MTV News shuts down

MTV News is shutting down. Variety reports that MTV’s news division will close after 36 years as part of a round of layoffs and downsizing at Paramount Media Networks. Twenty-five percent of jobs at Paramount’s networks will be cut, following a period of deliberations over branding and the transition from streaming service Paramount+ to Paramount+ With Showtime.

Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy said in a memo 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.”

MTV News began in 1987 with the launch of The Week in Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, and throughout the ’90s, it covered major events in popular culture, ranging from the 1992 presidential election to the death of Kurt Cobain. In recent years it began to expand its online coverage, featuring more longform journalism, but in 2017 it significantly downsized, and going forward featured more emphasis on video.