Paramount Global has announced plans to discontinue MTV’s music channels by the end of 2025, signaling the end of an era for the once-dominant 24-hour music network.
After four decades of continuous broadcasting, five MTV music channels ; MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live will go off air in the United Kingdom and globally on December 31, 2025, according to a BBC report.
The flagship MTV HD channel, which now focuses primarily on reality programming such as Geordie Shore and Naked Dating UK, will remain on air.
The decision marks a major shift in the network’s operations as Paramount Global restructures its international portfolio amid declining traditional TV viewership. Music audiences have largely migrated to digital and social platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok, leaving linear music television with dwindling audiences.
The closures in the UK are part of a broader global downsizing that also affects Paramount-owned channels across Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland and Hungary. Networks such as TeenNick, NickMusic, Comedy Central Extra, and Paramount Network are also being phased out.
In Germany and Austria, MTV Live HD will be discontinued, while some Nickelodeon-branded channels will cease operations in several markets. However, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, and Nick Jr. are expected to continue broadcasting in the UK and Ireland.
MTV rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s as a cultural force that reshaped global music consumption through its 24-hour video format and youth-oriented programming. The network expanded into Africa in 2005 with the launch of MTV Base, its dedicated regional channel that became a major platform for African music, pop culture, and entertainment.
Over the years, MTV Base helped amplify the visibility of African artists through music video rotation, youth programming, and initiatives such as the MTV Base VJ Search and the Culture Squad, which launched several on-air talents and content creators. The channel also helped raise production standards and fostered cross-continental collaborations within the African entertainment industry.
The global shutdown of MTV’s music channels marks the end of an era for traditional music television once a powerful medium that defined pop culture and music discovery for generations.
Paramount Global has not yet issued an official statement on the closure.