What happened to MTV? Go inside the network's rise and fall with this new podcast from Audacy

Audacy is proud to announce the launch of the new, 8-part Audacy Podcasts original series Who Killed the Video Star? The Story of MTV , exploring the cultural history, impact, and phenomenon of the legendary network from its rise and fall.

LISTEN NOW: Who Killed the Video Star: The Story of MTV

Throughout the limited series, former MTV VJ (1998-2002) and Esquire Editor-at-Large Dave Holmes will take fans on a trip over nearly four decades of music and pop culture while being joined by special guests including fellow former VJs “Downtown” Julie Brown , Damien Fahey , and Kevin Seal ; former MTV News correspondents Gideon Yago , Chris Connelly , and Suchin Pak ; Ridiculousness producer Shane Nickerson and host Rob Dyrdek , Eric Nies ( The Real World: New York ); former Viacom Music and Entertainment Group president Doug Herzog , Brian Graden , former president of Entertainment, MTV Networks Music Channels, Spandau Ballet ’s Gary Kemp , and more.

“In the ‘80s and ‘90s, MTV was a window into an alternate universe, one full of music and art and style and sex, that commanded the attention of my whole generation. At the turn of the millennium, I climbed through that window and worked there, and found myself surrounded with the smartest, hardest-working people on Earth, people who loved music and pop culture the way I did. MTV is still on the air in 2024, and it’s still profitable, but my nieces and nephews know it as a logo on an Urban Outfitters t-shirt. I wanted to know what happened, and where the spirit of MTV exists now. As I gathered the story, in real time, a few other bulletproof media brands– Vice, Pitchfork, Sports Illustrated, MTV News itself– went out of business. The story of MTV is a fascinating one in its own right, but it’s also turned out to be, in microcosm, the story of media in 2024,” said Dave Holmes.

Today, MTV has proven mortal after all. For nearly four decades MTV defined youth culture -- and now it's a shell of its former self. What happened? How did MTV build a brand that stayed relevant to young viewers for decades just to throw it all away?

Download the free Audacy app and follow along with Who Killed the Video Star? The Story of MTV -- now streaming .