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 analog cable lineups across the nation. The channel is also broadcast over-the-air in selected markets where the former all-request music channel known as The Box was broadcast.

Launched on August 1, 1996, the original purpose of the channel was to give music fans a place to see constant, commercial-free music videos, once the original MTV had started to change its direction from music and concentrate on reality television and soap operas. Today, MTV2 airs a selection of music videos, other music-related specials, and non-music shows focused on youth culture and pop culture. These shows are aimed at viewers in their teens and early 20s.

The beginning of MTV2[link]

MTV2 was originally known as just M2 until the first quarter of 1999. M2 began broadcasting on August 1, 1996^[1]—MTV's 15th anniversary—with Beck's "Where It's At" being the first video to air.^[2] M2 was created to show more alternative types of music and older music videos than regular MTV did in 1996, priding itself on being a diverse mix of all types of music.

In its first couple of years on the air, M2 was restricted to less widely available digital and satellite television, which limited its viewership to around 12 million viewers by 2000.^[3] M2 also broadcast live over the Internet during its early years, which means it was similarly ahead of its time in a period when few people had broadband Internet connections.^[1]

Original VJs and shows[link]

During the early years of the channel, the music videos ran on 8-hour rotations, so that the same block of videos repeated three times every day: from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and finally from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.. A new block would then start again at 6 a.m.. During these years, M2 only had three VJs: Jancee Dunn, Matt Pinfield, and Kris Kosach. They were rarely seen on screen. They hand-picked all of the music videos that were played for the eight hours every day. Throughout the next few years, Pinfield left to continue hosting shows on MTV and Kosach went on to host programs for TechTV, while Dunn remained at the channel through 2001. M2 was almost always just a random blend of music, though occasional themed specials were aired. One of the first ones was the Smashing Pumpkins Videography, in which all of the band's videos were played in chronological order. M2 would often invite musicians to hand pick blocks of videos or air hour-long blocks (which would eventually be known as Artist Collections) of videos by one band or musician. On January 1, 1999, the channel played the music video "1999" by Prince continuously all that day.^[4]

A–Z video marathon[link]

Starting on January 1, 2000, in honor of the millennium, MTV2 attempted to play every music video in the MTV library in alphabetical order.^[3] While a majority of videos were played, many were skipped over. The special ended in mid-April 2000.^[4]

MTV2's first relaunch[link]

In 1997, Viacom, MTV and MTV2's parent company, bought out the independent, viewer-requested "jukebox" music video channel known as The Box.^[5] Starting on January 1, 2001, all households that had received The Box began to receive MTV2 in its place, putting the channel into millions of additional households. MTV2 also began adding television commercials to its broadcasts; beforehand, cable or satellite providers interrupted MTV2's feed to insert their own ads.^[4] MTV2 also began to separate the types of videos it played by genre. Hip-hop and soul music (hosted by a new VJ, Steph Lova) was played for an hour every weekday at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Rock music played every weekday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. (hosted by another new VJ: former K-Rock and then-WXRK radio DJ Chris Booker).

A new show hosted by Jancee Dunn called MTV2 Request aired every weekday between 11 a.m. and 12 a.m. and again between 11 p.m. and midnight. All of the videos played on MTV2 Request were selected by online viewer requests.^[6] Another new show called Control Freak began in 2001, airing weekdays from 8 to 9 p.m. It used real-time viewer voting to select the next video to be played on the channel (out of three choices), while the current video was playing.^[7] The majority of the daytime schedule still featured a somewhat diverse mix of rap, rock, and pop, and new and old videos. By 2003, the network had 50 million subscribers in the United States.^[8]

Next set of VJs and shows[link]

In late 2001, MTV2 held auditions for new VJs. Steph Lova, Jancee Dunn, Chris Booker, and Dave Holmes all disappeared. They were 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 p.m. every weekday afternoon), Quddus (a regular MTV VJ, who would host MTV2 Soul, which would air between 9 and 11 a.m. every weekday), and La La & DJ Clue (both of whom would host MTV2 Hip-Hop, which was played between 10 p.m. and midnight every weeknight).

