MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to basic cable lineups across the nation. It is also broadcast over-the-air in some markets where the former all-request music channel known as The Box was broadcast. A European counterpart broadcasts from London in the United Kingdom, as does a Canadian version on digital cable and satellite, with a German version being closed down in September 2005. MTV2 began broadcasting on August 1, 1996—MTV's fifteenth anniversary—with the first video Beck's Where It's At. The purpose of the channel was to give music fans a place to see constant, commercial-free music videos, once the original MTV had started concentrating on reality television and soap operas.

New VJs and programming (2002)

In late 2001, MTV2 held auditions for new VJ's. Steph Lova, Jancee Dunn, and Chris Booker all disappeared, replaced with Jim Shearer, who would go on to become the "main" VJ, in the heavily genre-segregated MTV2; Abby Gennet, who began to host "MTV2 Rock," which was now being played between 3 and 5 PM every weekday afternoon; Quddus, a regular MTV VJ, who would host "MTV2 Soul," which would air between 9 and 11 AM every weekday; and La La & DJ Clue (a well known hip-hop mix DJ), both of whom would host "MTV2 Hip-Hop," which would be played between 10 PM and midnight every weeknight. Around this time 120 Minutes, a long-running show which featured exclusively independent, new, and groundbreaking musicians who typically are not ever heard on mainstream radio in America, was moved from its weekly timeslot of Sunday nights between 8 and 10 PM to Sunday nights between 11 PM and 1 AM. Jim Shearer also took over hosting duty from Jancee Dunn.

Related Topics:
Chris Booker - Jim Shearer - Abby Gennet - Quddus - 120 Minutes

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During the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve of 2001, MTV2 promised to play every video that had debuted on the channel during the entire year of 2001, Monday through Saturday between 10 AM and 8 PM each day, alphabteically by video title. As had happened with their previous attempt to do something similar, several videos were skipped over as a result of bad scheduling and an overemphasis on fitting in commercials.

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With the start of 2002, MTV2's block of techno and dance music, Amp, which had aired Sunday nights between 10 PM and midnight, was replaced by a show called MTV2 Dance. This became a three-hour block of dance and techno, which featured some more obscure music by little-known techno DJ's, but also incorporated the videos for mainstream, popular dance songs, by artists such as Amber and Kylie Minogue. The show also was known for playing dance remixes of pop videos, such as the Hex Hector Remix of Jennifer Lopez' "Waiting For Tonight," the Metro Remix of Enrique Iglesias' "Hero," and the Thunderpuss Remix of Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right, But It's OK." MTV2 Dance originally aired every Sunday morning between 1 and 4 AM.

Related Topics:
Amber - Kylie Minogue - Jennifer Lopez - Enrique Iglesias - Whitney Houston

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In spring of 2002, MTV2 altered its format once again. New shows such as Chart2Chart (hosted by Jim Shearer), which aired the most popular videos from the pop, rap, rock, and dance, singles and albums charts, began. "Spankin' New" was a show that featured the newest videos of the week, and "Extreme Rock" began to air late nights on weekdays, showcasing hard rock and metal music, such as Godsmack, Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Guns N' Roses. "Riffs & Rhymes," appeared on the daily weekday schedule between 5 and 6 PM, and featured videos and bands that combined the sounds of rock and rap music, such as The Roots, Linkin Park, P.O.D., and Limp Bizkit. Chris Booker, after only a brief absence from the channel, was brought back in order to host the show. "Riffs & Rhymes" only lasted until the summer of 2002, but "Extreme Rock," "Spankin' New," and "Chart2Chart" have remained to the present (2003).

Related Topics:
Jim Shearer - Pop - Rap - Rock - Dance - Singles - Album - Godsmack - Metallica - Iron Maiden - Guns N' Roses - The Roots - Linkin Park - P.O.D. - Limp Bizkit - 2002

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In March of 2002, in order to complement the MTV News's version of the documentary on the 20 most controversial music videos ever made, which was TV-14, and lasted two hours on regular MTV, which was hosted and reported by Iann Robinson and SuChin Pak, both of which are MTV News reporters, although MTV News reporter Pak remains as an active reporter as of June 17th, 2005. MTV2 then aired the full-length videos, many of which were previously banned from American cable television, in a three hour, late-night TV-MA-rated special, hosted by Andrew WK. In addition to playing the top 20 that were discussed on MTV's special, which included The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up," Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," Eminem's "Stan," and Madonna's "Justify My Love," MTV2 played Björk's "Pagan Poetry," Metallica's "Turn The Page," Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker," The Cardigans' "My Favorite Game," and U.N.K.L.E.'s "Rabbit In Your Headlight" as 'bonus' controversial videos.

