Cable Music Channel - As A Money-losing Venture

As A Money-losing Venture

It quickly became clear that CMC was losing money fast, due to an inability to sign up cable systems (many of whom didn't have the space for another all-music channel) or secure the rights to play top videos (MTV was accused of pressuring artists not to sell to CMC, citing "exclusivity" agreements). Within a month, despite an estimated audience of 2.5 million, Turner realized the jig was up; on November 29, he decided to sell CMC to MTV for $1 million, and MTV agreed to buy $500,000 worth of advertising on Turner's other channels, including CNN. Ironically, MTV used the channel (and its space on the Satcom satellite) to help form its new sister network, VH1, which launched on New Year's Day, 1985. In another ironic twist, Time Warner, the successor to MTV's then part-owners Warner Communications would purchase Turner's networks in 1996 (MTV by that point, was owned by Viacom, which was split in two companies in 2006 and is still owned by the new Viacom).