During the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve of 2001, MTV2 claimed to play every video that had debuted on the channel during the entire year of 2001, Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day, alphabetically by video title. As had happened with the marathon of all music videos in 2000, several videos were skipped over as a result of unfortunate scheduling and an overemphasis on fitting in commercials.

With the start of 2002, MTV2's block of techno and dance music, AMP, which had aired Sunday nights between 10 p.m. 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 a.m..

Around this time, 120 Minutes, was moved to Sunday nights between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Jim Shearer also took over hosting duty from Kevin Dunn.

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 p.m., and it 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 remained through the end of 2003.

Special programming[link]

In April 2002, MTV2 created a special program, MTV's Most Controversial Videos, to complement an MTV News documentary on the subject. The two-hour documentary on MTV was rated TV-14 and hosted by MTV News reporters Iann Robinson and SuChin Pak. MTV2 aired the top 20 videos in full, many of which were previously banned from MTV, in a three-hour late-night special, rated TV-MA and hosted by Andrew W.K.. In addition to playing the top 20 videos that were discussed on MTV's special, which included The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", Pearl Jam's "Jeremy", Eminem's "Stan"," Nine Inch Nails' "Closer", and Madonna's "Justify My Love", MTV2 played Björk's "Pagan Poetry", Metallica's "Turn the Page", Aphex Twin's "Come To Daddy", The Cardigans' "My Favourite Game," and U.N.K.L.E.'s "Rabbit In Your Headlights" as bonus controversial videos.^[9]

During the Memorial Day weekend of 2002, MTV2 played a special called Increase The Beat. DJ Paul Oakenfold hosted the special and played videos from such artists as Fatboy Slim, Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z. The videos were arranged in order from slowest to fastest, based on the number of beats per minute of the song.^[10]

MTV2's next major special programming came during the Fourth of July weekend in 2002. For the entire four-day extended holiday weekend, MTV2 aired a special called Box Set Weekend. The channel 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 then had the highest concentration of non-video programming on the channel.

Prior to that weekend, non-video programming and specials were few and far between, and were never longer than 30 minutes at a time. Box Set Weekend began the trend for MTV2 to play fewer music videos and more archived MTV specials, which may have annoyed and alienated some of MTV2's original viewers, who had initially tuned in just to see the videos, without having to sit through documentaries and interviews which could already be seen on MTV and VH1. However, it was said that MTV2's ratings increased as a result of their incorporation of documentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes specials along with music videos.

On August 24, 2002, MTV2 aired an 18 hour long special called VMA Winners, which aired the most memorable winning videos from the entire history of MTV's Video Music Awards, in anticipation of the award show on August 29, 2002. Each hour was dedicated to a certain year of the awards, beginning at 6 a.m. ET with 1984 and ending at the 11 p.m. ET hour with 2001. Approximately nine videos were shown per hour from each year. MTV2 VJs Jim Shearer and Abby Gennet hosted the special, contributing three segments per hour. Either Shearer or Gennet hosted the first two segments per hour, then they joined each other for the third segment, in order to switch off hosting duties for the next hour. By the end of the special, the music videos for more than 160 past VMA winners were shown. MTV2 aired similar specials in 2003 and 2004, hosted solely by Jim Shearer and incorporating the additional years of VMA winners.

Experimental programming[link]

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

On September 21, 2002, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Love, a live special hosted by Courtney Love. For the special, Love took control of MTV2's airwaves for 24 hours, playing a selection of videos that she wanted to see, taking calls from viewers, and inviting guests into the studio.

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 p.m., 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. Since then, the show had nearly 50 episodes. Some of the final themes were videos featuring Snoop Dogg, videos featuring motorcycles, and videos by musicians who have famous fathers, in honor of Fathers' Day 2003. The final episode of The Definitive aired on September 14, 2003 showcasing videos that featured rooftops.

