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Programmes One on One
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MTV's pioneering spirit
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Bill Roedy, right, met historical figures
such as Nelson Mandela | As Bill Roedy guarded nuclear weapons in the US army, he could hardly have imagined a globe-trotting career as the man who put MTV on the map.
Through his sharp business sense and understanding of youth culture he has shaped a generation.
The launch of MTV Arabia was a particularly exciting milestone for Bill Roedy, marking a big step in moving the iconic music channel another notch higher on the global scale.
Roedy spends much of his time on the road, ensuring the network reaches out to its audience according to the vision he set out when he first joined MTV soon after its launch.
It was a personal mission that had him meeting historic figures such as Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro.
It was his training in the US army, says Roedy, that gave him the discipline to persist whenever the challenges became overhelming.
He managed to fend off his critics when he decided to make the issue of HIV-Aids a key concern for the channel - and has remained a staunch advocate in the fight against Aids ever since.
Roedy is credited with leading the pioneering spirit that made MTV what it became in a very short space of time - a channel that led a generation.
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This episode of One on One aired on Saturday, April 5, 2008
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