MTV, originally short for Music Television, was launched as an American cable television channel. It is the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, a sub-division of Paramount Media Networks, which is part of Paramount Global.

Warner Communications spun-off Nickelodeon and MTV into a new public corporation called MTV Networks, now known as Paramount Media Networks.

Warner sold 31% of MTV Networks to Viacom.

MTV began its annual Spring Break coverage, broadcasting live from Daytona Beach, Florida, for a week in March.

During the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, comedian Andrew Dice Clay did his usual routine, after which the network executives imposed a lifetime ban.

MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called Choose or Lose, to encourage over 20 million people to register to vote, and the channel hosted a town hall forum for then-candidate Bill Clinton.

Adam Curry registered the domain name "MTV.com" with the idea of being MTV's unofficial new voice on the Internet.

MTV was selected to produce the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, airing on CBS and featuring Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Aerosmith.

A pilot for a show called Dude, This Sucks was cancelled after teens attending a taping at the Snow Summit Ski Resort in January 2001 were sprayed with liquidized fecal matter by a group known as "The Shower Rangers".

MTV was chosen to produce the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, with performances by such artists as Nelly, P. Diddy, Janet Jackson, and Justin Timberlake.

MTV launched MTV Desi, dedicated towards Indian Americans.

Along with VH1, MTV broadcast the Live 8 concerts, a series of concerts set in the G8 states and South Africa, on July 2, 2005.

MTV launched MTV Chi, which catered to Chinese Americans.

MTV launched MTV HD, a 1080i high-definition simulcast feed of MTV.

MTV launched MTV K, targeted toward Korean Americans.

Magyar Televízió, Hungary's public broadcaster who has a trademark on the initials MTV, registered with the Hungarian copyright office, sued the American MTV (Music Television) network for trademark infringement when the Hungarian version of the music channel was launched in 2007.

MTV Desi, MTV Chi, and MTV K ceased broadcasting.

MTV started using a updated and cropped version of its original logo for the 30 years during most of its on-air programming, starting with the premiere of the short-lived program FNMTV: Friday Night MTV.

MTV received significant criticism from Italian American organizations for Jersey Shore, which premiered in 2009.

MTV's updated logo officially debuted on its website.

During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Clay was in attendance where he confirmed that the channel lifted the ban.

MTV launched MTV Act and Power of 12, its current social activism campaigns.

Jersey Shore ended its six-season run.

MTV International rebranded its on-air look with a new vaporwave and seapunk-inspired graphics package.

MTV continued its pro-democracy campaign with Elect This, an issue-oriented look at the 2016 election targeting Millennials.

VH1 Classic was rebranded as MTV Classic. The channel's programming focused on classic music videos and programming (including notable episodes of MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers), but skews more towards the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

MTV was the principal founder of Vote Early Day. Initially, the primary target audience was young voters.

MTV began to use a revised logo in tandem with the 2010 version, doing away with the 3D effect inherited from its predecessors (much akin to the current MTV Video Music Awards variant).