As of December 31, 2025, MTV has closed the book on a defining era of music television. The music video giant has officially shut down its remaining 24-hour music channels as trends have notably shifted to favor streaming platforms instead.
MTV as a brand isn’t going anywhere, and its main channels will still broadcast reality and scripted television. But its overall model has drastically changed as the decades wore on. In the words of 20th-century philosophers Smash Mouth, “the years start comin’ and they don’t stop comin’.” Even MTV has to adapt to survive.
In the U.K. and Europe, channels like MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live are going dark. They will then be removed from Sky and Virgin Media networks. Meanwhile, in the U.S., regional networks will be losing their MTV music-only channels as broadcast contracts expire. Domestically, it’s not an immediate shutdown, but more of a gradual rollback. Still, the loss is keenly felt by those who grew up in the era of actual music on MTV.
What’s Behind the Decision to Retire MTV’s Music-Only Channels?
Essentially, this executive decision comes down to the fact that younger generations just don’t watch television like those before them. In the 80s and 90s, when MTV first prophesied the death of the radio star, there wasn’t any other way to watch music videos. Dedicated fans gathered in living rooms all over the world to catch the latest video drop. But MTV did more than broadcast music videos; this formula built community. There were more local, in-person fanbases. Often, you could plan your day around a video premiere. Maybe you’d invite your neighbor or your dog walker to come over and catch the new Nirvana music video.
Now, things have shifted away from the 24-hour music model that MTV built and fully embraced on-demand viewing. We have the entirety of YouTube in our pockets, after all. An excess of content, more music videos than we could ever watch in several lifetimes. It’s interesting to see how priorities have shifted with this kind of convenience, but it lacks a certain curiosity and wonder. Where’s the feeling of anticipation that came from wondering what would play next? YouTube autoplay is more anxiety-inducing than anything.
Under the governance of Paramount Media Networks, MTV’s 24-hour music-only channels have become a harder expense to justify. MTV is no longer the first and last word in breakthrough success. There just aren’t enough eyes on broadcast television, where, before, a showcase on MTV could help rocket a band straight to the stratosphere. I believe that’s what the kids call “going viral” these days.
So, we’ve unquestioningly traded human-led music curation for soulless algorithms. Not to say one is particularly better than the other, because both have their faults. But back in the day, the worst you had to deal with was maybe the VJ didn’t share your music taste, and you had to sit through an hour of hair metal before they finally played the new Beastie Boys. Without putting too fine a point on it, music discovery today feels a bit hollow.
Former presenters and VJs have shared their eulogies for MTV on social media, such as Neil Cole. “The 38 months I worked full-time as an MTV presenter … was the best possible way to learn and develop live broadcast skills which I still utilize over twenty years later,” he wrote on Instagram (while also sharing dislike for the term VJ). “And throughout,” he continued, “the main focus was always MUSIC.”
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