On Aug. 1, 1981, a new form of entertainment was sent out across the airwaves. The Buggles "Video Killed the Radio Star" launched MTV, Music Television, to the delight of teenagers and dismay of parents across the country.

The advent of music videos changed the way music was marketed and consumed by an entire generation. Videos were responsible for making music hits on the radio. And those visual interpretations of an artist's lyrics and cords helped expand special effects and animation technology that has filtered into the television and music world.

I was a late MTV convert. Living in the outskirts of civilization beyond the reach of cable companies for many years, I was stuck with three channels. And in case you didn't know, PBS didn't air music videos. Visits to friends and family with cable television were chances to glimpse this channel all the other kids were raving about. There was the Madonna video that couldn't be shown during prime time, Justify My Love, and you just HAD to see that "Thriller" video, all 14 minutes of it.

By the time cable television service was extended to my neck of the woods, it was 1992. MTV brought Whitney Houston, Nirvana, REM and Arrested Development into my family's living room. Boy, were my parents happy. We'd turn on the morning video show while we got ready for school. I wonder if that had anything to do with my and my sister's almost pathological tardiness?

Most of the day-to-day programming was music videos. They were in the early days of the Real World reality television series, where they would bring together seven strangers to find out what happens when people "stop being polite." This was ground-breaking stuff in 1992. The show delved into issues of politics, prejudice, AIDS and abortion.

There would be occasional special productions with comedians. MTV introduced me to Denis Leary. And MTV News kept me informed about world events, since it was so much more interesting than the nightly news on network television my folks liked to watch.

But even with those shows, music was the primary draw to MTV.

Then something changed.

I suppose I first noticed the change in the late '90s. There were more and more reality shows or talk shows being aired and less and less time for music — unless you stayed up all night. By 2008, the channel was playing just three hours of music a day. Three hours out of 24, and they still called themselves "Music" television. The channel that presented the Video Music Awards didn't play videos anymore — at least not on the flagship channel. You'll need some super cable or satellite subscription to get MTV2, MTV Tr3s, MTV Hits and MTV Jams.

Friday on MTV you would have found not one, not two, but three episodes of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?," back-to-back episodes of MTV's "16 and Pregnant" reality show, "Taking the Stage" and "America's Best Dance Crew" will also have two episodes, but the 10 p.m. Dance Crew will just repeat at 1 a.m., and if you're up late, you can enjoy two episodes of "South Park."

From 6 a.m. today to 5 a.m. tomorrow, I count about six hours of music on AMTV, airing when most folks are blissfully asleep without visions of music artist dancing in their heads. AMTV is an attempt to return music to their line-up. It airs videos, live performances and other music-related programming. At least the videos are full videos and not one-minute cuts of videos that tell you to go to the Web site to see more. If I'm watching right here, right now, I want to see the whole thing.

But MTV has at least decided to stop pretending it's about the music.

The LA Times reported Feb. 8, MTV quietly dropped "Music Television" from its logo. It's being touted as a simple logo change. Some Internet bloggers have written MTV should go ahead and just drop the M since music is such a small part of the channel's programming today.

MTV's head of marketing told the LA Times, "The people who watch it today, they don't refer to MTV as music television. They don't have the same emotional connection that, say, the people who are writing about the logo change do."

The exec added, "Music is still at the heart of everything we do, but it's about a lot more now."

Yes, yes, so much more than focusing on the music. It's about "Jersey Shore" and docudramas about teen pregnancy and, lest we forget, "The Hills."

So the music is gone and what is left? Mindless drivel. Maybe that could be MTV's new name — Mindless Television. Though, I do like the suggestion by fellow Chronicle staffer Missy Wattenbarger — Meaningless Television.

As for me, I just want my MTV back.