reality and music videos from MTV during the 1990s. It only lasted for the summer of 2009.
Since early 2010, MTV2 has been cutting down in its amount of music videos and is now focusing more on re-aired and original programming.
As of 2011, music programming has remained the same on MTV2, airing only between 3am-8am (AMTV
2).
As of July 21, 2011 Jose Mangin took over as host of Headbangers Ball
which is now a web only show.
As of July 31, 2011 (1AM ET), Matt Pinfield
returns to host the newly revived 120 Minutes
which will be called "120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield." The series will air monthly, not weekly. 120 Seconds, a shortened web only version, will air all other weeks on MTVhive.com.
, there have been a number of other MTV Networks
channels around the world known as MTV2.
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network that is widely available in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
and satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation. The channel is also broadcast over-the-air in selected markets where the former all-request music channel known as The Box was broadcast.
Launched on August 1, 1996, the original purpose of the channel was to give music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
fans a place to see constant, commercial-free music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, once the original MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
had started to change its direction from music and concentrate on reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
and soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s. Today, MTV2 airs a selection of music videos, other music-related specials, and non-music shows focused on youth culture and pop culture. These shows are aimed at viewers in their teens and early 20s.
The beginning of MTV2
MTV2 was originally known as just M2 until the first quarter of 1999. M2 began broadcasting on August 1, 1996 — MTV's 15th anniversary — with BeckBeck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
's "Where It's At
Where It's At
"Where It's At" is the first single from Beck's 1996 album, Odelay. Beck wrote the song in 1995. He premiered it at Lollapalooza 1995, in a version very similar to its incarnation on Odelay...
" being the first video to air. M2 was created to show more alternative types of music and older music videos than regular MTV did in 1996, priding itself on being a diverse mix of all types of music.
In its first couple of years on the air, M2 was restricted to less widely available digital and satellite television, which limited its viewership to around 12 million viewers by 2000. M2 also broadcast live over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
during its early years, which means it was similarly ahead of its time in a period when few people had broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
Internet connections.
Original VJs and shows
During the early years of the channel, the music videos ran on 8-hour rotations, so that the same block of videos repeated three times every day: from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and finally from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.. A new block would then start again at 6 a.m.. During these years, M2 only had three VJs: Jancee Dunn
Jancee Dunn
Jancee Dunn is a journalist, author and former VJ. She is now a contributing editor at O, The Oprah Magazine but is mostly known for her work at Rolling Stone, where she worked from 1989 to 2003.- Background :...
, Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield is a music personality and TV host, best known for being a video deejay on MTV and VH1. He currently lives in Harrison, New Jersey having previously resided in East Brunswick Township...
, and Kris Kosach
Kris Kosach
Kris Kosach is an American television and radio personality. Most recently, she was a host for the Travel Channel. She was a music technology host and entertainment correspondent for TechTV and an original VJ on MTV2. She is married to journalist Alex Wellen. She works for ABC Radio in Washington,...
. They were rarely seen on screen. They hand-picked all of the music videos that were played for the eight hours every day. Throughout the next few years, Pinfield left to continue hosting shows on MTV and Kosach went on to host programs for TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
, while Dunn remained at the channel through 2001.
M2 was almost always just a random blend of music, though occasional themed specials were aired. One of the first ones was the Smashing Pumpkins Videography, in which all of the band's videos were played in chronological order. M2 would often invite musicians to hand pick blocks of videos or air hour-long blocks (which would eventually be known as Artist Collection
Artist Collection
Artist Collection is a music video show on MTV2.- Episode list :* 103: Foo Fighters* 109: L.L. Cool J* 112: TLC* 131: 50 Cent * 135: The Neptunes* 139: Missy Elliott & Timbaland* 141: Nelly...
s) of videos by one band or musician. On January 1, 1999, the channel played the music video "1999
1999 (song)
"1999" is a song by Prince, the title track from his 1982 album of the same name. The song is one of Prince's best-known, and a defining moment in his rise to superstar status....
" by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
continuously all that day.
A-Z video marathon
Starting on January 1, 2000, in honor of the millennium, MTV2 attempted to play every music video in the MTV library in alphabetical order. While a majority of videos were played, many were skipped over. The special ended in mid-April 2000.MTV2's first relaunch
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
, MTV and MTV2's parent company, bought out the independent, viewer-requested "jukebox" music video channel known as The Box. Starting on January 1, 2001, all households that had received The Box began to receive MTV2 in its place, putting the channel into millions of additional households. MTV2 also began adding television commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
to its broadcasts; beforehand, cable or satellite providers interrupted MTV2's feed to insert their own ads. MTV2 also began to separate the types of videos it played by genre. Hip-hop and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
(hosted by a new VJ, Steph Lova) was played for an hour every weekday at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Rock music played every weekday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. (hosted by another new VJ: former K-Rock and then-WXRK radio DJ Chris Booker
Chris Booker
Chris Booker is an American radio and TV personality.-Career:Chris Booker is a TV/radio personality. He has worked as a correspondent for TV Guide Channel covering red carpet events such as "Live at the Grammys with Joan and Melissa Rivers," and "Live at the Kids Choice Awards." He also served as...
).
