MTV News shut down after 36 years

Network’s parent company is laying off 25 per cent of its workforce

MTV News is being shuttered this week as its parent company Paramount Global announced it was slashing 25 per cent of its US workforce.

The network was launched as a single show in 1987 and became a cultural tastemaker for millions of Gen X viewers in the Nineties.

In a memo to staff, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy said that, despite Paramount’s “success in streaming, we continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers,” and that “senior leaders in coordination with HR have been working together over the past few months to determine the optimal organization for the current and future needs of our business.”

“As a result, we have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25 per cent,” McCarthy said.

“This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group. Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward.”

MTV News was a hit with younger audiences after Rolling Stone editor-turned-TV host Kurt Loder joined the network in 1987 and launched The Week in Rock programme.

MTV Moon Man (Getty Images)

He was followed by other correspondents like Tabitha Soren, SuChin Pak, Gideon Yago and Alison Stewart who covered topics ranging from music to politics.

In 1992, presidential candidates George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot appeared in MTV News interviews, unable to resist the channel’s influence on younger viewers.

A question put to Clinton by an audience member – “Boxers or briefs?” – became its own cultural moment.

However, as the 2000s progressed, MTV News’ popularity waned significantly as its target audience went online to find their news.

In 2017, multiple MTV News staffers were laid off as the company pivoted to focus on video and short-form content.