Bill and The Berlin Wall
Bill with his section of the Berlin Wall at his London home.
Within his first month as chief executive of MTV Europe, Bill Roedy made a bold decision that many say forever changed the course of history.
In January 1989, Bill bought a transponder on Astra 1A – a KU satellite which enabled the reception of TV signals with a 60 cm dish instead of a 1.5 metre dish. This was a dramatic evolution in television distribution technology: suddenly all homes could receive television channels directly. Receivers (or “dishes”) popped up everywhere in Europe, especially in countries behind the Iron Curtain where there was limited TV choice available.
MTV decided to keep its signal unencrypted, thereby enabling viewers to watch the channel without a decoder box. Additionally, Bill distributed MTV on every cable system that he could find in East Europe, thus building a substantial audience of cable and satellite homes in a region that had previously been completely shut out from the rest of the world. In parallel to this, there was a steady decline of Communist leadership behind the Iron Curtain, culminating in that momentous night in East Berlin.
Bill had been invited to East Germany to address a seminar entitled Is Music Television Erasing All Traditional Cultural Barriers? at the first music and media industry conference ever held in Eastern Europe on November 7th, 1989. As part of his participation, he received permission to connect MTV to the conference center and hotels in East Berlin, and after weeks of coordination, they succeeded. But no one showed up to the conference.
That night, Bill went to a Politburo reception to be hosted by Egon Krenz, who just succeeded Erich Honeker as President. Bill brought an MTV camera crew with him to East Berlin who bore witness to the swell of public demonstrations and rallies until finally, on November 9th, the Berlin Wall came down. Excitement was everywhere, even some of the East German guards were smiling. Bill’s camera crew broadcast every moment in real time on MTV, creating a surge of excited German citizens from both sides to come meet at the wall and celebrate their newfound freedom.
Of course, contrary to some opinion, MTV itself did not bring the wall down. But technology – not unlike Twitter and Facebook during the Arab spring – was a contributing force to the peaceful changes. The spirit of the Hungarian people lifting along with their borders, the Pope’s visit to Poland, and most importantly the reforms and directions from Mr. Gorbachev as commander of all Warsaw Pact Soldiers (especially not to open fire) all played major roles in the peaceful breaking down of the barrier. After the night of November 9th, the unification of Germany with all of Europe happened quite rapidly - just one year later it was formally recognized.
This was an extraordinary moment in history for Bill, who prior to joining MTV had commanded three nuclear missile bases in Europe as part of NATO during the Cold War. He could have never imagined that he would witness the end of Communism this way. It was that day that he realized that music was more powerful than missiles.
MTV returned to East Berlin in November 1994 to stage the first ever Europe Music Awards. They constructed the largest outdoor tent at the time, facing the Brandenburg Gate from the East. George Michael sang ‘Freedom’ to open the show as the curtains rose showing the Brandenburg Gate: the symbol of unity. In 2009, MTV celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Wall Fall by hosting that year’s Europe Music Awards in Pariser Platz facing the Brandenburg Gate once again. This time, U2 sang “One” as symbols of peace and unity were projected on the Brandenburg Gate.
MTV has a deep and personal connection with Berlin: first, with their mantra, “Breaking down barriers,” and second, with standing for unity.
Bill gave out pieces of the wall to everyone at MTV as a symbol of their mantra. He also purchased an original 3-ton section of the Berlin Wall at Cinema for Peace 2009, where he presented the “Free Your Mind” Award to President Gorbachev. On Bill’s piece of the wall is an inscribed quote from Gorbachev: “Music is more powerful than missiles.”
In 2011 Bill travelled to Fulton, Missouri, to give the Green Lecture, the same speech which Winston Churchill delivered on March 5, 1946 at Westminster College where he coined the phrase “the Iron Curtain,” effectively defining the next 45 years of the Cold War. At Westminster, after the War, he once again proved to be the lone voice which prognosticated the Cold War.
Timeline
March 5th, 1946 - The Iron Curtain speech by Churchill. He was a lone voice once again, warning the world of a new threat, thereby laying stage to the Cold War. Ahead of his time, Churchill also voiced pro-Europe unity.
1947 to 1991 - The Cold War was dominated by nuclear missiles and the threat of world-wide destruction. A period which also brought proxy wars between the US and Soviet Union, the biggest one in Vietnam.
November 9th, 1989 - The fall of The Berlin Wall. One by one, in each Communist country the leadership was overthrown by the people (with few exceptions) peacefully. In parallel, starting in the early 1989 MTV, launched behind the Iron Curtain, exposing audiences for the first time to Western commercials and music.
November 1990 East and West Germany were officially reunited.
November 1994 MTV hosted its first ever Europe Music Award ceremony in Berlin, celebrating German unity.
December 1991 The Soviet Union ceased to exist, and the Hammer & Sickle became the Russian Flag.
November 2009 MTV hosts the 2009 EMAs at Brandenburg Gate again to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the wall. Bill presents Mikhail Gorbachev with the MTV Free Your Mind Award.
November 2014 For the 25th Anniversary of the Wall Fall, Bill met the 11th Bundestag leaders from 1987, including Mikhail Gorbachev.
June 12, 2024 Bill is honored with the Churchill Leadership Medal by America’s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College at London’s historic Guildhall.
