1987-1996
1987
· MTV Europe launches at 12.01am on August 1st with Elton John flicking the switch in Amsterdam. The first video shown is ‘Money For Nothing’ by Dire Straits. The original line up of VJ’s includes presenters from Belgium, Denmark and France, as well as the UK’s Ray Cokes and Steve Blame. MTV Europe is immediately available in 1.6 million households!
1988
· MTV Europe celebrates its first birthday with 3.5 million subscribers and spreads to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece and Norway, with the Norway feed officially switched on by Jon Bon Jovi. By the end of the year MTV Europe is available in 6.7 million homes!
· Nickelodeon hosts the first Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
· Nick Jr launches in the US.
· MTV Europe unveils its new studios in Camden Town, London with a celebrity-packed party
1989
· Two years after launch, MTV Europe is available in more than 10 million homes across the Continent.
· MTV Europe broadcasts live from behind the iron curtain covering the Moscow Music Peace Festival from the Lenin stadium.
· MTV Europe launches in East Berlin, the very same day that the East German Cabinet quit amid mounting nationwide unrest. Within weeks the Berlin Wall was down.
1990
· A British winner gets to take home Madonna’s gold stage costume (featuring the infamous conical breasts) designed for her ‘Blonde Ambition Tour’ by Jean Paul Gaultier. A 50-year-old Yugoslavian wins Billy Idol’s Harley Davidson. Another competition sees us give away a radio station!
1991
· MTV celebrates its 10th Birthday with ‘MTV 10’ - a star-studded special featuring performances by Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael and R.E.M. MTV is now available in 27 countries across the globe.
· MTV Europe is now available in 25 million homes, becoming the first non-Soviet channel to be broadcast 24 hours a day in Russia.
· MTV starts its long-standing support of AIDS and HIV awareness initiatives with specially produced programming for World Aids Day. This is a cause that MTV still actively supports as a permanent, global initiative.
· Nickelodeon launches Nicktoons - original, creator-driven animation made especially for Nickelodeon.
1992
· The first MTV Movie Awards are held on September 10 at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
· MTV Europe is now the largest pan-European broadcaster.
1993
· Nickelodeon Magazine launches in April.
· Nickelodeon's first channel outside the USA, Nickelodeon UK launches on 1 September.
1994
· MTV Networks Europe launches a brand new music channel for the UK, VH1. Targeting an older audience of music-lovers than MTV, the channel is switched on by the artist formerly known as Prince at a star-studded party in London. The original line-up of presenters includes Paul King, Tommy Vance and Julia Carling. Within its first few months, VH1 has over 2 million viewers and remains the most successful UK cable and satellite launch ever!
· The first MTV Europe Music Awards are held at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on November 24, hosted by Tom Jones.
· Nickelodeon creates The Big Help, a public affairs initiative.
· Nickelodeon Publishing forms as a partnership with sister company Simon & Schuster.
1995
· Paramount Comedy launches in the UK.
· Nickelodeon forms Nickelodeon Movies in partnership with Paramount Pictures.
· MTV becomes the first broadcaster in Europe to digitally compress its signals.
1996
· Nickelodeon launches a spin-off channel, TV Land on April 29.
· MTV Europe reveals plans for regional expansion at the MIDEM conference in Cannes.