Next set of VJs and shows
In late 2001, MTV2 held auditions for new VJs. Steph Lova, Jancee DunnJancee Dunn
Jancee Dunn is a journalist, author and former VJ. She is now a contributing editor at O, The Oprah Magazine but is mostly known for her work at Rolling Stone, where she worked from 1989 to 2003.- Background :...
, Chris Booker
Chris Booker
Chris Booker is an American radio and TV personality.-Career:Chris Booker is a TV/radio personality. He has worked as a correspondent for TV Guide Channel covering red carpet events such as "Live at the Grammys with Joan and Melissa Rivers," and "Live at the Kids Choice Awards." He also served as...
, and Dave Holmes
Dave Holmes
David Robert "Dave" Holmes is a television personality who gained national attention as the runner-up on MTV's first Wanna Be a VJ contest in 1998. From the beginning, he distinguished himself from other candidates with an encyclopedic knowledge of music trivia.Despite his loss to Jesse Camp, MTV...
all disappeared. They were replaced with Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer is a MTV2 VJ who was hired in 2002 after catching the eye of the executive vice president of MTV with a homemade audition tape. Since then he has hosted the shows Advance Warning, 120 Minutes, Subterranean, Video Mods, Summer Gig, as well as other shows on both MTV and MTV2.Jim...
(who would go on to become the main VJ in the heavily genre-segregated MTV2), Abby Gennet
Abby Gennet
Abby Gennet is the lead singer of the New York band Slunt, and currently plays guitar for Los Angeles based all-female hard rock band Riot Brides....
(who began to host MTV2 Rock, which was now being played between 3 and 5 p.m. every weekday afternoon), Quddus
Quddus (MTV)
Benjamin Quddus Philippe, popularly known as simply Quddus, is a Canadian MTV VJ and former host of the MTV show, Total Request Live. He was also the host of Dance on Sunset with Nick 6 which included: Johnny Erasme, Shane Harper, Aubree Storm, Ashley Galvan, Karen Chuang, and Hefa Tuita. Also on...
(a regular MTV VJ, who would host MTV2 Soul, which would air between 9 and 11 a.m. every weekday), and La La & DJ Clue
DJ Clue
Ernesto Shaw better known as DJ Clue?, is a mixtape DJ.-Biography:For more than 10 years, DJ Clue has proven that he is more than just a beat-thumper. His accomplishments show how a turntable genius precisely puts together different songs to make a concoction of beats and melodies that rule the...
(both of whom would host MTV2 Hip-Hop, which was played between 10 p.m. and midnight every weeknight).
During the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve of 2001, MTV2 claimed to play every video that had debuted on the channel during the entire year of 2001, Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day, alphabetically by video title. As had happened with the marathon of all music videos in 2000, several videos were skipped over as a result of unfortunate scheduling and an overemphasis on fitting in commercials.
With the start of 2002, MTV2's block of techno and dance music, AMP, which had aired Sunday nights between 10 p.m. and midnight, was replaced by a show called MTV2 Dance. This became a three-hour block of dance and techno, which featured some more obscure music by little-known techno DJ's, but also incorporated the videos for mainstream, popular dance songs, by artists such as Amber
Amber (performer)
Marie-Claire "Amber" Cremers is a Dutch-German singer, songwriter, label owner and executive producer. She is best known for her hits "This Is Your Night," "If You Could Read My Mind," and "Sexual ."-Career:Amber's music career took off when one of her demos, "This Is Your Night" gained interest...
and Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
. The show also was known for playing dance remixes of pop videos, such as the Hex Hector Remix of Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
' "Waiting For Tonight," the Metro Remix of Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
' "Hero," and the Thunderpuss Remix of Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's "It's Not Right, But It's OK." MTV2 Dance originally aired every Sunday morning between 1 and 4 a.m..
Around this time, 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
, was moved to Sunday nights between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Jim Shearer also took over hosting duty from Kevin Dunn.
In spring of 2002, MTV2 altered its format once again. New shows such as Chart2Chart (hosted by Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer is a MTV2 VJ who was hired in 2002 after catching the eye of the executive vice president of MTV with a homemade audition tape. Since then he has hosted the shows Advance Warning, 120 Minutes, Subterranean, Video Mods, Summer Gig, as well as other shows on both MTV and MTV2.Jim...
), which aired the most popular videos from the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, and dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
and album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s charts, began. Spankin' New was a show that featured the newest videos of the week, and Extreme Rock began to air late nights on weekdays, showcasing hard rock and metal music, such as Godsmack
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, and Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. Riffs & Rhymes appeared on the daily weekday schedule between 5 and 6 p.m., and it featured videos and bands that combined the sounds of rock and rap music, such as The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
, P.O.D.
P.O.D.
Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...
, and Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
. Chris Booker, after only a brief absence from the channel, was brought back in order to host the show. Riffs & Rhymes only lasted until the summer of 2002, but Extreme Rock, Spankin' New, and Chart2Chart remained through the end of 2003.
