Total Request Live

Total Request Live (known from 1998 to 2008 as TRL) was a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. In addition to music videos, the show also featured daily guests.

TRL played the top ten most requested music videos of the day, as requested by viewers who voted for their favorite video online. The countdown started with the tenth most requested video of the day and ended with the most requested video of the day. As of October 22, 2007, the countdown was based on votes, charts, ringtones, downloads, radio airplay, and streams, meaning that the video that the user requested might not have been the number one video of the day. The show mainly aired from Monday to Thursday for an hour, but the scheduling and length of the show has changed over the years. Even though the word "Live" is in the show's title, a lot of the show's episodes have actually been pre-recorded.

On September 15, 2008, it was announced that TRL would be over and it was later replaced by another show. A special, three-hour finale was aired on November 16, 2008 at 8 p.m.

Until 2010, a local version of TRL was still running in Italy on MTV.

History
The beginning of TRL
The beginning of TRL traced back to 1997 when MTV started to produce MTV Live from the newly opened MTV Studios in Times Square in New York. MTV Live featured celebrity interviews, musical performances, and news updates. Music videos were not a major part of the program. At one time, the show had more than 75,000 viewers.

At the same time, MTV aired a countdown show that was simply called Total Request, hosted by Carson Daly. Total Request was a more quiet show, as music videos were introduced from a dimly lit set.

By the fall of 1998, MTV producers decided to merge MTV Live and Total Request into a new show called Total Request Live. The new show made its premiere on September 14, 1998.

The end of TRL
On September 15, 2008, it was announced that TRL would be shut down. The last regular weekday episode aired on November 13, 2008. The episode showed the process of the set being torn down.

A three-hour special that was aired on November 16, 2008 marked the end of the show. The final show included several musical performances.

On June 25, 2014, MTV announced that it will bring back TRL for one day on July 2, 2014 with American singer Ariana Grande.

References

Category:American musical television series
Category:1990s American musical television series
Category:1990s American teen television series
Category:1998 American television series debuts
Category:2000s American musical television series
Category:2000s American teen television series
Category:2008 American television series endings
Category:2010s American musical television series
Category:2010s American teen television series
Category:2017 American television series debuts
Category:2019 American television series endings
Category:Music chart television programs
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:American television series revived after cancellation
Category:MTV programmes
Category:Pop music television series