Related Topics:
MTV News - Iann Robinson - SuChin Pak - Andrew WK - The Prodigy - Pearl Jam - Madonna - Björk - Metallica - Aphex Twin - The Cardigans - U.N.K.L.E.

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During Memorial Day Weekend of 2002, MTV2 played a special called "Increase The Beat." Over 400 music videos, ranging from pop stars like Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child, and Brandy, hip-hoppers like P. Diddy, Ja Rule, Dr. Dre, Usher, Missy Elliott, and DMX, techno and dance acts, such as Cher, Whitney Houston, the Chemical Brothers, and IIO, to punk bands, such as No Doubt, the Ramones, Blondie, and the Offspring, to classic videos by some of MTV's biggest stars, such as the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael and Janet Jackson, Prince, and Madonna, to new videos by then-unknown musicians like Norah Jones, the Nappy Roots, were represented. The videos were arranged in order from slowest to fastest, based on the number of beats per minute of the song. The slowest video played was Maxwell's "This Woman's Work," which was 55 BPM, while the fastest, Nine Inch Nails' "March Of The Pigs" was 255 BPM. "Increase The Beat" aired all day Saturday and Sunday. On Memorial Day itself, the MTV2 VJ's and employees broadcast live from a barbeque in New York City, and grouped videos into categories, one for each letter of the alphabet.

Related Topics:
Memorial Day - Pink - Jennifer Lopez - Destiny's Child - Brandy - P. Diddy - Ja Rule - Dr. Dre - Usher - Missy Elliott - DMX - Techno - Cher - Whitney Houston - Chemical Brothers - IIO - Punk - No Doubt - The Ramones - Blondie - The Offspring - Beastie Boys - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Michael - Janet Jackson - Prince - Norah Jones - Nappy Roots - Maxwell - Nine Inch Nails - New York

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MTV2's next major special programming came during Fourth Of July Weekend. For the entire four-day extended holiday weekend, MTV2 did something called "Box Set Weekend." They played an artist's "Artist Collection" (by this time there were around 100 episodes of Artist Collection), and then followed it by other MTV programming that featured the artist, such as Making The Video, Ultrasound, and/or a live performance, depending on what was available in the MTV archives. Although it was not the first time that MTV2 played programming other than music videos, "Box Set Weekend" had the highest concentration of non-video programming to date on the channel. Prior to that weekend, non-video programming and specials were few and far between, and were never longer than a half hour at a time. "Box Set Weekend" began the trend for MTV2 to play fewer music videos and more archived MTV specials, which has annoyed and alienated many of MTV2's original viewers who had initially tuned in just to see the videos, without having to sit through documentaries and interviews, which can already be seen on MTV and VH1. On the other hand, MTV2's ratings have increased as a result of their incorporation of documentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes specials, along with music videos.

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During the summer of 2002, MTV2 also experimented with MTV2 Dance's timeslot, airing the block twice a week: in its usual early Sunday morning slot between 1 and 4 AM, but also early Saturday morning between midnight and 3 AM. This only lasted for a couple of weeks, however, and by the fall of 2002 MTV2 Dance was cancelled entirely.

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In the fall of 2002, amid complaints that the channel was slowly following the same path that regular MTV had taken, away from music videos—especially older and rarer ones—MTV2 debuted a new weekly show called The Definitive. Its purpose was to showcase videos, many of which might not have otherwise still been played on MTV2, in themed blocks. It began airing on Sunday nights between 10 and 11, and showcased an hour of videos grouped by a different theme every week. Its first episode played all animated music videos such as "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and "Do The Evolution" by Pearl Jam. To date, the show has had nearly 40 episodes. Some of the most recent themes have been videos featuring Snoop Dogg, videos featuring motorcycles, and videos by musicians who have famous fathers, in honor of Fathers Day 2003.

Related Topics:
Definitive - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Pearl Jam - Snoop Dogg

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Around the same time that Definitive debuted, MTV2 also began to play "Retro Videos" weekdays between 7 and 8 AM. This evolved into a show that is currently called "Back In Play," which airs weekdays between 7 and 8 AM, and 2 and 3 PM, each of the two hours each day being a completely different block of only older videos that are not currently on MTV or MTV2's playlist. In December of 2002, MTV2 once again tried to air every video that debuted on the channel in 2002. As happened in the past, several videos were not actually played.

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