Special programming
In April 2002, MTV2 created a special program, MTV's Most Controversial Videos, to complement an MTV NewsMTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
documentary on the subject. The two-hour documentary on MTV was rated TV-14 and hosted by MTV News reporters Iann Robinson
Iann Robinson
Iann Robinson is an American writer, musician and television personality best known as a former MTV VJ.Born in New York, Robinson co-hosted a show called Monkey Butt Sex on a Manhattan Public-access television cable TV in the 1990s...
and SuChin Pak
SuChin Pak
SuChin Pak is a South Korean-born American television news correspondent, frequently appearing on the cable networks of MTV.SuChin Pak joined the MTV News Team as a correspondent in May 2001. She has covered the MTV Movie Awards, the Sundance Film Festival, and the MTV Video Music Awards. She...
. MTV2 aired the top 20 videos in full, many of which were previously banned from MTV, in a three-hour late-night special, rated TV-MA and hosted by Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
. In addition to playing the top 20 videos that were discussed on MTV's special, which included The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
's "Smack My Bitch Up
Smack My Bitch Up
"Smack My Bitch Up" is a song by The Prodigy, released as the band's twelfth single on 17 November 1997. It was the third and final single from the album The Fat of the Land....
", Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
's "Jeremy
Jeremy (song)
"Jeremy" is a song by the American grunge band Pearl Jam that features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by bassist Jeff Ament. "Jeremy" was released in 1992 as the third single from Pearl Jam's debut album, Ten . The song reached the number five spot on both the Mainstream...
", Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's "Stan
Stan (song)
"Stan" is the third single from The Marshall Mathers LP, by rapper Eminem featuring Dido. It peaked at number one in the United Kingdom and Australia. It is also included on Curtain Call: The Hits, performed with Eminem and Dido as well track 17 on Curtain Call: The Hits as a live Performance from...
"," Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
' "Closer", and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's "Justify My Love
Justify My Love
"Justify My Love" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection and was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records. It caused international controversy due to the accompanying music video which was sexually explicit...
", MTV2 played Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's "Pagan Poetry
Pagan Poetry
"Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...
", Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's "Turn the Page", Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
's "Come To Daddy
Come to Daddy
Come to Daddy is a 1997 EP by electronic music artist Richard D. James, commonly known as Aphex Twin. "Come to Daddy [Pappy Mix]" — often simply called "Come to Daddy" — is one of Aphex Twin's best-known songs; it peaked at #36 on the UK Singles Chart...
", The Cardigans
The Cardigans
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in the town of Jönköping in October 1992.Their debut album Emmerdale gave them a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. It was not until their second album Life that an international reputation was secured...
' "My Favourite Game," and U.N.K.L.E.'s "Rabbit In Your Headlights" as bonus controversial videos.
During the Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend of 2002, MTV2 played a special called Increase The Beat. DJ Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
hosted the special and played videos from such artists as Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
, Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, and Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
. The videos were arranged in order from slowest to fastest, based on the number of beats per minute of the song.
MTV2's next major special programming came during the Fourth of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
weekend in 2002. For the entire four-day extended holiday weekend, MTV2 aired a special called Box Set Weekend. The channel played an artist's Artist Collection (by this time, there were around 100 episodes of Artist Collection), and then followed it by other MTV programming that featured the artist, such as Making The Video
Making the Video
Making the Video is an MTV show, consisting of half-hour episodes, which chronicles the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video and the show often includes light-hearted and humorous moments. It always concludes with a premiere of the...
, Ultrasound, and/or a live performance, depending on what was available in the MTV archives. Although it was not the first time that MTV2 played programming other than music videos, Box Set Weekend then had the highest concentration of non-video programming on the channel.
Prior to that weekend, non-video programming and specials were few and far between, and were never longer than 30 minutes at a time. Box Set Weekend began the trend for MTV2 to play fewer music videos and more archived MTV specials, which may have annoyed and alienated some of MTV2's original viewers, who had initially tuned in just to see the videos, without having to sit through documentaries and interviews which could already be seen on MTV and VH1. However, it was said that MTV2's ratings increased as a result of their incorporation of documentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes specials along with music videos.
On August 24, 2002, MTV2 aired an 18 hour long special called VMA Winners, which aired the most memorable winning videos from the entire history of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Video Music Awards, in anticipation of the award show on August 29, 2002. Each hour was dedicated to a certain year of the awards, beginning at 6 a.m. ET with 1984 and ending at the 11 p.m. ET hour with 2001. Approximately nine videos were shown per hour from each year. MTV2 VJs Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer
Jim Shearer is a MTV2 VJ who was hired in 2002 after catching the eye of the executive vice president of MTV with a homemade audition tape. Since then he has hosted the shows Advance Warning, 120 Minutes, Subterranean, Video Mods, Summer Gig, as well as other shows on both MTV and MTV2.Jim...
and Abby Gennet
Abby Gennet
Abby Gennet is the lead singer of the New York band Slunt, and currently plays guitar for Los Angeles based all-female hard rock band Riot Brides....
hosted the special, contributing three segments per hour. Either Shearer or Gennet hosted the first two segments per hour, then they joined each other for the third segment, in order to switch off hosting duties for the next hour. By the end of the special, the music videos for more than 160 past VMA winners were shown. MTV2 aired similar specials in 2003 and 2004, hosted solely by Jim Shearer and incorporating the additional years of VMA winners.
