Executives of music broadcaster MTV have announced they will shut down five music channels at the end of the year.
MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live will be axed and stop broadcasting in the UK after December 31, 2025.
MTV (originally an acronym for ‘music television’) first took to the airwaves in the US in 1981, and is a property of Paramount.
Over the last 40 years, the channel has served as an outlet for music videos and music-related programmes, which were usually hosted by video jockeys (VJs).
The channel’s main station, MTV HD, will be spared from the axing, and it will continue to broadcast reality shows such as ‘Geordie Shore’.
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‘Internet killed the radio star’
Although Paramount officials have declined to comment on the news, the reason behind the choice could be related to a shift in the viewing habits of listeners.
With the rise of artists creating content specifically for popular apps such as Instagram and TikTok, and listeners mainly watching music videos on platforms like YouTube, a reason to keep music television channels alive has been more and more difficult to find.
The news has been welcomed with sadness by the web.
‘Internet killed the radio star,’ a Reddit user commented.
‘Reality television killed them. As soon as they stopped focusing on music, it was over,’ another user replied.
In 2011, MTV’s main channel stopped broadcasting music videos altogether and it focused on reality TV shows, such as ‘Teen Mom’ and ‘Catfish’.
All music videos and music-related programmes were moved to the sister, smaller stations, with the only exception being the yearly MTV European Music Awards, which will still be airing.
Paramount is expected to axe MTV music channels in other countries too, including France and Australia.
‘End of an era,’ an X user posted.
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Joseph Terry