The Box (American TV channel)

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The Box

Country	United States
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Network	MTV (Parent company Viacom sold The Box to Box Television Ltd UK (EMAP) in October 2000)
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner	Steve Peters (1985–1999) MTV Networks (Viacom) (1999–2001) MTV (2001–present; USA) Box Television/The Box Plus Network (2001–present; UK)
Sister channels	MTV (1999–present (USA; as MTV2), Viacom renamed The Box USA operations to MTV2 at 11:59pm on December 31, 2000 after Box Television Ltd UK bought The Box in October 2000)
History
Launched	1985; 39 years ago (1985)
Closed	January 1, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-01-01) (Moved operations to the UK after The Box was sold to Box Television Ltd UK – was owned by Channel 4 – in October 2000 - closed 30 June 2024)
Replaced by	MTV2 (USA)
Former names	Video Jukebox Network (1985–1990s)
Links
Website	mtv.com/mtv2 (2001–present, as MTV2; USA) boxplus.com (Channel 4-owned UK operations)

The Box, originally named the Video Jukebox Network, was an American broadcast, cable and satellite television network that operated from 1985 to 2001. The network focused on music videos, which through a change in format in the early 1990s, were selected by viewer request via telephone; as such, unlike competing networks (such as MTV and VH1), the videos were not broadcast on a set rotation.

The network was distributed on cable and satellite providers, with additional carriage on over-the-air UHF television stations (mainly on low-power outlets);^[1] most of these stations, which later became affiliates of MTV2 following the shutdown of The Box's US operations, have since been sold off as of 2012, while Viacom retains ownership of the other remaining former Box affiliates.

The Box's UK Operations remained on the air until July 1, 2024. The channel was fully owned by London-based Channel Four Television Corporation, (after Channel 4 bought out their partners in The Box Plus Network, Germany's Bauer Media Group in 2019).