MTV to axe its music TV channels in the UK

MTV, the world’s first 24-hour music broadcaster, is to stop showing rolling pop videos in the UK after almost 40 years when it closes five channels at the end of the year.

MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live will all stop broadcasting after 31 December, the BBC understands.

However, the flagship channel, MTV HD, will remain on air, showing reality series including Naked Dating UK and Geordie Shore.

The move reflects a shift in viewing habits, with music videos largely consumed on YouTube and social media rather than television. A spokesman for MTV’s parent company, Paramount, declined to comment.

Former MTV VJ Simone Angel told BBC News she was “really sad, and I’m a little bit in disbelief, and I know it’s been a long time coming”.

“We need to support these artists and we all need to dance again and listen to music,” she said. “And I know we do that online in our own little bubbles, but MTV was the place where everything came together. So it really does break my heart.”

MTV launched in the US in 1981 and the fledgling TV channel quickly captured the public imagination by showing pop videos “on demand”, presented by enthusiastic “VJs” (video jockeys), who became almost as famous as the stars they introduced.

Groundbreaking moments in its early years included the world premiere of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, a 16-hour broadcast of the Live Aid concerts in 1985, and the birth of the MTV Video Music Awards.

A European offshoot launched in 1987 and the UK got its own dedicated channel in 1997 – launching with the video for David Baddiel and Frank Skinner’s football anthem Three Lions.

The channel gave early breaks to presenters including Cat Deeley, Zane Lowe and Emma Willis; and later branched out into original programming with series like Ex On The Beach and Teen Mom UK.

Angel, who worked for both MTV Europe and MTV UK in the 1990s, said it was a “wild” time.

“It was like being on a school trip without any teachers. We had so much fun,” she said.

“MTV Europe was really the forerunner to the internet. We were the most widespread TV channel in the world at that point. We had between 100 and 150 million viewers.”

She recounted a story that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev once told the boss of MTV that the channel had an influence on young people in the Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain in the 80s.

“He said, ‘Music achieved more than missiles’, because MTV Europe was the first channel that showed what Western life was like. It went past all the propaganda and we showed youth culture, and people wanted that. It was incredibly important.”

There is still a place for music on TV, Angel believes.

“You’ve just got to move with the times. To this day, it’s one of the most recognisable brands in the world. Why on earth throw that away? It’s not thrown away, but it’s just reality TV. That’s not what MTV is or should be.”

In 2011, the main MTV UK channel abandoned music videos altogether, pushing all music programming to its sister stations, with the exception of the annual MTV European Music Awards.

That ceremony – which was the scene of memorable moments including The Spice Girls’ final appearance before splitting up in 1997, and Rita Ora’s tearful tribute to Liam Payne last year – is currently on pause.

Paramount put the event on ice earlier this year as it pursued a merger with entertainment company Skydance Media.

The deal was approved in July, but no decision has been made about the future of the EMAs.

Paramount is also expected to close MTV music channels in countries including Australia, Poland, France and Brazil, according to media reports in those countries.

The closures come as the company seeks to cut costs by as much as $500m (£376m) across its global portfolio.

In August, it closed Paramount Television Studios, which produced series including action thriller Jack Ryan and children’s adventure series The Spiderwick Chronicles.

The layoffs also affected MTV productions in the UK, where original shows Gonzo and Fresh Out UK were cancelled.

According to the latest ratings from Barb, MTV’s music channels continued to attract modest audiences in the UK. MTV music had 1.3 million viewers in July, with MTV 90s attracting 949,000.

The brand will also continue to have a presence on social media and Paramount’s streaming service Paramount+.