MTV will shut down many of its last dedicated 24-hour music channels after today, Dec. 31.
The move, announced back in October, will affect channels around the world, with the U.K. seeing five different MTV stations going dark. These include MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live. As Consequence notes, MTV Music — which launched in 2011 — notably ended its run by airing the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the first visual to air when MTV launched in the United States in 1981.
MTV’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, is also expected to shutter music-only channels in Australia, Poland, France, and Brazil. Reps for MTV in the U.S. did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the full slate of channels that are set to go dark.
Despite axing much of its dedicated music programming, MTV’s flagship channels are still expected to keep broadcasting in the U.K. and elsewhere. Like in the U.S., these channels primarily air massively popular reality programs, as opposed to music videos.
The changes at MTV come as Paramount Skydance aims to cut costs following its blockbuster (and controversial) merger earlier this year. But CEO David Ellison is reportedly still keen on revitalizing MTV and other cable channels, though it’s still unclear exactly what that will entail.
In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ellison had fielded ideas for MTV from major players in the music industry like Irving Azoff, Lucian Grainge, and some big-name artists. There have also reportedly been discussions about turning MTV into an online streaming service that could potentially rival Spotify or YouTube.
The decision to cut MTV’s musical-only channels wasn’t the only cost-cutting measure the Paramount took this year. Back in February, when the Skydance merger was still in the works, MTV announced that it would shutter several awards shows, including the MTV Europe Music Awards and MTV Latin America’s MIAW Awards (formerly known as the Millennial Awards).
