MTV kick-started a new era of music and pop culture in 1981, when it went on air for the first time, emblematically playing “Video Killed the Radio Star” as its debut music video.
More than four decades later, the channel, now owned by US media giant, Paramount Skydance, will wind down its international music broadcasting by the end of the year as it struggles to compete with online streaming and social media.
MTV Music, MTV Hits and its 80s and 90s music shows will be shut down in the UK and other European countries in the coming months, sources at Paramount confirmed to AFP.
These music channels will stop broadcasting at the end of the year in France, Germany, Poland, Australia, and Brazil as well, according to various media reports.
It has been declared the “end of an era.”
MTV, launched in 1981, revolutionised global pop culture by becoming the first television channel dedicated entirely to music videos. Its debut broadcast of “Video Killed the Radio Star” symbolised a shift in how audiences consumed music, giving rise to a new era of visual music storytelling and catapulting artists into global superstardom.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, MTV expanded worldwide and shaped youth culture through its music rotation, reality shows, celebrity interviews, and award ceremonies. The brand later evolved into multiple sub-channels such as MTV Hits, MTV Music, and genre-specific retro channels celebrating music from the 80s and 90s.
However, the rise of YouTube, streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, and short-form video apps such as TikTok drastically reduced the relevance of traditional music television.
Over the past decade, MTV shifted increasingly toward reality programming, while its dedicated music channels struggled with dwindling audiences and declining advertising revenue.
Paramount’s decision to shut down MTV’s remaining international music channels marks the most significant contraction of the network since its founding—signalling the end of linear music TV as global audiences move almost entirely to digital, on-demand formats.
AFP
