MTV says goodbye on December 31st, shutting down its signal permanently.

The media landscape is changing by the day and within this whirlwind, surprising decisions are being made. The latest has been made by Paramount Global, ... the entertainment giant, which has confirmed that it will permanently shut down the signals of MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live on December 31, 2025.

The only channel from the group that will not disappear is MTV, the main one, which maintains a programming focus around entertainment—reality series, contests, and non-musical formats—leaving behind its original identity as a 24-hour music video channel.

The closure will begin in the United Kingdom and Ireland and will progressively extend through Europe, Australia, and Brazil. This measure is part of a global cost-cutting plan by Paramount Global, which aims to reduce costs by 500 million dollars following its merger with Skydance Media.

This is a clear sign of changing times. The public no longer consumes music as before. YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok have displaced traditional television in an ecosystem dominated by streaming. Gone are the days when MTV set trends and defined the pulse of youth culture.

Founded on August 1, 1981, in New York, MTV revolutionized the music industry by becoming the first channel dedicated exclusively to broadcasting music videos 24 hours a day. Its first broadcast was the song 'Video killed the radio star' by The Buggles, an anthem that anticipated the change that was to come. During the eighties and nineties, the channel was the epicenter of pop culture and the discovery of era-defining artists such as Madonna, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, or Britney Spears. Its shows and events—like the Video Music Awards (VMAs)—became true global phenomena, elevating the music video to the status of art. It was also the stage for the premiere of Thriller, Michael Jackson's monumental music video in 1983, which solidified MTV as a cultural icon.

Platforms are overtaking television

The closure of MTV's music channels confirms a trend that seemed unstoppable. New generations no longer tune into television to discover music, movies, or series; they do it from their mobile phones. The major platforms now concentrate the attention of the youth and teenage audience. In this context, linear television is losing ground to immediate and personalized consumption.

It is not an isolated case: last year Disney Channel also shut down its signal in Spain and other European countries, moving its content exclusively to Disney+. MTV's decision follows that same logic of adapting its brand to the digital era, albeit at the cost of leaving behind the essence that made it legendary.

The brand will survive through its digital platforms and flagship events such as the Video Music Awards (VMAs) and the Europe Music Awards (EMAs), but the original spirit of the channel will be extinguished.