MTV will be shutting down five of its channels in the UK and Ireland at the end of the year after failing to compete with the influx of streaming platforms, it has been announced.
MTV UK's main channel, MTV HD, most popular in the 90s and 00s for its music content, will continue broadcasting its staple of reality shows.
The channels that will be axed on 31 December are MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live.
MTV's UK production team was made redundant earlier in the year.
MTV UK's main channel scrapped playing music videos in 2011 and instead pushed those out to its sister channels.
MTV Europe launched in 1987, and the UK received a dedicated channel in 1997.
MTV in the UK was the launchpad for Irish presenter Laura Whitmore in 2008.
It has been reported that MTV's parent company, Paramount, is also expected to close MTV music channels in France, Brazil, and Australia, among other countries.
The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards were held in New York last month. The MTV Europe Music Awards, which traditionally take place near the end of the year, have been shelved for 2025 as Paramount reviews operations and seeks to cut costs. It is reported that a decision on the future of the MTV Europe Music Awards has yet to be made.
When it launched in 1981 in the US, MTV was the first 24-hour music broadcaster in the world.
It became a bedrock in popular culture, showcasing the video for Michael Jackson's Thriller in 1983, broadcasting Live Aid in 1985, honouring artists with the annual MTV Video Music Awards, and bringing Nirvana's classic MTV Unplugged performance to the world in 1993/94 as part of the acclaimed series of the same name.
