TV & VIDEO - Oct. 14, 1988

The Manhattan headquarters of MTV and its Video Hits 1 division were seriously damaged early Thursday morning by a fire that blew out windows in the 25-story building. The flames themselves were kept on the 10th floor of the office building, but water and smoke damage extended to other MTV offices on the 8th, 9th and 11th floors, said MTV vice president Barry Kluger. About 450 MTV executives and employees work at the building, at 1775 Broadway at 58th Street, but the music cable broadcaster’s studios are situated elsewhere, so programming was not interrupted, said Kluger. The cause of the 4-alarm fire, which was reported shortly before 2 a.m., was under investigation.