Experimental programming
Also in the summer of 2002, MTV2 experimented with MTV2 Dances timeslot, airing the block twice a week: in its usual early Sunday morning slot between 1 and 4 a.m., but also early Saturday morning between midnight and 3 a.m. This only lasted for a couple of weeks, however, and by the fall of 2002, MTV2 Dance was cancelled entirely.On September 21, 2002, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Love
24 Hours of Love
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Love was a special programming stunt that aired live starting on September 21, 2002 on MTV2. The official premise of the show was that rock star Courtney Love would do a live broadcast for 24 hours in a row, and that she would be in full control of the programming on MTV2...
, a live special hosted by Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
. For the special, Love took control of MTV2's airwaves for 24 hours, playing a selection of videos that she wanted to see, taking calls from viewers, and inviting guests into the studio.
In the fall of 2002, amid complaints that the channel was slowly following the same path that regular MTV had taken, away from music videos — especially older and rarer ones — MTV2 debuted a new weekly show called The Definitive. Its purpose was to showcase videos, many of which might not have otherwise still been played on MTV2, in themed blocks. It began airing on Sunday nights between 10 and 11 p.m., and showcased an hour of videos grouped by a different theme every week. Its first episode played all animated music videos such as "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
and "Do The Evolution" by Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
. Since then, the show had nearly 50 episodes. Some of the final themes were videos featuring Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, videos featuring motorcycles, and videos by musicians who have famous fathers, in honor of Fathers' Day 2003. The final episode of The Definitive aired on September 14, 2003 showcasing videos that featured rooftops.
Near the end of the year, MTV2 also began to play Retro Videos weekdays between 7 and 8 a.m. This evolved into a show that was later called Back In Play, which also aired between 2 and 3 p.m., and with each of the two hours being a completely different block of older videos that were not currently on MTV or MTV2's playlist. In December 2002, MTV2 once again tried to air every video that debuted on the channel in 2002. As happened in the past, several videos were not actually played.
Major format evolution
Through the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, MTV2 phased out the format of exclusively music videos, instead adopting a new slogan, "Where the music's at," and featuring other music-related shows instead of 24/7 videos. Past MTV Icon specials, news documentaries, and countdowns were all as likely to be shown on MTV2 as videos. However, MTV2 still continued to show innovative and up-and-coming musicians and videos, as well as mainstream videos.New rock/hip-hop shows
MTV2's 2003 schedule included some changes from 2002. Jesse Snider, son of Twisted SisterTwisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
's Dee Snider
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...
was selected as the host of MTV2 Rock, replacing Abby Gennet. In addition, MTV2 Rock was reduced to one hour per day, and hip-hop related programming was expanded to 5 hours per day. Much of the daily schedule was occupied by other music-related specials and documentaries, with random-rotation music videos occupying only the late-night hours. Other new programming included Track 2, a series going "behind the scenes" of music videos, and Nose Dive, profiling past popular artists.
In April 2003, MTV2 aired Madonna Weekend, a special that commemorated Madonna's new album at the time, American Life
American Life
American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 22, 2003 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The album produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï featured references to many parts of American culture...
. The network showed classic MTV specials and interviews featuring Madonna, as well as a four-hour collection of Madonna videos called Madonna A-Z. The weekend ended on Sunday, April 20, with the premiere of The Definitive: Madonna. It was the first episode of The Definitive to be 2 hours, and it was completely determined by online viewer voting at MTV2.com. Madonna's controversial "Erotica" video was voted into the number one spot. Although MTV originally banned the video from its airwaves, MTV2 played the video uncensored and in its entirety.
In May 2003, the long-running alternative music show 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
, which started on MTV in 1986 and moved to MTV2 at the end of 2000, came to an end with a final episode, featuring host Jim Shearer interviewing former hosts Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield is a music personality and TV host, best known for being a video deejay on MTV and VH1. He currently lives in Harrison, New Jersey having previously resided in East Brunswick Township...
and Dave Kendall
Dave Kendall
Dave Kendall is a British-born journalist, editor, and VJ. He was first known to the public as the creator and host of MTV's 120 Minutes, an alternative music program that played Sunday nights at midnight from 1986 through the 1990s....
. After the final episode, the series was renamed to Subterranean
Subterranean (TV series)
Subterranean was a weekly music show on MTV2 dedicated to alternative, indie, and underground music and artists. The show was made as the modern-day continuation of MTV's 120 Minutes...
and given a shorter 60-minute format. The series also moved from Sunday to Friday nights.
Also in May 2003, MTV2 resurrected the old MTV show Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball is a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV2, MTV Australia, MTV Two , MTV Adria , MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV...
, which featured a wide array of heavy metal and hard rock music videos. Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
hosted the first episode, followed by Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
for the next few weeks. Jamey Jasta
Jamey Jasta
Jamey Jasta is an American musician from New Haven, Connecticut, best known as the lead vocalist of the hardcore band Hatebreed and sludge metal band Kingdom of Sorrow...
from the band Hatebreed
Hatebreed
- History :Hatebreed was formed in 1994 in Bridgeport, Waterbury and New Haven. They began by recording a three song demo and selling it to locals. Those three songs would eventually be released on a split seven inch with New York's Neglect in 1995...
was then selected as host of the show, though touring responsibilities prevented Jasta from hosting on several occasions. The show was preceded on Saturdays by MTV2 Rock Countdown with Jesse Snider and other rock-related music specials and documentaries.
