TV|The popularity of YouTube ate the last viewers from the famous music video channel.
The music channel MTV will close its last European music video channels at the turn of the year.
The Paramount-owned channel is ending pay-per-view music channels in the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland and Hungary as part of austerity measures.
Most of the target audience now watches music videos on YouTube, and MTV’s viewership has collapsed.
MTV started as a music channel in the United States in 1981 and was a key factor in the success of the world’s biggest artists until the beginning of the 2000s.
Last At the turn of the year, the most influential music media at the end of the century, Music Television, or MTV, will close its last music channels operating in Europe.
Until now, MTV’s paid music video channels profiled for different music styles have been shown in Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland and Hungary.
At the same time, MTV’s music channels in Australia and Brazil will also be closed. Only the MTV Global channel remains in operation, which mostly shows reality TV programs. Music videos were already removed from the main channel’s program in 2010.
The closing of the last pay-per-view music video channels outside the US is part of an austerity drive by Paramount, which owns the channel. The majority of the target audience watches music videos on YouTube, and MTV’s viewership has collapsed.
MTV started as a music channel in the United States in 1981 and in Europe in 1987. It was a key factor in the success of the world’s biggest artists until the beginning of the 2000s.
Inter alia Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Whitney Houston were 1980s MTV stars. In the 1990s, grunge, originally born as alternative rock, spread to the world via MTV, and Nirvana and Pearl Jam became the world’s most famous rock bands.
MTV initially favored white artists, but after the success of Michael Jackson, the channel gradually added videos of new black rap stars to the rotation.
Record companies made big budget music videos for MTV. The directors of music videos became stars, some of them also film directors.
Awarded with two Oscars The Zone of Interestin directed by Jonathan Glazer started his career making videos for Radiohead, Jamiroquai and many other British artists. Also By Mark Roman and David Fincher have been successful with both music videos and feature films.
MTV at the turn of the millennium was also a desired destination for Finnish artists aspiring to the international market. Bomfunk MC’s Freestyler, Daruden Sandstorm and a few years later The Rasmus In the Shadows spin at a fast pace.
The visibility of Finnish artists was increased by MTV Nordic, which operated between 1998 and 2005, and was a free channel aimed at Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. MTV Nordic was revived as a pay channel in 2019, but closed two years later.
Since 1984, MTV has organized the MTV Video Music Awards event, where the most successful artists of the year are awarded.
The gala is still held, even though MTV’s main channel no longer shows music videos. Viewership numbers for the Video Music Awards have been declining, but the 2025 gala drew the most viewers in six years. Part of the reason was that the televising of the gala was transferred to the CBS channel for the first time in the United States.