MTV is pulling the plug on much of its global music television presence. Parent company Paramount Skydance announced last week that five of the network’s U.K. music channels — MTV Music, MTV ’80s, MTV ’90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live — will go off the air after December 31, 2025. Only flagship MTV HD will continue airing, focused primarily on reality programming such as “Geordie Shore” and “Naked Dating UK.”
The decision reflects changing viewing habits, reports the BBC, as audiences now watch most music videos on platforms like YouTube and social media instead of traditional TV. The announcement follows a recent Wall Street Journal story about how Paramount Skydance is exploring ways to revitalize MTV and its sister networks “while rivals spin them off.”
Sources told the New York Post that for now, CEO David Ellison and his deputy Jeff Shell have no plans to close MTV’s U.S. operations, noting that the channel remains an “iconic brand” with sufficient viewership to sustain it.
Similar closures are expected in other regions, including Australia, Poland, France and Brazil. In August, the company also shuttered Paramount Television Studios, the production arm behind “Jack Ryan” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles.”
MTV debuted in 1981, transforming how audiences discovered music through its 24-hour rotation of music videos. The channel played a central role in launching the careers of artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna and became known for major cultural moments such as the debut of Jackson’s “Thriller,” its broadcast of the 1985 Live Aid concerts and the creation of the MTV Video Music Awards. Its first generation of video jockeys, or VJs, became celebrities themselves as the channel turned music television into a global phenomenon.
Former MTV VJ Simone Angel told BBC News that the decision “really does break my heart,” adding that the shift toward reality programming feels like a loss. “You’ve just got to move with the times. To this day, [MTV] is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Why on earth throw that away?”
“It’s not thrown away, but it’s just reality TV,” she said. “That’s not what MTV is or should be.”
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