MTV News shut down after 36 years

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 became a hit with younger audiences when Rolling Stone editor-turned-TV host Kurt Loder joined the network and launched The Week in Rock programme.

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

This story is being updated