In June 2003, MTV2 began an 8-hour block of hip-hop programming on Sundays called Sucker Free Sunday. Each week, a different guest host served up Artist Collections, countdowns, and other hip-hop music specials. In July of that year, the channel also introduced a new advertising campaign—aimed at differentiating itself from its parent network, MTV—featuring The Talking Baby, a foul-mouthed baby doll operated by Charlotte-based comedian Sean Keenan.
Around this time, MTV2 sponsored two albums in the MTV2 Album Covers series, in which a band covers another band's songs. The first was Dashboard Confessional/R.E.M., and the second was Guster/Violent Femmes
MTV2 Album Covers: Guster/Violent Femmes
MTV2 Album Covers: Guster/Violent Femmes is an EP by Guster that includes covers of songs by The Violent Femmes. The 2004 release is part of MTV2's album cover series.-Track listing:# "Careful" - 3:42# "Blister in the Sun" - 2:43# "Kiss Off" - 2:59...
.
Show cancellations
During the fall of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, MTV2 once again updated its schedule to include more genre-separated blocks and less variety. The popular show Control Freak, which allowed viewers to vote for the next video they wanted to see, was cancelled from its daily 2-hour time slot from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and moved to one half-hour seen only on Tuesday. Other daily shows like Back in Play and Latest & Greatest, which featured a mix of new and old videos, were also cancelled.As part of this transition, MTV2 Rock was moved to a half-hour at 8 p.m., followed by a daily half-hour version of Headbangers Ball. MTV2's daily Hip-Hop Show was expanded further, airing the newest hip-hop hits every day from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the same videos played again from 10 p.m. to midnight. A new show called Greatest Hits replaced Artist Collections, so MTV2 could play only the particular artist's best videos instead of every video that they ever made. The arrival of the new Greatest Hits show meant MTV2's popular The Definitive was cancelled as well. Around this time, MTV2's daytime schedule halted regular music video rotation. As a result, music-related specials and documentaries were scheduled for daytime on MTV2.
In the spring of 2004, MTV2 ended its contract with Jesse Snider. Jim Shearer remained with the channel and also picked up hosting duties for all rock shows previously hosted by Jesse. Jamey Jasta remained the host of Headbangers Ball. Around this time, MTV2 also welcomed Amanda Diva
Amanda Diva
Amanda Diva is a female rapper, actress, and former replacement of the musical group Floetry.- Personal life :...
as its new hip-hop VJ.
End of freeform format
In the summer of 2004, MTV2's daily schedule became almost completely occupied by repeats of MTV's documentaries, reality shows, and even some classics such as Beavis and Butt-headBeavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
. Only some music video programming remained, including a daily MTV2 Hip-Hop hour at 6 p.m. and an MTV2 Rock hour at 8 p.m.
At this time, MTV2's freeform music video format, which featured a diverse mix of new and old videos from all genres since the channel's beginning, completely ended. Even during MTV2's late night Music Videos rotation (4 a.m. to 7 a.m.), a programmed playlist determined the videos that were to be played. As 2004 came to a close, MTV2 made very little changes to its programming, with non-music shows and documentaries continuing to occupy most of the daily schedule.
MTV2's second relaunch
During the halftime of Super Bowl XXXIXSuper Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...
on February 6, 2005, both MTV and MTV2 aired a 15-minute preview of MTV2's second relaunch, which took place at midnight on February 7, 2005. The purpose of this relaunch was to create a unique brand identity for MTV2, targeting 12-34 year old male viewers and separating the channel from being perceived as simply an MTV spin-off.
The two-headed dog
The relaunch of the channel also brought the introduction of a completely new logo: a two-headed dog. The previous boxes logo and MTV's famous block logo were eliminated from the new MTV2 logo, implying that the new channel would be nothing like the current MTV. Billboard Radio Monitor reported that the two heads of the dog were made to represent rock and hip-hop, the two sides of music on MTV2.Also as part of the relaunch, MTV2 added "sharts" (nonsensical video clips from old B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s, as well as short clips collected from the Internet and others created in-house) between normal video rotation, commercial breaks, and at the top of each hour. These clips began to serve as station IDs for the new MTV2 and were most likely intended to present a random, "anything goes" attitude for the channel. Although Viacom, MTV2's parent company, denied any influence from competing music video channel Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
, the attitude and identity associated with Fuse most likely played a part in the decision to relaunch MTV2 and add these random clips. Sharts mostly played before Sic' Em Fridays during the show before it.
All original shows that were made after the relaunch were given new opening themes with "sharts" as well. Throughout each opening sequence, pieces of broken bars appear all around the screen and eventually, at the end of the random video clip, form into a bar in the center that reads the name of the show.
The channel also introduced a new way to credit videos. At the beginning and end of each video, three large, brightly colored bars (either blue, yellow or pink) would appear in the middle of the screen which display the video's information, rather than the traditional MTV style of small white letters in the lower left corner. Also during each show, MTV2's two-headed dog logo would change colors, and a large bar would appear in the middle of the screen to inform the viewer of what program is being shown. During regular music video rotation, random comments such as "Stop thinking about your hair", "Never fear them", and "Envy is admiration turned upside down" would appear. The new video credits and show information bars were met with mixed reviews from viewers.
