Happy Birthday MTV

Illustration of a pink frosted cake in the shape of an M with blue writing on the top and one blue lit candle. The cake sits on a white plate with blue circular edging. There is also a cut-out of the cake in the shape of an M that shows pink and beige layers.

This button was issued for the first anniversary of MTV in 1982. MTV stands for Music Television and is a cable channel that premiered on August 1, 1981. In its first several years, MTV primarily played music videos hosted by "VJs" or video jockeys. The first video shown on MTV was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Over the years MTV shifted toward more original programming primarily aimed at teenagers. By 2008, an average of just three hours of music videos were shown per day. MTV has aired video shows such as Total Request Live, the animated series Beavis and Butt-head and Daria, and concert shows MTV Unplugged and MTV First. One of MTV's most popular shows is the Video Music Awards, or VMAs.