During the late 1970s (and before the MTV network debuted), HBO was already airing one or two music videos (or "promotional clips" as they were known at the time) as filler in between their feature films and other series. These short clips also carried the Video Jukebox moniker. When Video Jukebox premiered as a half-hour series in December 1981, HBO was reaching more households than MTV (which had been launched only four months earlier), so for about a year until MTV caught up to HBO's subscriber count, a video that aired on Video Jukebox may have received more exposure there than it would on MTV.[2]
The series had no host until September 1985, when Dennis Elsas was brought on as voiceover talent, introducing the videos that were shown on the program. Elsas served as host of Video Jukebox until its final airing on December 5, 1986.
At the peak of its popularity in the mid-1980s, Video Jukebox spawned many "special editions", including Christmas Jukebox, Country Jukebox, Comedy Jukebox, Heavy Metal Jukebox, Sixties Jukebox, and other editions featuring songs from movies and Grammy winners.[3]
