On Oct. 10, MTV UK announced that it would be shutting down five of its music channels at the end of the year after a four-decade-long legacy.
MTV’s programming began in the United States in 1981 with a mission to be the first 24-hour music broadcaster by consistently airing popular music videos, cycling through each in the way a radio station would. The first music video aired on MTV was “Video Killed a Radio Star” by the Buggles, which created both speculation and intrigue in the culture about what this meant for the future of music and television.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, a 1981 New York Times article referred to MTV as a channel “the big kids, the kind that get turned on by the big rock sound and the weird assemblages that make it.” With blaring rock sounds, vibrant iconography, and teen-centric ads playing between videos, MTV was destined to leave an impact on youth culture and music lovers everywhere.
Six years after MTV’s original launch, audiences across the sea were introduced to MTV Europe. This eventually led to MTV Europe being centralized in 1997, giving the stage for a new MTV UK to be created and amassed by many.
Flash forward to the present day, and MTV seems to have shifted from its original musical culture. Following suit with the popularity of reality TV, the channel has stepped away from the discography scene and instead into the production of iconic reality shows. Seemingly in line with this trend, MTV UK announced that it would be canceling five of its stations at the end of 2025. The stations being dropped include MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live. MTV UK will instead hyperfocus on its flagship channel, MTV HD.
These were all specialized music channels, designated to highlight different prominent sections of music that once held significance, but it is now apparent that MTV UK is leaning more towards its reality TV audience. According to Newsweek, MTV HD, a remaining MTV UK channel, mostly shows the UK’s beloved reality franchises. Among these are Teen Mom UK and Geordie Shore, both derived from American MTV shows.
So what does this major change mean for MTV in other regions?
Both MTV and MTV Global are no longer music-centered, with a complete absence of their once beloved 24-hour music videos. Beginning in 2000, the amount of time allocated for music videos decreased to eight hours, and it was further reduced to three hours in 2008. By 2010, the “music television” aspect of MTV was almost completely abandoned. However, in September 2025, in anticipation of the 2025 VMAs, there was a week-long event where there were once again all-day music videos.
Since their introductions in the early 2000s, reality shows like Jersey Shore, The Real World, and Teen Mom undoubtedly triumphed the music videos in popularity. Moments from these shows still hold cultural relevance, only continuing their impact. The spectacle of reality shows drew in an excess of viewers while also stirring up controversy due to their unfiltered nature.
For decades, MTV stood as a beacon for television and music innovation. However, as media changes and television strives to adapt, MTV must do the same. Days of basking in the TV glow, entranced by a new music video, are gone. While MTV still celebrates music through the Video Music Awards, the initial impact that caused a stir in 1981 cannot be preserved or recreated. It will be fascinating to see how all subsets of MTV will adapt following the ending of several MTV UK channels.