Which song opened MTV Europe’s first broadcast on 1 August 1987?

“Money for Nothing” opened MTV Europe’s first broadcast on 1 August 1987.

The song was performed by Dire Straits and appeared on the band’s 1985 album Brothers in Arms. Its opening was especially memorable because the song includes the repeated lyric “I want my MTV,” performed by Sting.

MTV Europe launched as MTV’s first major international channel, initially serving viewers across Europe from studios in London. The channel’s opening sequence featured Dire Straits’ hit before the regular programming began.

A common mix-up is confusing MTV Europe’s opening song with “Video Killed the Radio Star,” which was the first video shown on MTV in the United States when that channel launched in 1981. They were separate launches six years apart.