I bring this up in honor of the 37 anniversary of MTV's birth (August 1, 1981). Please bare in mind, that I'm not necessarily referring to when you believe that MTV initially "jumped the shark" (i.e. "when they stopped playing music videos"). I'm referring to the moment that it became quite clear and apparent that was never ever going to be improve (of course this sort of opinion is kind of subjective) or be like it was quality-wise like its supposed '80s-'90s heyday. One suggestion that I read is that the reality show Laguna Beach signified the moment that MTV would never get out of its "network decay". It was shows like Laguna Beach that served as a symbol of the vapidness of youth culture in the 2000s.
Personally, I think what really "symbolically" killed MTV was the emergence of social media. To put things into perspective, a show like TRL was as huge as it was back in the late '90s-early 2000s because it was really the only true central hub of pop music and really pop culture. Now, celebrities have more readily available outlets to promote themselves through YouTube (which seriously hurt MTV's bottom-line form a video standpoint only because you no longer had to wade around hours at at time to catch your favorite video), Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Another confirmation of MTV never getting back to where it needs or should be was back in 2011, when it brazenly refused to acknowledge its 30th anniversary since it wanted to be eternally seen as solely a channel for "young people" (instead of their parents).
Personally, I think what really "symbolically" killed MTV was the emergence of social media. To put things into perspective, a show like TRL was as huge as it was back in the late '90s-early 2000s because it was really the only true central hub of pop music and really pop culture. Now, celebrities have more readily available outlets to promote themselves through YouTube (which seriously hurt MTV's bottom-line form a video standpoint only because you no longer had to wade around hours at at time to catch your favorite video), Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Another confirmation of MTV never getting back to where it needs or should be was back in 2011, when it brazenly refused to acknowledge its 30th anniversary since it wanted to be eternally seen as solely a channel for "young people" (instead of their parents).