Overview
- Five music-only signals — MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live — went dark around Dec. 31–Jan. 1 across markets including the U.K., Germany, France, Ireland, Poland, Austria, Brazil and Australia.
- Paramount told Variety that MTV is not shutting down, noting the confusion stemmed from retiring MTV Classic and confirming the MTV brand continues in the U.S.
- The company said the MTV Video Music Awards will be held in 2026 despite the international closures of dedicated music channels.
- Some channels signed off by playing The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” echoing MTV’s 1981 launch as a symbolic farewell to the linear music-video era.
- Reports tie the move to post‑merger restructuring at Paramount Skydance and a long shift toward digital and reality programming, with MTV still reaching about 90 million U.S. households in 2025.