MTV (formerly an initialism of
Music Television) is an American
basic cable and satellite television
channel which is a part of the "Viacom Music and Entertainment Group" unit of the
Viacom Media Networks division of
Viacom, of which it is a subsidiary. The channel itself is headquartered in
New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys," or
VJs. The network's current target audience is teenagers and young adults, with programming consisting mainly of original
reality, comedy and drama programming and some off-network syndicated programs and films, along with limited
music video programming in off-peak time periods. In its early years, MTV's main target demographic were young adults, but today, MTV's programming is primarily targeted at teenagers, high school students and college-aged students.