What was Best Alternative Video called in 1989 and 1990?

Best Alternative Video was called Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 and 1990. The title changed before the category adopted its better-known Best Alternative Video name for the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.

The early label reflected MTV’s late-1980s way of grouping videos that did not fit neatly into mainstream pop, rock, or dance classifications. “Post-modern” was a broad cultural and programming term, rather than a precise musical genre, so the category’s name helped define how MTV marketed emerging alternative acts.

The category’s history is easy to misread because the surviving winner lists are often organized under the later Best Alternative title. The name change does not mean the earlier awards were separate from the category’s lineage; they are generally treated as its predecessor years.

After 1991, the category continued as Best Alternative Video, with Jane’s Addiction winning first and Nirvana following with three consecutive victories from 1992 through 1994. The award was later discontinued after 1998 and revived under a shortened name in 2020.