Overview
- Paramount is reported to be winding down MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live, with the UK and Ireland going dark at year-end and additional territories expected to follow.
- Flagship MTV HD will stay on air as a reality and entertainment outlet, with music programming no longer a focus.
- Audience erosion underpins the decision, with Nielsen showing U.S. prime-time viewership down to 256,000 in 2023 from 807,000 in 2014, and UK BARB data putting MTV Music at 1.3 million viewers in July 2025.
- Coverage links the closures to post-merger restructuring, with reporting of about $500 million in targeted savings and a resource shift toward Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
- U.S. MTV channels are not slated to shut for now, though insiders say a streaming-first pivot is under evaluation, and some locally licensed outlets such as MTV India have not announced equivalent shutdowns.