Post-relaunch shows
MTV2's VJs remained the same after the relaunch, and there were only a few programming changes. Each day's schedule remained mostly full of music documentary shows and other non-music shows. The daily MTV2 Rock hour at 8 p.m. was eliminated, replaced with additional hip-hop shows. Each of MTV2's regular music shows also received new opening themes and transitions. Another programming change was the return of MTV2 Premiere, which aired a brand new music video at the top of every hour on Thursdays in 2001 and 2002. The new MTV2 Premiere was named Unleashed and began taking place on Tuesdays.Some new non-music video shows were also added to the schedule. On March 11, 2005, MTV2 premiered a block of shows called Sic 'Em Friday
Sic 'Em Friday
Sic 'Em Friday and Sic'emation are blocks of programming on MTV2. Each block is dedicated to airing "outrageous" shows, either of the live-action or animated variety. They lasted from 2005 to 2006.-How it started:...
, at the time featuring Wildboyz
Wildboyz
Wildboyz is a spin-off and follow-up to Jackass, which debuted in 2003 on MTV and moved to MTV2 in its third season. Steve-O and Chris Pontius are the stars of the show, who perform stunts and acts with animals, often putting themselves in situations for which they are not trained...
, which was previously aired on MTV but moved to MTV2, as well as brand new series Team Sanchez, Stankervision
Stankervision
Stankervision is a sketch-comedy program, created by Waco O'Guin and Roger Black, that aired on MTV2. It premiered July 8, 2005 as part of the channel's "Sic 'Em Friday" programming block. Stankervision is a repackaged version of "The DAMN! Show", a sketch comedy show that was created in Athens,...
, and Wonder Showzen
Wonder Showzen
Wonder Showzen is an American sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by John Lee and Vernon Chatman of PFFR. The show is rated TV-MA....
, and repeats of The Andy Milonakis Show
The Andy Milonakis Show
The Andy Milonakis Show is an American sketch comedy television show starring Andy Milonakis, which aired on MTV2, the first season having aired on MTV...
that originally aired on MTV during its first season.
On June 11 and 12, 2005, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Foo
24 Hours of Foo
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Foo was a live special on MTV2 hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters, which aired on June 11 and 12, 2005. It was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love, a live special hosted by Courtney Love that the channel aired in 2002....
, a live special hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, which was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love
24 Hours of Love
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Love was a special programming stunt that aired live starting on September 21, 2002 on MTV2. The official premise of the show was that rock star Courtney Love would do a live broadcast for 24 hours in a row, and that she would be in full control of the programming on MTV2...
, a live special hosted by Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
that the channel aired in 2002.
In February 2008, during black-history month, MTV2 made the effort to glamorize the African-American influence in America by eliminating almost all non-black music and reality programming. In fact, MTV2, regardless of programming, changed the color of the two-headed dog logo to black throughout the entire month.
Previous trends continue
As 2006 began, most of MTV2's programming continued moving with the general trend that had already started years earlier. Despite the removal of MTV's famous block logo from MTV2's logo in 2005, the channel increased its ties to MTV, airing a broader selection of repeats of other MTV shows that fit in with the "outrageous" theme, as well as some others with no certain theme.The channel's focus on non-music video programming continued, with most promotion centered around its Sic 'Em Friday
Sic 'Em Friday
Sic 'Em Friday and Sic'emation are blocks of programming on MTV2. Each block is dedicated to airing "outrageous" shows, either of the live-action or animated variety. They lasted from 2005 to 2006.-How it started:...
block of "outrageous" shows, consisting of Wildboyz
Wildboyz
Wildboyz is a spin-off and follow-up to Jackass, which debuted in 2003 on MTV and moved to MTV2 in its third season. Steve-O and Chris Pontius are the stars of the show, who perform stunts and acts with animals, often putting themselves in situations for which they are not trained...
and Team Sanchez in a season beginning January 6, 2006, as well as The Andy Milonakis Show
The Andy Milonakis Show
The Andy Milonakis Show is an American sketch comedy television show starring Andy Milonakis, which aired on MTV2, the first season having aired on MTV...
and Wonder Showzen
Wonder Showzen
Wonder Showzen is an American sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by John Lee and Vernon Chatman of PFFR. The show is rated TV-MA....
in a season beginning March 31, 2006.
On June 10, 2006, the network premiered a related block of animated shows called Sic'emation, featuring new episodes of Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
, two new animated series (Where My Dogs At?
Where My Dogs At?
Where My Dogs At? was an animated program created by Aaron Matthew Lee and Jeffrey Ross that aired on MTV2 as part of its Sic'emation lineup.-Plot:...
and The Adventures of Chico and Guapo
The Adventures of Chico and Guapo
The Adventures of Chico and Guapo is a show that aired originally on MTV2's Sic 'Em Fridays, but currently it can be found on MTV Overdrive. Set in New York City, the show is about two interns trying to get ahead in the music business. Chico and Guapo work at Mr. Angelo's Recording Studio...
), as well as repeats of the classic MTV series Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
.
While music was still played on MTV2, the other programming on the network was given more airtime and promotion. In order to find music video programming to watch, viewers must know the schedule and check weekly listings. MTV2 does not promote most of its music video shows, and it does not directly inform viewers about the times in which music videos will be aired.
