Paramount reportedly closing down MTV UK music channels in December

The main channel that bears the mother brand will continue to remain on the airwaves.

In a report by BBC News on October 11, it revealed that Paramount Skydance, the major American media conglomerate that owns MTV among other brands, is pulling the plug on the specialty music channels.

Affected by the said move are MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live, which the Beeb said will stop broadcasting after December 31, 2025, marking the end of an era for the network that was formerly known as Music Television.

That is despite the flagship channel continuing to remain broadcasting into the New Year, which has not aired any music-related programming since 2011 as it shifted to reality shows like ‘Ex On The Beach’ and ‘Geordie Shore,’ while music videos were transferred over to the specialty channels.

However, at the moment, Paramount Skydance has not yet made any formal announcement regarding the axing of these channels and its implications for the master brand, which has been on the air since August 1, 1981.

Although it is understood that MTV in the USA, as well as its sister networks MTV2, MTV Live, and MTV Classic are unaffected in spite of a continuing downward trend in cable subscription.

IN THE PHILIPPINES

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, MTV has had a rather storied history. First receiving only a direct pan-Asian satellite feed, MTV Philippines was launched in 1996 via Channel 23, which would later become Studio 23.

Later on, in 2001, the local channel would move to NBC Channel 41, which would carry it until 2007, with the music channel moving exclusively to cable broadcasts until ceasing its operations in 2010.

Four years after its demise, in 2014, a partnership between its then-parent Viacom and media giant Viva Communications paved the way for the revival called MTV Pinoy, with young stars of the said firm presenting various programs of the channel.

During that era, the channel also had a renewed presence on free-to-air television when TV5 briefly carried the weekly Top 20 Pilipinas chart show as part of the Kapatid network’s Saturday night line-up.

However, in 2016, the partnership was quietly discontinued and the MTV channel in the Philippines once again reverted to the Southeast Asian feed.

But a year later, in 2017, MTVph was formed through the tie-up between Viacom and Solar Entertainment, but that would also fizzle out by 2019.

From that point until September 2022, pay television operators in the Philippines carried MTV Asia. That would later be replaced by the decade-oriented MTV 90s, while music of the current decade were moved over to MTV Live.

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