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Bugles MTV's First Video

From Bruce Z – Mr. Pop – you said MTV wasn’t the first video channel? You’re the first.

Mr. Pop History – That’s right. Check my Mr. Pop archives. The first station to offer back-to-back videos was an Atlanta UHF station – way back in 1970.

Right before MTV – There was the Mid-West-based VideoMusic Channel – which provided music video programming on 35 to 40 cable systems in 21 markets.  It hit the air in April of 1981 – four months before MTV. And, it used more customized videos for its markets – and didn’t rely on national playlists as MTV did. The channel was based out of Indianapolis.