MTV’S 40^th ANNIVERSARY: How Video (Sort Of) Killed the Radio Star. “At precisely 12:01AM on August 1, 1981, MTV, a.k.a. Music Television, began broadcasting via cable access for the first time. With opening shots of the Space Shuttle Columbia launch from April of the same year and of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, the inaugural episode kicked off with co-creator John Lack’s now-famous ‘Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll’ introducing the Buggles’ ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’ And, just like that, a revolution was started. Now, 40 years later, it is nearly impossible to overstate the impact this sea change had and continues to have in both music and TV.”