MTV Isn’t Dead

MTV still exists. Barely. No music videos—the internet took care of that. I won’t watch what they broadcast now. Everything was better. The logo’s gone forever. I’d resurrect the whole channel if it meant eternal Daria reruns. The M doesn’t stand for my name. Dumping it to pay-TV was inexcusable.

But here’s what matters: MTV shaped everything. Michael Jackson, Madonna, A-ha—they’re monumental because MTV made them feel inevitable. The channel could trigger this sensation that something massive was happening without you ever being able to articulate what. That feeling was the whole point. And personally, I owe MTV forever for Nora Tschirner. That’s worth more than explaining.

When Puma decides to collaborate with MTV, it means something real. Not because the channel works anymore—it doesn’t. But because MTV itself survived the death. The aesthetic did. The attitude did. That forward-facing aggression is still moving through culture. Puma’s releasing clothes with bulky future-retro shapes and neon everywhere, all that energetic push into whatever’s next. It’s not trying to resurrect MTV. MTV is dead as a channel. MTV never died as an idea.