MTV shutting down music channels across Europe – – Business News
MTV is shuttering its music channels within the UK – and now followers are questioning if the US could possibly be subsequent.
The iconic music TV channel is closing 5 stations within the UK, together with MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live, in line with the BBC. These channels will go darkish after Dec. 31, 2025.
Its flagship channel MTV HD will stay obtainable within the area, although it primarily airs actuality exhibits like “Teen Mom” and “Geordie Shore,” not music videos.
Sabrina Carpenter poses together with her MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7, 2025. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
MTV launched within the US in 1981. It was the primary 24-hour music broadcaster, and shortly turned recognized for its means to churn out headline-making moments – just like the debut of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video in 1983 and its 16-hour telecast of the Live Aid concert events in 1985.
It hosted its inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 with performances from Madonna and Tina Turner.
MTV launched a European channel in 1987 and a UK model in 1997. But viewership has been in a free-fall for years as followers have pivoted to YouTube and different digital platforms for his or her music.
In 2011, MTV HD stopped exhibiting music videos because it struggled to carry onto viewers, pushing music over to its sister channels.
MTV Entertainment Group, which additionally owns exhibits like “Beavis and Butt-head” and “Catfish,” is owned by Paramount Skydance.
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Paramount Global, which owns CBS, and Skydance Media accomplished their $8.4 billion merger in July.
The new company has been searching for methods to cut prices by as a lot as $500 million across its world portfolio.
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart during an interview with MTV Studios in 1983. Getty Images
In August, it closed Paramount Television Studios, which produced movies and exhibits together with motion collection “Jack Ryan” starring John Krasinski.
Now, the company is anticipated to close MTV music channels in Australia, Poland, France and Brazil, in line with native media in these international locations.
Paramount didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark about future closures.
Simone Angel, who labored for MTV Europe and MTV UK within the Nineteen Nineties, mentioned she was “really sad, and I’m a little bit in disbelief, and I know it’s been a long time coming.”
The company is anticipated to close MTV music channels in Australia, Poland, France and Brazil, in line with native media in these international locations. Getty Images
“MTV Europe was really the forerunner to the internet. We were the most widespread TV channel in the world at that point. We had between 100 and 150 million viewers,” she advised the BBC.
“It was like being on a school trip without any teachers. We had so much fun,” she added.
Angel praised MTV for its broad cultural affect. She recounted a time when former Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev advised the pinnacle of MTV that the channel confirmed younger people within the Communist international locations behind the Iron Curtain within the Eighties what Western life was like.
Michael Jackson and Slash carry out on MTV in 1995. Lester Cohen
“You’ve just got to move with the times. To this day, it’s one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Why on earth throw that away?” Angel continued.