Near the end of the year, MTV2 also began to play Retro Videos weekdays between 7 and 8 a.m. This evolved into a show that was later called Back In Play, which also aired between 2 and 3 p.m., and with each of the two hours being a completely different block of older videos that were not currently on MTV or MTV2's playlist. In December 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.

Major format evolution[link]

Through the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, MTV2 phased out the format of exclusively music videos, instead adopting a new slogan, "Where the music's at," and featuring other music-related shows instead of 24/7 videos. Past MTV Icon specials, news documentaries, and countdowns were all as likely to be shown on MTV2 as videos. However, MTV2 still continued to show innovative and up-and-coming musicians and videos, as well as mainstream videos.

New rock/hip-hop shows[link]

MTV2's 2003 schedule included some changes from 2002. Jesse Snider, son of Twisted Sister's Dee Snider was selected as the host of MTV2 Rock, replacing Abby Gennet. In addition, MTV2 Rock was reduced to one hour per day, and hip-hop related programming was expanded to 5 hours per day. Much of the daily schedule was occupied by other music-related specials and documentaries, with random-rotation music videos occupying only the late-night hours. Other new programming included Track 2, a series going "behind the scenes" of music videos, and Nose Dive, profiling past popular artists.^[11]

In April 2003, MTV2 aired Madonna Weekend, a special that commemorated Madonna's new album at the time, American Life.^{[citation needed]} The network showed classic MTV specials and interviews featuring Madonna, as well as a four-hour collection of Madonna videos called Madonna A-Z. The weekend ended on Sunday, April 20, with the premiere of The Definitive: Madonna. It was the first episode of The Definitive to be 2 hours, and it was completely determined by online viewer voting at MTV2.com. Madonna's controversial "Erotica" video was voted into the number one spot. Although MTV originally banned the video from its airwaves, MTV2 played the video uncensored and in its entirety.

In May 2003, the long-running alternative music show 120 Minutes, which started on MTV in 1986 and moved to MTV2 at the end of 2000, came to an end with a final episode, featuring host Jim Shearer interviewing former hosts Matt Pinfield and Dave Kendall. After the final episode, the series was renamed to Subterranean and given a shorter 60-minute format. The series also moved from Sunday to Friday nights.

Also in May 2003, MTV2 resurrected the old MTV show Headbangers Ball, which featured a wide array of heavy metal and hard rock music videos.^[11] Metallica hosted the first episode,^[12] followed by Rob Zombie for the next few weeks.^{[13][14][15][16]} Jamey Jasta from the band Hatebreed was then selected as host of the show, though touring responsibilities prevented Jasta from hosting on several occasions. The show was preceded on Saturdays by MTV2 Rock Countdown with Jesse Snider and other rock-related music specials and documentaries.

In June 2003, MTV2 began an 8-hour block of hip-hop programming on Sundays called Sucker Free Sunday. Each week, a different guest host served up Artist Collections, countdowns, and other hip-hop music specials.^[11] In July of that year, the channel also introduced a new advertising campaign—aimed at differentiating itself from its parent network, MTV—featuring The Talking Baby, a foul-mouthed baby doll operated by Charlotte-based comedian Sean Keenan.^[17]

Around this time, MTV2 sponsored two albums in the MTV2 Album Covers series, in which a band covers another band's songs. The first was Dashboard Confessional/R.E.M.,^[18] and the second was Guster/Violent Femmes.^[19]

Show cancellations[link]

During the fall of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, MTV2 once again updated its schedule to include more genre-separated blocks and less variety. The popular show Control Freak, which allowed viewers to vote for the next video they wanted to see, was cancelled from its daily 2-hour time slot from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and moved to one half-hour seen only on Tuesday. Other daily shows like Back in Play and Latest & Greatest, which featured a mix of new and old videos, were also cancelled.

