City in running for MTV Awards

Dec 13 2006 by Sam Lister, Liverpool Daily Post

An event with a potential audience of 1.4bn

THE launch of MTV Europe in 1987 added more than 1.6m households to MTV’s subscription list and saw the station extend its influence outside the US for the first time.

In 1992, its fly-on-the-wall series, Real World, created “reality TV” nine years before Big Brother.

It also brought us the inimitable Beavis and Butt-head and Celebrity Deathmatch animations.

Known as the music “Oscars”, the MTV Europe Music Awards were created in 1994 with the aim of “honouring the music and artists that young people in Europe love.”

Designed as an international celebration of music and pop culture from a distinctly European point of view, the event claims to represent the definitive poll of European tastes.

The most recent MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November. The star-studded spectacle was broadcast around the world to a potential 1.4bn viewers. It was hosted by Justin Timberlake, who also performed at the show.

The awards were held in Edinburgh in 2003, generating nearly £9m for the Scottish economy.