This past summer MTV, one of the most watched cable networks on television, celebrated its 20th anniversary on the air. Growing from a relatively small operation that just played a few music videos, MTV is now a worldwide phenomenon that encompasses television shows, movies, fashion, style, youth culture and yes, even music.

While the success of the network has been unparalleled, its audience has always eventually aged and moved on. With such a narrow target audience, MTV cannot rely on long-term loyalty in its attempt to stay ahead of rivals like VH1. As it enters into its third decade, MTV is in a battle to gain viewers and maintain its relevance to modern popular culture.

It began as nothing more than an idea. It was the early '80s. Disco was winding down, and the music industry needed something new and fresh that would sell records. They had the music, but they needed a national platform on which to sell their new bands and musical genres.

At the same time, America has just been introduced to a new method of receiving television: cable. No longer would a few broadcast networks dominate the eyes of millions. Cable opened the door to hundreds of networks. It wasn't about the big three anymore (NBC, ABC, CBS). Networks tailored to particular tastes and ideas could now reach the mass market with ease. The door was open.

The idea to combine music and image into a single, cohesive source of entertainment was born. It was MTV, Music Television. It would serve initially as an outlet for lesser-known bands and their music to gain a national recognition, a place to sell an image and show some music. It would become so much more than that, growing into a behemoth that would reach out into all areas of the lives of American youths.

It was a warm summer night when the idea first hit the airwaves. At midnight on Aug. 1, 1981, the American public was exposed for the first time to MTV. It first launched with a small library of the new music videos. The library quickly grew, however, as more and more bands saw the importance of this network. Original VJs like Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman and J.J. Jackson introduced to their audience the faces behind such types of music as rock and '80s pop.

It wasn't long before MTV was captivating teens and infuriating adults. The generational gap that had always existed between parents and adults was thrust into their living rooms and given a face and a name: MTV. MTV targeted a youthful audience, from young teens to collegians to people in their mid-20s. Everyone was tuning in to the music network.

With success and popularity came an evolving image of itself. MTV began to expand beyond music video. As the show aged into the late '80s, icons such as "Beavis and Butthead" came into the American lexicon. MTV's success with television shows sparked even more, culminating with the early '90s debut of their crown jewel, "The Real World." "The Real World" would become the mother of all reality shows and a platform for many young adults to look upon and see people similar to themselves.

In the late '90s, MTV moved into new studios in Time Square. With a window looking down on the world, MTV created a more direct connection with their audience and culture in general.

MTV's influence on music has been huge.

"Its been enormous for musical groups," Dr. Susan Ohmer, Assistant Professor of American Studies, said. "They started to think of music in visual terms and creating an image for the group."

It became an entirely new way for groups and performers to connect with their audiences directly. It was a revolution in the music industry, forcing people to completely change the way they thought about the business and the craft.

The music video as a genre has had a huge impact on culture, as well. "It has made people aware of music," Ohmer said, "but also of choreographers, cinematographers, and others related to the visual aspect. It's also effected movies. There are faster shots, quicker takes. Its definitely an MTV feeling," Ohmer said.

At the dawn of the new millennium, the modern image of MTV seems to be a product of the very culture it helped to create. Shows such as "The Real World" are still thriving, but they now have a younger and younger cast than the people who debuted in the first series a decade ago. "The Real World" has been joined by dozens of other successful MTV television shows. "Road Rules," "Daria," and "Undressed" are just some of the popular television shows on MTV that have little or nothing to do with music. One of most popular events on MTV is its annual "MTV Movie Awards," both an awards show and a parody of traditional award shows, as well.

One of the common complaints about MTV is its gradual yet steady filtering out of actual music videos, which are both expensive and watched less than MTV's current slate of television shows.

The lack of music videos is just one of the complaints facing MTV. In fact, as MTV is passing by its 20th birthday, it faces mounting criticism and concern about the direction the network is going.

If there's one constant in television, its change. No network can stay the same too long without losing viewers. Recently, CNN faced a similar situation as MTV has. Facing its 20th anniversary on the air, CNN began a significant overhaul both in front of and behind the camera in an attempt to thwart successful rivals Fox News Channel and MSNBC. Though smaller in viewership, these younger networks were growing at a far greater rate than CNN, forcing CNN to overhaul in hopes of attracting new viewers.

MTV's problem is far greater, however. A network that targets a youthful demographic inevitably must face the grim fact that their viewers will eventually become older. The MTV generation has grown up and left the party, leaving a vacuum that MTV has been trying to fill.

"Many TV networks assume that you're not going to keep an audience long. The issue MTV faces is constantly trying to reinvent itself," Ohmer said.

One of the concerns many older teens have is that MTV seems to be targeting an even younger audience than ever before.

"MTV presents itself for older teenagers and younger adults, but it really seems that younger teens are responding to it," Ohmer said. "There's a sense that MTV is feeding into the `tween' culture, maybe even helping to create this new culture."

One of the best examples of this is MTV's latest hit show, "Total Request Live." Unlike other shows, TRL actually plays music. Airing in the after school hour, TRL is catering to an audience of young girls just getting off the bus. Bands such as the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC are representative of the types of artists whose videos are played during this show.

MTV may face an even greater problem in its battle to stay on top: corporatism. With the rise of the mega conglomerates such as AOL/Time-Warner and News Corp, MTV finds itself in the middle of Viacom, mogul Sumner Redstone's company.

"MTV is considered the crown jewel of Viacom. Other sections [of the company] are required to advertise on it. There seems to be a lot of attention given to the next generation," Ohmer said.

This apparent advantage, however, can also have a great many detriments. As the super corporations are a relatively modern creation, they are still attempting to change and modify in order to create a kind of synergy. There's a danger that MTV could lose its focus in all of this.

MTV faces the challenge of pleasing both its audience and its corporate bosses, as well.

"It's a young group. They have a staff that is clued into today's youth," Ohmer said. "They're working in New York and trying to figure out what people in Texas and Indiana want. With the media corporation, there's also a lot of internal demand."

Whatever the issue, MTV is not blind to its own problem. Its aforementioned move to Times Square studios and its subsequent facelift portray the image of company who is well aware of the difficulties they face. Compounding the problem, however, is the age of instant access, where the latest trends and styles (a benchmark definition of what MTV caters to) is chewed up and spit out far faster than it was in the '80s and even early '90s.

It's a Friday afternoon. TRL's studio is packed full of 15 and 16 year-old girls screaming at the top of their lungs in a frightening display of joy and giddy excitement. The atmosphere is that of a party, whose chaperone is Carson Daly, the uber-successor to the VJs of the past. The backdrop of the studio is the windows that look down on Times Square. Down there, more people gather as the cars and cabs of New Yorkers pass by the studio, which is situated across from another window-on-the-world, the ABC studios.

To the deafening glee of the young live audience, Daly announces that videos from Dr. Dre, the Backstreet Boys, and J Lo are just around the corner. The crowd claps and cheers as they hear the name of their favorite bands. In images that resemble Headline News more than MTV, comments from online viewers flash across the screen, along with facts and notes about the bands whose videos are playing.

Before the videos of the latest pop sensations begin to roll, however, Daly announces that up first is the new video by Michael Jackson. The crowd erupts in cheers and the video begins to play.

Jackson, once a common image on MTV in the '80s and early '90s, is appearing in his first video in several years. The thought of Jackson returning as a cultural icon to the station that made him one suggests that, perhaps, MTV isn't going anywhere. It may endure for years to come as the cultural pulse of the youth generation, continuing to define music and style for a long time to come.

In the words of Carson Daly, "Oh, uh, allright, that's cool."

• I still want my MTV