Goodbye MTV. MTV Music’s Last Song: ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’

Viewers tuning in to MTV’s classic music channels on New Year’s Eve 2025 witnessed more than a countdown—they saw the end of an era. On Dec. 31, MTV shut down its remaining music-only channels, quietly ending decades of 24-hour music video programming across multiple countries.

In the UK, channels including MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live went off the air, according to Rolling Stone. MTV Music signed off with “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles—the first music video ever aired when MTV launched in the U.S. on Aug. 1, 1981. Other channels chose different finales, with MTV 90s ending its run with the Spice Girls’ “Goodbye.”

The shutdown extended beyond the UK. Music-only MTV channels, which disappeared from U.S. television years ago, also went dark in countries such as Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Australia, and Brazil, Deadline reports.

The move has renewed questions about MTV’s future. For now, the network itself isn’t going anywhere. According to People, MTV’s flagship channels remain on the air, focusing largely on reality programming like The Challenge and RuPaul’s Drag Race. In the UK, MTV HD continues to broadcast shows such as Naked Dating UK and Geordie Shore, the BBC reports.

Despite its reduced music presence, MTV ranked as the 49th most-watched U.S. cable network in 2025, ahead of Comedy Central, per Variety. Parent company Paramount has not publicly explained the decision to eliminate the music-only channels. However, the move follows broader cost-cutting efforts tied to Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance, completed in August 2025, as well as earlier pauses of the MTV Europe Music Awards and MTV Latin America’s MIAW Awards.

MTV News was shuttered in 2023 after 36 years, with executives citing economic pressures. Former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes reflected on the changes in an October interview with People, calling them part of a broader evolution.

“While it’s a bit sad, it’s been a bit sad for a while,” Fuentes said. “MTV had its time and history that time will never repeat. It’s time to change. We all change. We have to evolve.”

MTV’s debut day in 1981 also featured videos from Talking Heads, Blondie, and Kate Bush—artists who helped define a channel that once reshaped music, television, and pop culture.