As part of this transition, MTV2 Rock was moved to a half-hour at 8 p.m., followed by a daily half-hour version of Headbangers Ball. MTV2's daily Hip-Hop Show was expanded further, airing the newest hip-hop hits every day from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the same videos played again from 10 p.m. to midnight. A new show called Greatest Hits replaced Artist Collections, so MTV2 could play only the particular artist's best videos instead of every video that they ever made. The arrival of the new Greatest Hits show meant MTV2's popular The Definitive was cancelled as well. Around this time, MTV2's daytime schedule halted regular music video rotation. As a result, music-related specials and documentaries were scheduled for daytime on MTV2.

In the spring of 2004, MTV2 ended its contract with Jesse Snider. Jim Shearer remained with the channel and also picked up hosting duties for all rock shows previously hosted by Jesse. Jamey Jasta remained the host of Headbangers Ball. Around this time, MTV2 also welcomed Amanda Diva as its new hip-hop VJ.

End of freeform format[link]

In the summer of 2004, MTV2's daily schedule became almost completely occupied by repeats of MTV's documentaries, reality shows, and even some classics such as Beavis and Butt-head. Only some music video programming remained, including a daily MTV2 Hip-Hop hour at 6 p.m. and an MTV2 Rock hour at 8 p.m.

At this time, MTV2's freeform music video format, which featured a diverse mix of new and old videos from all genres since the channel's beginning, completely ended. Even during MTV2's late night Music Videos rotation (4 a.m. to 7 a.m.), a programmed playlist determined the videos that were to be played. As 2004 came to a close, MTV2 made very little changes to its programming, with non-music shows and documentaries continuing to occupy most of the daily schedule.

MTV2's second relaunch[link]

During the halftime of Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005, both MTV and MTV2 aired a 15-minute preview of MTV2's second relaunch, which took place at midnight on February 7, 2005. The purpose of this relaunch was to create a unique brand identity for MTV2, targeting 12-34 year old male viewers and separating the channel from being perceived as simply an MTV spin-off.

The two-headed dog[link]

The relaunch of the channel also brought the introduction of a completely new logo: a two-headed dog. The previous boxes logo and MTV's famous block logo were eliminated from the new MTV2 logo, implying that the new channel would be nothing like the current MTV. Billboard Radio Monitor reported that the two heads of the dog were made to represent rock and hip-hop, the two sides of music on MTV2.^[20]

Also as part of the relaunch, MTV2 added "sharts" (nonsensical video clips from old B-movies, as well as short clips collected from the Internet and others created in-house) between normal video rotation, commercial breaks, and at the top of each hour. These clips began to serve as station IDs for the new MTV2 and were most likely intended to present a random, "anything goes" attitude for the channel. Although Viacom, MTV2's parent company, denied any influence from competing music video channel Fuse, the attitude and identity associated with Fuse most likely played a part in the decision to relaunch MTV2 and add these random clips. Sharts mostly played before Sic' Em Fridays during the show before it.

All original shows that were made after the relaunch were given new opening themes with "sharts" as well. Throughout each opening sequence, pieces of broken bars appear all around the screen and eventually, at the end of the random video clip, form into a bar in the center that reads the name of the show.

The channel also introduced a new way to credit videos. At the beginning and end of each video, three large, brightly colored bars (either blue, yellow or pink) would appear in the middle of the screen which display the video's information, rather than the traditional MTV style of small white letters in the lower left corner. Also during each show, MTV2's two-headed dog logo would change colors, and a large bar would appear in the middle of the screen to inform the viewer of what program is being shown. During regular music video rotation, random comments such as "Stop thinking about your hair", "Never fear them", and "Envy is admiration turned upside down" would appear. The new video credits and show information bars were met with mixed reviews from viewers.

Post-relaunch shows[link]

MTV2's VJs remained the same after the relaunch, and there were only a few programming changes. Each day's schedule remained mostly full of music documentary shows and other non-music shows. The daily MTV2 Rock hour at 8 p.m. was eliminated, replaced with additional hip-hop shows. Each of MTV2's regular music shows also received new opening themes and transitions. Another programming change was the return of MTV2 Premiere, which aired a brand new music video at the top of every hour on Thursdays in 2001 and 2002. The new MTV2 Premiere was named Unleashed and began taking place on Tuesdays.

