Get ready to party like it’s 1981 – MTV is finally going back to its music video roots. The network that revolutionized music culture is planning an epic throwback celebration ahead of the 2025 Video Music Awards. For one full week leading up to the September 7 ceremony, MTV will return to its original 24/7 music video format across three of its channels for the first time in decades.
Van Toffler, a former MTV executive who helped build the network into a cultural powerhouse, is orchestrating this nostalgic programming through his production company Gunpowder & Sky. The multi-year deal with CBS and MTV will transform the VMAs from a single-night event into a week-long music celebration, Variety reported.
“We’re not just producing a show,” Toffler explained to the outlet. “We’re launching a celebration of music that spans one week, every screen and every generation. Music has always been the heartbeat of the VMAs, but the show’s soul comes from its willingness to break rules, embrace unpredictability and reflect the times.”
A Trip Down Memory Lane
MTV2, MTV Live, and MTV Classic will air continuous music videos selected by past VMA winners and legendary MTV personalities. Each guest curator will choose their seven favorite music videos of all time, offering fans insight into the clips that shaped music history.
This programming brings MTV full circle to its August 1, 1981, debut, when the network debuted at 12:01 a.m. with the famous rocket launch imagery and an astronaut planting the MTV flag on the moon. The first video ever played was The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star,” followed by classics from Pat Benatar, The Who, and The Pretenders.
Original VJ Alan Hunter has reflected on how MTV evolved beyond its music video origins. “I was the VJ that loved being out of the studio the most, so I was the one they sent to spring break to be a part of the thousands of screaming young guys cracking beers over my head,” Hunter told the New York Post in 2021. “And that was kind of the beginning of different kinds of shows that you would see.”
Expanding the VMA Experience
The 2025 VMAs mark a significant milestone as the ceremony moves to CBS for the first time, expanding its reach while maintaining simulcasts on MTV and streaming on Paramount+. The show will broadcast live from UBS Arena in New York on Sunday, September 7 at 8 p.m. ET.
“The VMAs have always been where music and spectacle collide, and no one embodies that spirit more than Van Toffler,” said Paramount co-CEOs Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks in a joint statement, according to Variety. “Bringing Van back to the VMAs, along with Gunpowder & Sky, is about reigniting the rebellious soul of the show with a week-long music immersion and delivering global moments that are impossible to ignore.”
Toffler spent nearly three decades at MTV, starting in 1987 and rising through the ranks to oversee landmark shows such as “MTV Unplugged,” “Beavis and Butt-Head,” and “Jackass.” He first joined the network as a business development executive and served as head of Viacom’s Music and Logo Group from 2008 to 2015, when he departed to co-found Gunpowder & Sky with Floris Bauer a year later, Variety noted.
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