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Your Daily English Programme #21 - Birth of MTV: Music Entertainment TV (Listening B1-C1) |
These days, thanks to the Internet, musicians of all genres can become famous simply by displaying their music videos on popular video-sharing websites, such as Youtube.com. But how did musicians showcase their music performances before the Internet Age?
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Think Before You Listen |
Look at the Picture: Do you recognize which TV channel this belongs to? Have you ever watched this channel? What kind of programs does it broadcast? Is it popular in your country? (let us know in the comments)
On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, MTV launched with the words "ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" spoken by John Lack over footage of the first moon landing.
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Watch and Listen |
Watch Part of MTV's Original Broadcast on 01.08.1981: What do you think brought about MTV's immediate success?
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Let's Practice |
There are certain expressions you hear all the time on TV. Expressions like "We'll be right back with you with the latest on...", "Stay tuned!", and "Breaking news today..." are so common you may even hear them on a daily basis while watching TV or listening to your favorite radio show/ podcast.
In this activity, we have gapped those parts of the transcript that contain such common language: Listen again and fill in the blanks (you may need to listen more than once)
In this activity, we have gapped those parts of the transcript that contain such common language: Listen again and fill in the blanks (you may need to listen more than once)
mouse over the underlined words to see their meaning
…Seven, six, five, four…We've gone for main engine start we have main
engine start…
- Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll -
This is it! _________ ____ MTV
music television, the world's first 24-hour stereo video music channel. Just __________ _____, all of the VJs and the crew here at
MTV collectively hit our executive producer Sue Steinberg over the head with
a bottle of champagne, and behold! A new concept is born: the best of TV __________ ____ the best of radio. Starting right now,
you'll never look at music the same way again. We’ll be _______ ______ to introduce the other VJs and the
other folks who are going to be with us on MTV.
I'm Alan Hunter. I will be with you right after Mark; we'll be _________
the ________ in music news coast-to-coast here on MTV music
television.
I'm Martha Quinn. The music will continue ____-_______ on
MTV music television, the newest component of your stereo system.
Well, alright! I'm JJ Jackson I'll be sitting in with the latest video
music performances the way they were meant to be. That's in stereo on MTV
music television. You'll never look at music the _______
______ again.
Hi! I'm Nina Blackwood, and I'll be with you after JJ right here on MTV,
the ________’s ______ video music channel, all day, all night,
in stereo.
Are those guys the best? We all are so excited about this new
concept in TV. We’ll be doing for TV what FM did for radio. And let’s
_____ ____ __ right now at MTV.
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Over to You |
Would you like to learn more about the history of MTV and how the musicians you know today rose to fame showing their music performances on this channel? WatchMojo.com has a wonderful recap.
And Here We Are Again, at the end of another post on Engramme: Your Daily English Programme. Please share and like this (buttons further below) if you liked this post. Let us know what you think about this content in the comments.
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