The music video programming that still aired on MTV2 remained stagnant in 2006. Each weekday, hour-long video countdowns of hits (Elite 8), hip-hop (Sucker Free), and rock (You Rock the Deuce, formerly known as T-Minus Rock) air primarily during the early morning hours, aside from (Sucker Free) which airs during primetime hours. The Unleashed video premiere was moved to Mondays. At the end of each week, an hour-long rock countdown and two-hour hip-hop countdown are aired, along with Sucker Free, Headbangers Ball, and Subterranean, which have remained in the same time slots since their debuts in 2003. The weekend rock countdown later evolved into Saturday Rock the Deuce, during which MTV2 plays seven or eight of the same videos from one week to the next, but was later moved to late Saturday nights.
Recent activity
Without a flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
show or any specific direction, MTV2 remains a mixture of music-related programming and non-music programming aimed at the 12-34 year old male and female audience. In recent years, MTV2 has stalled most of its original programming, instead choosing to play repeated programs from MTV and other channels for most of its broadcast schedule. Music video programming on the channel is rare, as it is with MTV, likely thanks to the immediacy and convenience of watching music videos on the Internet. Notable music-related programming changes on MTV2 and exceptions to the rule are listed as follows.
Less music, more music
Music programming on MTV2 took a hit in February 2007 when the network fired all of its production staff. The production staff operated the MTV2 studio and all segments with VJs and/or interviews with artists. As a result of the firings, all of MTV2's music programming, including Sucker Free, Headbangers Ball, and Subterranean, were transitioned to a simple block of music videos, no longer featuring any VJ segments.Later in 2007, MTV2 devoted Saturday evenings to rock music. The network introduced a Rock Block which is now known as "Saturday Drop A Deuce" that was shown Saturdays at 10:00 P.M., featuring hard rock and past grunge bands like Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
, Silverchair
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
and Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, similar to a Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
radio station. Following Saturday Drop A Deuce was Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball is a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV2, MTV Australia, MTV Two , MTV Adria , MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV...
. Initially, such blocks of programming were shown during the primetime hours on Saturdays, but currently the block is shown on late Saturday evenings starting at 10:00 P.M. However, MTV2 viewers residing in the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
and receiving the channel via direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
will see this block in the primetime hours, as their satellite service will most likely pick up the MTV2 feed from the Eastern Time Zone, in which MTV2 bases its scheduled times for its programming.
The network also continued to air blocks of videos known simply as AMTV, featuring a pre-determined playlist of predominantly current videos with occasional MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
segments, during the overnight and early morning hours, usually between 3:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. ET. Other formats in which MTV2 played music videos included a 30-minute block of videos simply titled Music Videos that aired some early mornings and late nights, as well as the No Break Video Hour, a music video block that excluded commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
as mentioned in the title shown Tuesdays through Thursdays at 10:00 A.M.
Revisiting live broadcasts
MTV2 gave the cast of Human Giant free rein of the channel in May 2007 for an event called Human Giant: 24, allowing them to program the channels and host from MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Times Square studios as they see fit for 24 hours, from noon
Noon
Noon is usually defined as 12 o'clock in the daytime. The word noon is also used informally to mean midday regarding the location of the sun not the middle of a persons day. Although this is a time around the middle of the day when people in many countries take a lunch break...
on Friday, May 18 to noon
Noon
Noon is usually defined as 12 o'clock in the daytime. The word noon is also used informally to mean midday regarding the location of the sun not the middle of a persons day. Although this is a time around the middle of the day when people in many countries take a lunch break...
on Saturday, May 19. Notable guests included Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
and Bill Hader
Bill Hader
William "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...
from Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Will Arnett
Will Arnett
William Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...
, Michael Cera
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
, Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk
Robert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...
, Michael Showalter
Michael Showalter
Michael English Showalter is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is a member of the sketch comedy trio Stella. Showalter first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995...
, Todd Barry
Todd Barry
-Biography:Barry was born in The Bronx, New York, and grew up in Florida. In 1999, his Comedy Central Presents aired. He wrote, directed and starred in the short film Borrowing Saffron , which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin. He has made a variety of guest appearances on shows like Dr...
, Zach Galifianakis
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
, Tapes 'n Tapes
Tapes 'n Tapes
-History:Formed in the winter of 2003 at Carleton College, the band has released four albums. First came the self-released Tapes 'n Tapes EP in 2004, followed by the full-length release, The Loon, on Ibid Records in 2005. The band signed to XL Recordings and re-released The Loon on July 25, 2006...
, and Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
. The live event was the successor to 24 Hours of Love
24 Hours of Love
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Love was a special programming stunt that aired live starting on September 21, 2002 on MTV2. The official premise of the show was that rock star Courtney Love would do a live broadcast for 24 hours in a row, and that she would be in full control of the programming on MTV2...
in 2002, 24 Hours of Foo
24 Hours of Foo
__FORCETOC__24 Hours of Foo was a live special on MTV2 hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters, which aired on June 11 and 12, 2005. It was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love, a live special hosted by Courtney Love that the channel aired in 2002....
in 2005, and a subsequent Jackass special on MTV in early 2008. Since then, there have been no other large-scale live broadcasts on MTV2.
