Dave Kendall, MTV's '120 Minutes' Creator and Host, Dies

Q: With no TV experience, how did one man convince MTV to air the music it otherwise ignored?

He did it by pitching MTV a dedicated late-night show for the music it was overlooking and insisting it stay true to that mission. Dave Kendall arrived at MTV with no television production background, but he had deep credibility as a British music journalist and a strong grasp of the underground scene. After joining the network as a producer, he proposed “120 Minutes” as a home for punk, post-punk, goth, synth-pop, ska and other alternative acts that mainstream radio and MTV’s regular rotation largely ignored. What persuaded MTV was not TV experience so much as Kendall’s clear editorial vision. He argued there was an audience for “cool and original” music that was not being served. Even when MTV’s programming side pushed to mix in more familiar videos, Kendall fought to keep the show focused on left-field artists. That persistence helped him make the program largely on his own terms. The result was “120 Minutes,” which debuted in 1986 and became a rare national platform for alternative music. It exposed viewers to artists such as Sonic Youth, Kate Bush, Hüsker Dü, Morrissey and, later, Nirvana. Its influence was especially important in an era when discovery of non-mainstream music was mostly limited to college radio and word of mouth. In short, Kendall convinced MTV through a combination of expertise, conviction and a workable format: a niche late-night program that proved ignored music could attract a loyal audience.

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 15

Dave Kendall, who helped introduce MTV viewers to alternative music as the creator and host of late-night show "120 Minutes," has died.
Matt Pinfield, one of several later hosts of the influential program, announced Kendall's death in a social media post.
Additional details, including Kendall's age and the cause of death, were not immediately available.