''MT-USA'' (''Music Television — USA'') was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

music television programme broadcast between February 1984 and 1987. Known for the slogan, "Music Television USA - Music never looked better", it was produced by Green Apple Productions, co-founded by the show's presenter

Vincent Hanley Vincent Hanley (2 April 1954 – 18 April 1987) was a pioneering Irish radio DJ and television presenter, nicknamed "Fab Vinny". He worked mainly for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, and was the first Irish celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illn ...

. ''MT-USA'' was broadcast on

RTÉ 2 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

on Sunday afternoons and during the 1984–85 series was repeated on Friday nights. Each edition ran for three hours. Each block of videos was followed by a segment filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with Hanley introducing the videos, discussing American music and culture, and interviewing a celebrity. RTÉ described him as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

's first VJ (

video jockey A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, MuchMusic and Channel V. Origins The term "video jockey" come ...

). The videos were primarily American acts, many previously little-known in Ireland., but the show also featured English pop chart acts, as well as up and coming Irish acts such as U2, In Tua Nua & light a big fire. A double-CD and DVD compilation featuring acts from the show's heyday went on release on 16 November 2007.

References

1984 Irish television series debuts 1987 Irish television series endings 1980s in Irish music Irish LGBT-related television shows Irish music television shows RTÉ original programming {{LGBT-tv-prog-stub