Video: 'The Very First Two Hours Of MTV'

(Saturday, August 1, 1981, 12:01 a.m. EDT) — MTV (originally an initialism of Music Television), an American cable channel based in New York City, launched early this morning, featuring rock music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.

The first music video on MTV, which at the time was available only to homes in New Jersey, was The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” It was followed by Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.”