More of the same
Music programming was briefly expanded in June 2007, and music videos were seen through much of the day throughout the week. In fact, from 4:30 p.m. on June 29, 2007, to 1:00 a.m. on early July 1, 2007, MTV2 played strictly music videos, whether a general block of videos or a specific genre-based block such as Headbangers BallHeadbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball is a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV2, MTV Australia, MTV Two , MTV Adria , MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV...
(heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
) or Sucker Free
Sucker Free
Sucker Free, known as Sucker Free Daily on weekdays and then Sucker Free Countdown on Sundays, is MTV2's sole hip-hop video block. Previously, Sucker Free aired weekdays for one hour, then eventually sporadically until the week leading to February 28, 2010. Sucker Free Countdown, its 2 hour top 15...
(hip-hop), for 33 hours and 30 minutes. Throughout the month of July 2007, MTV2 broadcast music video programs during primetime Mondays through Thursdays in its efforts to play more music. In February 2008, MTV2 replaced the 10 p.m. Eastern rebroadcast of Elite 8 with a standard block of music videos.
The year 2008 saw a decreased availability for MTV2, as both the Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
cable service and Cox
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
cable service moved the channel from their widely received analog cable services to a digital cable line-up. This, however, is part of a larger initiative by the cable companies to move all of their non-must-carry
Must-carry
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Canada :...
channels from analog cable to digital by 2010.
During the latter days of June 2008, MTV2 had a "mini-relaunch" of sorts. The MTV2 dog logo now remains a constant color throughout the weekdays (black on gold/yellow), turning black and white on Saturdays, a light and dark blue on Sundays, and the occasional nationality flag when Wildboyz comes on. In addition, all music videos are credited in a consistent format of text. Status messages have been moved from the middle of the screen to a quote box coming from the left dog's mouth. Also, the "sharts" that introduce the beginning of a show have been replaced with a more formal display, as it had been with tour dates. Recently they have been showing more music at late nights and early mornings.
On June 2, 2009 MTV2 added the MTV Playback line-up Fridays at 1:00am which aired episodes of Ren and Stimpy, The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
and The State
The State (TV series)
The State is a half-hour sketch-comedy television show, originally broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993 and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience...
. It also premiered the new series MTV2 Legit which is a compilation of classic cartoons, skits, reality and music videos from MTV during the 1990s. It only lasted for the summer of 2009.
Since early 2010, MTV2 has been cutting down in its amount of music videos and is now focusing more on re-aired and original programming.
As of 2011, music programming has remained the same on MTV2, airing only between 3am-8am (AMTV
AMTV
For the Ladytron song of the same name, see Witching HourAMTV is a television program on MTV in the United States, first aired unofficially as a sneak preview on March 26, 2009, and launched officially on March 30, 2009...
2).
As of July 21, 2011 Jose Mangin took over as host of Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball is a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV2, MTV Australia, MTV Two , MTV Adria , MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV...
which is now a web only show.
As of July 31, 2011 (1AM ET), Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield is a music personality and TV host, best known for being a video deejay on MTV and VH1. He currently lives in Harrison, New Jersey having previously resided in East Brunswick Township...
returns to host the newly revived 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
which will be called "120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield." The series will air monthly, not weekly. 120 Seconds, a shortened web only version, will air all other weeks on MTVhive.com.
International versions
In addition to the original MTV2 channel in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, there have been a number of other MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
channels around the world known as MTV2.
- EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
: MTV Two, which focused solely on alternative rock and indie, broadcasted from LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It is now called MTV Rocks. - CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: MTV2 in Canada is very similar to its American counterpart, however it does have VJs who host shows such as MTV2 Videos (music videos). The previous Canadian version of MTV2 was replaced by PunchMuchPunchMuchJuicebox is a Canadian English language Category B music video specialty channel owned by Bell Media.Juicebox is a commercial-free service that broadcasts music videos aimed at kids, specifically, pre-teens...
in June 2005. The original MTV2 featured a non-stop freeform mix of music videos as well as a select amount of concert performances. - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: A version of MTV2 was replaced by NickNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
in September 2005. Unlike the original, MTV2 PopMTV2 PopMTV2 Pop was a German music channel. It launched on 1 May 2001, taking over the transponder left by the analogue service of MTV UK and Ireland when it closed down. It replaced VH1 Germany...
was a mainstream channel. However, MTV Two is being offered by several pay-TV services.
See also
- List of DirecTV channels
- List of Dish Network channels
- List of former The Box/MTV2 broadcast affiliates
- List of MTV channels
- List of MTV2 broadcast affiliates
- List of programs broadcast by MTV2
- MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
- MTV HitsMTV HitsMTV Hits is an American music video channel that debuted on May 1, 2002. The format of the network resembles that of the classic MTV before the additional of other programming to that network in the 1990s and their slow decline of music video programming...
- MTV JamsMTV JamsMTV Jams is a Viacom-owned American hip-hop/urban music video channel that debuted on 1998 as MTVX, then was relaunched in 2002 under its current name...
- MTVXMTVXMTVX was a Viacom-owned American rock music video channel. MTVX was available exclusively on digital cable packages or satellite TV providers, being the first network of the "MTV Networks Digital Suite".- Format :...