Some new non-music video shows were also added to the schedule. On March 11, 2005, MTV2 premiered a block of shows called Sic 'Em Friday, at the time featuring Wildboyz, which was previously aired on MTV but moved to MTV2, as well as brand new series Team Sanchez, Stankervision, and Wonder Showzen, and repeats of The Andy Milonakis Show that originally aired on MTV during its first season.

On June 11 and 12, 2005, MTV2 aired 24 Hours of Foo, a live special hosted by the rock band Foo Fighters, which was very similar in concept to 24 Hours of Love, a live special hosted by Courtney Love that the channel aired in 2002.

In February 2008, during black-history month, MTV2 eliminated almost all non-black music and reality programming. In fact, MTV2, regardless of programming, changed the color of the two-headed dog logo to black throughout the entire month.

Previous trends continue[link]

As 2006 began, most of MTV2's programming continued moving with the general trend that had already started years earlier. Despite the removal of MTV's famous block logo from MTV2's logo in 2005, the channel increased its ties to MTV, airing a broader selection of repeats of other MTV shows that fit in with the "outrageous" theme, as well as some others with no certain theme.

The channel's focus on non-music video programming continued, with most promotion centered around its Sic 'Em Friday block of "outrageous" shows, consisting of Wildboyz and Team Sanchez in a season beginning January 6, 2006, as well as The Andy Milonakis Show and Wonder Showzen in a season beginning March 31, 2006.

On June 10, 2006, the network premiered a related block of animated shows called Sic'emation, featuring new episodes of Celebrity Deathmatch, two new animated series (Where My Dogs At? and The Adventures of Chico and Guapo), as well as repeats of the classic MTV series Beavis and Butt-head.

While music was still played on MTV2, the other programming on the network was given more airtime and promotion. In order to find music video programming to watch, viewers must know the schedule and check weekly listings. MTV2 does not promote most of its music video shows, and it does not directly inform viewers about the times in which music videos will be aired.

The music video programming that still aired on MTV2 remained stagnant in 2006. Each weekday, hour-long video countdowns of hits (Elite 8), hip-hop (Sucker Free), and rock (You Rock the Deuce, formerly known as T-Minus Rock) air primarily during the early morning hours, aside from (Sucker Free) which airs during primetime hours. The Unleashed video premiere was moved to Mondays. At the end of each week, an hour-long rock countdown and two-hour hip-hop countdown are aired, along with Sucker Free, Headbangers Ball, and Subterranean, which have remained in the same time slots since their debuts in 2003. The weekend rock countdown later evolved into Saturday Rock the Deuce, during which MTV2 plays seven or eight of the same videos from one week to the next, but was later moved to late Saturday nights.

Recent activity[link]

Without a flagship show or any specific direction, MTV2 remains a mixture of music-related programming and non-music programming aimed at the 12-34 year old male and female audience. In recent years, MTV2 has stalled most of its original programming, instead choosing to play repeated programs from MTV and other channels for most of its broadcast schedule. Music video programming on the channel is rare, as it is with MTV, likely thanks to the immediacy and convenience of watching music videos on the Internet. Notable music-related programming changes on MTV2 and exceptions to the rule are listed as follows.

Less music, more music[link]

Music programming on MTV2 took a hit in February 2007 when the network fired all of its production staff. The production staff operated the MTV2 studio and all segments with VJs and/or interviews with artists. As a result of the firings, all of MTV2's music programming, including Sucker Free, Headbangers Ball, and Subterranean, were transitioned to a simple block of music videos, no longer featuring any VJ segments.^[21]

Later in 2007, MTV2 devoted Saturday evenings to rock music. The network introduced a Rock Block which is now known as "Saturday Rocks The Deuce" that was shown Saturdays at 10:00 P.M., featuring hard rock and past grunge bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Silverchair and Pearl Jam, similar to a Mainstream rock radio station. Following Saturday Rocks The Deuce was Headbangers Ball. Initially, such blocks of programming were shown during the primetime hours on Saturdays,^[22] but currently the block is shown on late Saturday evenings starting at 10:00 P.M.^[23] However, MTV2 viewers residing in the West Coast and receiving the channel via direct broadcast satellite will see this block in the primetime hours, as their satellite service will most likely pick up the MTV2 feed from the Eastern Time Zone, in which MTV2 bases its scheduled times for its programming.

