U.S. Senator Rand Paul (right) speaks with an MTV News reporter during an event in 2015. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Paramount Global is in the process of shutting down some of its ancillary MTV-branded cable networks in the United Kingdom, according to a report.
On Friday, BBC News said the affected channels — MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live — will stop broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland at the end of December.
The flagship MTV channel will continue broadcasting on pay TV platforms, though it will primarily focus on unscripted programming, similar to how the network operates in the United States.
Paramount is likely to make similar changes in the United States in the coming months, where it operates a handful of MTV and BET-branded music channels. Those channels include MTVU, MTV Classic, MTV Live, BET Jams and BET Soul, most of which are placed in expensive programming tiers on cable and satellite platforms. Philo, a streaming cable service that is partially owned by Paramount, offers a few of those channels in its base programming package.
MTV launched in the United States in 1981 as the world’s first 24-hour music television network, and quickly redefined pop culture through its video jockeys and groundbreaking programming. The network aired iconic moments such as the world premiere of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” its 16-hour coverage of Live Aid in 1985, and the launch of the MTV Video Music Awards that same decade.
Six years later, MTV launched a version of its channel on satellite in Europe. The pan-European feed was eventually replaced over time by regionalized variants of the channel, including MTV U.K., which started its operations in 1997.
MTV U.K. helped launch the careers of presenters including Cat Deeley, Zane Lowe, and Emma Willis, before transitioning into original programming such as “Ex on the Beach” and “Teen Mom U.K.”
In 2011, MTV UK removed music videos from its main schedule, shifting them to its spin-off stations while focusing its primary network on reality series. The MTV Europe Music Awards became one of the brand’s last major music-centered events, but Paramount paused the ceremony earlier this year as it pursued a merger with Skydance Media. That deal closed in August.
Paramount continues to operate a number of other channels in the United Kingdom, including public service broadcaster Five (Channel 5), True Crime and Legend, along with localized variants of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central. Some of those channels are operated through joint ventures with Comcast’s Sky Group and AMC Networks.
The British variants of Paramount’s channels are operated as part of a single business unit that also includes the company’s Australian operations. There, Paramount owns Network 10 and Gecko TV, and localized versions of Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central.