MTV is reportedly pulling the plug on five of its music channels in the U.K.
According to Newsweek and the BBC, the network will discontinue MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live. However, its main channel, MTV HD, will stay on air. The move doesn’t affect MTV’s U.S. lineup — channels like MTV, MTV2, MTV Live, MTV Classic, and MTV Tres will continue broadcasting as usual.
MTV will stop airing on its U.K. offshoot stations on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Four decades after the revolutionary station aired music videos 24/7, MTV's decision is a further sign of the times. MTV's flagship channel began increasingly circulating reality-show-heavy programming in the 2000s with series like "The Real World," "Teen Mom" and "Jersey Shore." The network's sister channels feature more music-centered content, though with significantly less reach, distribution and revenue.
Back in 2023, MTV shut down its long-running MTV News division and website. Its college-focused branch, MTVU, had already gone off university screens in 2018, and now survives solely as a digital cable channel.
When MTV debuted in 1981, it completely flipped the TV game. The channel ran music videos 24/7, hosted by charismatic video jockeys (VJs) who became stars in their own right. It didn’t just broadcast music—it helped turn the music video into a full-blown art form.
Over time, MTV’s sound shifted with the culture. What started as a rock-heavy lineup gradually opened up to pop, R&B, and eventually hip-hop—especially after the network shattered its own racial barriers in the 1980s by championing Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking videos for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”
