MTV to axe UK music channels at the end of the year
MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live are all believed to cease broadcasting after December 31
By Nick Reilly
MTV will stop showing rolling music videos when it shutters its five channels at the end of the year, according to reports.
The BBC claims that MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live will all stop broadcasting after December 31, but MTV’s flagship channel, MTV HD, will remain on air. That channel airs popular reality series, including Naked Dating UK and Geordie Shore.
The channel launched in 1981 in the US and the first video to be aired was The Buggles’ ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, kicking off the start of one of music’s most influential platforms. MTV Europe then followed in 1987 and aired Dire Straits’ ‘Money For Nothing’ as its first video.
It’s thought that declining viewership, largely down to changing consumer habits, are partly behind the channels’ demise, due to the dominance of platforms like YouTube.
MTV and Paramount is yet to confirm the news, but that hasn’t stopped fans on social media from expressing disappointment and sharing fond memories.
“MTV was culturally and spiritually dead when it stopped airing music videos. Corporate-led decline of what was once the coolest brand in existence. Sad,” said one.
“The 80s channel was a good channel. Sadly, the main channel seemed to concentrate on rubbish reality TV programmes,” said another.
A third branded it “the end of an era”.
A dedicated UK channel called MTV UK launched in 1997 and famously hosted live shows such as TRL (Total Request Live) which followed in the footsteps of its American cousin and Ex On The Beach.
The main channel stopped showing music videos in 2011, though still continued to air the MTV European Music Awards, which was paused for 2025 as Paramount continued a merger deal with Skydance Media.
It follows reports thatParamount is also expected to close MTV music channels in countries including Australia, Poland, France and Brazil, according to local media reports in those respective territories.