MTV is an American cable television channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on August 1, 1981, the channel originally aired music videos and related programming as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys (VJs). MTV soon began establishing its presence overseas, eventually gaining a massive cult following and becoming one of the major factors in cable programming's rise to fame, leading American corporations to dominate the television economy in the 1990s.