The Fall of a Cultural Giant: How Michael Jackson Forced MTV to Embrace Black Music

As the iconic music channel prepares to go off air in 2025, we explore how Michael Jackson and David Bowie challenged MTV’s early biases and opened doors for Black musicians

Michael Jackson was the 1st African-American artist to appear on MTV

One of the most iconic symbols of pop culture, the MTV empire, currently owned by U.S. media company Paramount, is set to go off air on 31 December 2025 across Europe, affecting several of its regional channels, according to a previous announcement made earlier this year.

The decision reflects the long-term decline of traditional linear music channels, as audiences increasingly turn to platforms such as YouTube and TikTok for music videos.

We broke down how Pop King Michael Jackson helped change the long-standing struggle Black musicians faced in getting airtime.

When MTV launched in 1981, the channel was heavily dominated by rock music and white artists. Many Black musicians struggled to receive airtime due to industry biases and the network’s narrow programming style. Michael Jackson changed that, literally rewriting the rules of music television.

The breakthrough came with “Billie Jean” in 1983. MTV initially resisted playing the video, but Jackson’s label, CBS Records, which later became part of Sony Music, led by Walter Yetnikoff, pushed back fiercely. Yetnikoff famously threatened to pull all CBS artists from the network if MTV refused to air it. “I’m going to go public and tell the world you won’t play a Black artist. And I’ll pull every one of my artists from your channel,” he warned MTV executives.

MTV eventually added “Billie Jean” to rotation, and the video exploded, becoming one of the most-watched clips on the channel.

Before Michael Jackson shattered MTV’s racial barriers with Billie Jean and Thriller, global rock icon David Bowie publicly confronted the network about its near-absence of Black musicians. In 1983, during an interview promoting Let’s Dance, Bowie flipped the conversation on interviewer Mark Goodman and demanded to know why MTV barely played Black artists. “Why are there practically no Black artists on the channel?” he asked. “Is it not possible that it’s the station that is being unfair…?”

Bowie used his privilege to amplify the issue and refused to accept vague explanations about “audience preferences.” His calm but firm challenge put MTV on the spot and forced the network to publicly confront its discriminatory programming — a pressure that later helped shift their perspective.

Michael Jackson’s success then created undeniable momentum, leading to increased visibility for Black artists like Prince, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, and later hip-hop acts. MTV eventually shifted from a rock-only format to a multicultural, genre-inclusive platform - largely because Jackson’s videos were simply too big to ignore.