ABSTRACT
In this book, I have tried to argue that MTV, as a 24-hour continuous channel, carries to an extreme, and thus lays bare for our contempla tion, aspects inherent in the televisual apparatus. To summarize the main points in that argument briefly: first, the main force of MTV as a cable channel is consumption on a whole variety of levels, rang ing from the literal (i.e. selling the sponsors’ goods, the rock stars’ records, and MTV itself) to the psychological (i.e. selling the image, the “ look,” the style). MTV is more obviously than other programs one nearly continuous advertisement, the flow being merely broken down into different kinds of ads. More than other programs, then, MTV positions the spectator in the mode of constantly hoping that the next ad-segment (of whatever kind) will satisfy the desire for plenitude: the channel keeps the spectator in the consuming mode more intensely because its items are all so short.
