I’m someone who grew up in the 1980s with two music channels: Super Channel and MTV. And yes, back in the ’80s and early ’90s, MTV was genuinely about music — something that was completely lost in the 2000s to vague programming.

So it’s a shame to see such an icon disappear, but in my view, MTV had already ended by the late ’90s.

We in the Netherlands are very lucky to still have our own big music television network on IPTV, and with an app for the TV. I think it is very important to have alternatives to the big players such as Vevo, and Youtube for music video streaming. I think the app isn’t region restricted in the EU, and anyone can try XITE out. Unfortunately the best memories of music television I have are from the 00s with TMF being my go-to channel back in the era of analog TV😆. I remember making mixtapes on VHS-tapes just like I did with cassettes from FM radio  📼 📻  They had entire programs in Dutch, and iconic Dutch presenters such as Fabienne, Saar, Nikkie and Valerio. R.I.P. The Music Factory, the Box, VH1 and now even MTV… There is literally almost nothing left on cable IPTV anymore...

Currently, there is actually no format like that of which I am aware: I mean, a TV station, on cable or YouTube, in which a presenter guides you through new releases, has interviews with artists, reports on festivals and plays interactive (game)shows with the audience. Things that come closest nowadays are probably channels that have the ‘visual radio’ format. Such as KEXP on YouTube, or ‘Tinydesk cocerts’ as a somewhat similar format to ‘MTV Unplugged’. What do you guys think? Am I missing something big here?😉

I did not watch much MTV when it was introduced, because I mainly cared for the audio side of music being an album listener and buyer. Watching TV for live music broadcasts of the Rockpalast shows on German WDR was my main TV activity back then. But sometimes I also watched documentaries about musicians and bands I liked. When MTV added more and more non-music content, I forgot about them completely.

Nowadays I watch those music documentaries on YouTube, also recordings of Rockpalast shows there. An exception was Pop around the clock on  German 3sat TV on New Year’s Eve where they start at 6:00am in the morning with live concerts the whole day. The good thing is you can also watch the concerts on-demand in their free online media library if you missed the live broadcast. This year my personal highlights were Pink Floyd’s legendary “Pulse” concert 1994 in London, David Gilmour 2024 in Rome and Marius Müller-Westernhagen 1989 in my hometown Hamburg.

ARTE Concert is another great YouTube channel for watching live concerts, and if you like Pink Floyd, their Pompeii concert got uploaded last week 😊 It is a very actively maintained channel with full concerts uploaded at least once a week. My favourite this month was Jean-Michel Jarre’s concert in Sevilla. The electronic pioneer is still going strong, and very productive. Harmonically more orchestrated and cinematic, but just as pioneering as Kraftwerk ‘robotic industrial techno sound’ was in my opinion.

So, there are indeed a lot of great channels on Youtube, and I find myself watching those old Rockpalast concerts on there too. On the subject of MTV, the last great MTV concert I watched was a Johnny Lang concert. I think John Mayer got a lot of inspiration from the guy😉

So you can watch ARTE TV in the Netherlands, too? I thought it would only be visible in France and Germany, but good for you. 👍 Oh, you said “on YouTube”, right. It is also one of my favorites if I ever want to see live music on the TV or their recommendations on YouTube.

Here is one YouTube recommendation I got about a BBC interview with Ray Cokes talking about the end of MTV:

Ray Cokes BBC Breakfast 31-12-2025 (End of MTV Europe) - YouTube

I grew up with MTV, discovering many artists and music, and fell in love with rock thanks to MTV.

Same, amazing videos growing up. November Rain from Guns N’ Roses was one of my favourites. 
MTV Awards shows, Unplugged, and later shows like Cribs, Pimp my Ride, Jackass, etc. Definitely fun to watch.
 

Rewind to the glory days of MTV with a free app

After the recent shutdown of MTV, a programmer using the pseudonym Flexasaurus Rex created a new application called MTV Rewind, allowing viewers to relive the glory days of the music video era. Its slogan is the classic “I Want My MTV”, which now seems to be becoming a reality once again…

Read the full article in the link below.

https://www.rockpages.gr/rewind-to-the-glory-days-of-mtv-with-a-free-app/?lang=en