The network also continued to air blocks of videos known simply as AMTV, featuring a pre-determined playlist of predominantly current videos with occasional MTV News segments, during the overnight and early morning hours, usually between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. ET. Other formats in which MTV2 played music videos included a 30-minute block of videos simply titled Music Videos that aired some early mornings and late nights, as well as the No Break Video Hour, a music video block that excluded commercials as mentioned in the title shown Tuesdays through Thursdays at 10:00 A.M.^[23]

Revisiting live broadcasts[link]

MTV2 gave the cast of Human Giant free rein of the channel in May 2007 for an event called Human Giant: 24, allowing them to program the channels and host from MTV's Times Square studios as they see fit for 24 hours, from noon on Friday, May 18 to noon on Saturday, May 19. Notable guests included Fred Armisen and Bill Hader from Saturday Night Live, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Showalter, Todd Barry, Zach Galifianakis, Tapes 'n Tapes, and Tegan and Sara. The live event was the successor to 24 Hours of Love in 2002, 24 Hours of Foo in 2005, and a subsequent Jackass special on MTV in early 2008. Since then, there have been no other large-scale live broadcasts on MTV2.^[24]

More of the same[link]

Music programming was briefly expanded in June 2007, and music videos were seen through much of the day throughout the week. In fact, from 4:30 p.m. on June 29, 2007, to 1:00 a.m. on early July 1, 2007, MTV2 played strictly music videos, whether a general block of videos or a specific genre-based block such as Headbangers Ball (heavy metal) or Sucker Free (hip-hop), for 33 hours and 30 minutes.^[25] Throughout the month of July 2007, MTV2 broadcast music video programs during primetime Mondays through Thursdays in its efforts to play more music. In February 2008, MTV2 replaced the 10 p.m. Eastern rebroadcast of Elite 8 with a standard block of music videos.

The year 2008 saw a decreased availability for MTV2, as both the Comcast cable service and Cox cable service moved the channel from their widely received analog cable services to a digital cable line-up. This, however, is part of a larger initiative by the cable companies to move all of their non-must-carry channels from analog cable to digital by 2010.^[26]

During the latter days of June 2008, MTV2 had a "mini-relaunch" of sorts. The MTV2 dog logo now remains a constant color throughout the weekdays (black on gold/yellow), turning black and white on Saturdays, a light and dark blue on Sundays, and the occasional nationality flag when Wildboyz comes on. In addition, all music videos are credited in a consistent format of text. Status messages have been moved from the middle of the screen to a quote box coming from the left dog's mouth. Also, the "sharts" that introduce the beginning of a show have been replaced with a more formal display, as it had been with tour dates. Recently they have been showing more music at late nights and early mornings.

On June 2, 2009 MTV2 added the MTV Playback line-up Fridays at 1:00am which aired episodes of Ren and Stimpy, The Young Ones and The State. It also premiered the new series MTV2 Legit which is a compilation of classic cartoons, skits, reality and music videos from MTV during the 1990s. It only lasted for the summer of 2009.

Since early 2010, MTV2 has been cutting down in its amount of music videos and is now focusing more on re-aired and original programming.

As of 2011, music programming has remained the same on MTV2, airing only between 3am-8am (AMTV2).

As of November 2011, (AMTV2) music programming is now all Hip-Hop. The only non hip-hop music programming on MTV-2 airing as of April 2012 is 120 Minutes.

As of July 21, 2011 Jose Mangin took over as host of Headbangers Ball which is now a web only show.

As of July 31, 2011 (1AM ET), Matt Pinfield returns to host the newly revived 120 Minutes which will be called "120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield." The series originally was set to air monthly, not weekly, but it is now weekly Fridays 6AM-8AM ET. 120 Seconds, a shortened web only version, will air all other weeks on MTVhive.com.

