Music Box was a pioneering pan-European 24-hour cable and satellite television channel that ran from 29 March 1984 to 30 January 1987, and was operated by Music Box Limited. It was originally one of three services (along with Premiere and The Children’s Channel) that formed Thorn EMI’s venture into satellite television as a British version of MTV, and later became part of Virgin Vision as one of Richard Branson’s business ventures launched in 1983.
The network was originally based in the heart of London, in a building where Virgin Vision and Super Channel were also based, and later gave home to the offices of CNN International until 2007. The address during the satellite years was 19-21 Rathbone Place.
In 1985, Kate Bush was interviewed by presented Martin Buchanan on the occasion of the release of her fifth album Hounds Of Love during a one hour special.
On 30 January 1987, the last music video that played was Don’t Give Up by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, whether this song is also shown before closed early from the defunct satellite network Europa TV three months prior. Shortly after the service ceased for the final time, Super Channel launches on the same frequency which previously used by Music Box on pan-European satellite Eutelsat I F-1 (ECS-1) located at 13° east, replaced during the year by Eutelsat I F-4 (ECS-4). For this reason, Music Box stopped being a 24-hour television channel and Virgin set up Music Box as an independent producer of music programmes, continuing to broadcast its shows until the end of September 1987 for ten hours a day on Super Channel. From October 1987 until January 1990, it was reduced from ten hours a day to just a couple of hours a day of music programmes to be produced for Super Channel, with a two-month long break in late 1988 due to problems related to the sale of this service.