International versions[link]

In addition to the original MTV2 channel in the United States, there have been a number of other MTV Networks channels around the world known as MTV2.

• Europe: MTV Rocks, which focused solely on alternative rock and indie, broadcasted from London. It was called MTV Two.
• Canada: MTV2 in Canada is very similar to its American counterpart, however it does have VJs who host shows such as MTV2 Videos (music videos). The previous Canadian version of MTV2 was replaced by PunchMuch in June 2005. The original MTV2 featured a non-stop freeform mix of music videos as well as a select amount of concert performances.
• Germany: A version of MTV2 was replaced by Nick in September 2005. Unlike the original, MTV2 Pop was a mainstream channel. However, MTV Rocks is being offered by several pay-TV services.

See also[link]

• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels
• List of former The Box/MTV2 broadcast affiliates
• List of MTV channels
• List of MTV2 broadcast affiliates
• List of programs broadcast by MTV2
• MTV
• MTV Hits
• MTV Jams
• MTVX

References[link]

External links[link]

• MTV2
• Unofficial MTV2 Subterranean site

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Zane Lowe
Playing at Radio 1's Big Weekend
Birth name	Alexander Zane Reid Lowe
Born	(1973-08-07) 7 August 1973 (age 38) Auckland, New Zealand
Show	The Zane Lowe Show
Station(s)	BBC Radio 1
Time slot	7–9pm Mondays–Thursdays
Style	Disc Jockey
Country	United Kingdom
Children	Jackson and Lucius
Website	zanelowe.com

Zane Lowe (born Alexander Zane Reid Lowe on 7 August 1973) also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland,^[1] where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England.^[2] He presents BBC Radio 1's evening show, where he plays a variety of alternative music, including rock, punk, dance, drum and bass, and hip hop. He was also the presenter of the MTV Rocks show Gonzo, having been a former VJ on MTV since 1997, where he presented Brand:New.^[2] Lowe currently resides in London with his wife and two sons, Jackson and Lucius. He is best known for his boundless sycophancy.

Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1[link]

Lowe about to take the decks at a Radio 1 event in Preston

Lowe's radio show can be heard on Mondays to Thursdays from 7pm to 9pm. Past and present features on his show have included:

• On Mondays, Fresh Meat is where the show's chatroom rate three songs from three upcoming bands; the winning track is played throughout the rest of the week
• The Hottest Record In The World this week, where a song from a hotly-tipped band or new album is played
• Sunsetter where a more mellow track is played as the sun sets each night, (seasonal)
• Encore, when listeners can text in to request a repeat of a track that has already been played, the winning track being the track most requested. (discontinued)
• U-turns, a phone-in request slot (signified by 'the screech and the beat'), also discontinued (now 'What have we missed')
• Crowd Rocker, where an anthem from the past is played (discontinued)
• Mixtape, a ninety minute themed mix which only broadcasts to listeners in England while the rest of the UK do their regional shows (Discontinued)
• Live performances and interviews with bands and artists

Lowe reading the papers while sitting next to Edith Bowman at Glastonbury 2007.

Lowe's method of DJing is rather enthusiastic and fast-paced, similar to many hip hop DJs, with samples of radio stations, interview clips and Radio 1 stings thrown in between songs, along with the occasional sound of Lowe singing along to the music.

He is extremely dedicated to new music, and many of the bands or musicians who won Fresh Meat have gone on to be very successful; Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, The Killers, Editors, Kasabian, The Wombats and Kaiser Chiefs are examples of bands who have benefited.

Zane Lowe played "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley for the first time on radio. The song was frequently played on Radio 1 thereafter, helping it to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart on 2 April 2006. "Crazy" was the first song in British history to go to number one based on sales of legal downloads alone; the download was made available a week before physical copies went on sale. The song also featured in Zane Lowe's TV advert, which aired in early 2006.

Prior to Muse and Foo Fighters emerging onstage at their concerts at Wembley Stadium, Lowe 'entertained' the crowd on DJ decks. More recently Zane Lowe played a large role in the Festival/Large concert "Warrior's Dance" hosted by The Prodigy, and DJ'd two sets through the evening.

Masterpieces[link]

Between 2007 and 2011, one week of Zane Lowe's show was dedicated to albums considered 'masterpieces'. Each show focused on a different album which Lowe and his team considered to be a bonafide classic. The first half of the show was dedicated to interviews and an in-depth look at the album's cultural impact. In the second half of the show, the full unabridged album was played in its entirety, complete with gaps and no lyric censorship.

On 25 July 2011, his first show after the death of Amy Winehouse, Zane told listeners that he had intended to make her album Back to Black a Masterpiece of previous series, but was unable to secure an interview with the singer. Lowe also appeared alongside other music acts The Vaccines, Darwin Deez, Union and Doorly on 7 June 2011, and again alongside Biffy Clyro, Morning Parade and Doorly on 19 July 2011 at the Mallorca Rocks hotel in Magaluf, Mallorca for the event of the same name.

During the 21 November 2011 broadcast of 'Masterpieces' featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Lowe expressed his delight at securing the opportunity to play Siamese Dream in full, stating the album to be his favourite of all time.

On 24 November 2011, Zane Lowe announced that 2011 would be the final edition of 'Masterpieces', concluding the show with "Hallelujah" from Jeff Buckley's album Grace, stating that the idea of the feature originally came from the suggestion that the album Grace be played on the air from beginning to end.

[edit] Zane Lowe on MTV Two

Lowe started his career on MTV Two presenting shows such as Up 4 It (1997) and Brand:New (1999), and since 2002 he has presented Gonzo, its flagship music show, in which time the show has evolved from a two-hour random collection of presenting and clips, to a primetime (7pm) show featuring regular musical guests and interviews. The show is presented solely by Lowe, with the studio effectively being a blue screen and the infamous 'Brown Couch'. His presenting manner on Gonzo is more laid back than on his radio show. The show features music videos, along with news (usually ripped from the NME; Lowe can often be seen reading the news straight from the magazine) and input from the channel's message boards. The show also features mock interview done by a character called Ginger Bloke, in which popular musical artists are humorously "interviewed." Occasionally, moderators of the boards (chosen on Gonzo and by the members) contribute; one member even filled in for a week when Lowe was ill and unable to present. At Oxegen Festival 2006, Zane Lowe was reportedly "beaten up" by Didz Hammond and Carl Barat from Dirty Pretty Things on an episode of Gonzo. He has since said that the punch was in fact completely playful but unfortunately, and painfully, connected with his groin.^[10]

Ryan Jarman[link]

Zane Lowe saved Ryan Jarman's life at the 2006 NME Awards, an incident NME now refers to as "engraved in indie folklore".^[11] Ryan's band, The Cribs, accepted an award on behalf of winners, Franz Ferdinand. However, on his way to collect the trophy from presenter Russell Brand, Ryan dived onto the Kaiser Chiefs table and pierced his back with broken glass, narrowly missing his vital organs.^[11] He was quickly taken to hospital but discharged himself to return for the show's party later in the night. However, his injuries were severe and he fell unconscious in a back corridor. Luckily Zane Lowe, a fellow guest at the party, came across Ryan lying on the floor and discovered he was bleeding profusely. Zane raised the alarm and Ryan received urgently needed medical attention to stop internal bleeding.^[11]

Awards[link]

Both the Zane Lowe Show and Gonzo have won numerous awards including Best Radio Show and Best TV Show respectively at the NME Awards 2006. Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has jokingly referred to "The Best Radio Show" award as "The Zane Lowe Award" due to Lowe's repeated success. Lowe continues this success by winning the Best Radio Show NME award in the 2007 and 2008 Awards.

Lowe won the Gold Award in The Specialist Music Programme Award, and Music Broadcaster of the Year categories at the 2006, 2010 and 2011 Sony Radio Academy Awards.

References[link]