The nostalgia cracked open ever since the news churned out that MTV is all set to shut down its five UK music channels. It immediately lured us back to the days when you’d tap onto the channel, sink into the couch, and let the videos do the talking. No swipes, no skips—just music on loop, and a feeling that you were exactly where you needed to be.
By December 31, 2025, five of those channels—MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live—will fade to black. A quiet goodbye to a time when genres had homes, and eras had identities.
Of course, not all of MTV is disappearing. The main MTV HD channel continues to air, and the brand survives across social media and Paramount+. But the shutdown feels like the final chord of a long-loved track. The decision comes as part of Paramount’s global $500 million cost-cutting push, with similar shutdowns affecting Australia, France, Brazil, and Poland. In the UK, the ripples were already showing—local shows pulled off-air, production teams disbanded, the screen dimming bit by bit.
And yet, the love never really left. Just a few months ago, MTV Music was drawing over 1.3 million viewers, with MTV 90s close behind. It wasn’t about numbers—it was about presence. About knowing that if you turned it on, the music would meet you halfway.
MTV was never just television. It was a combination of memory, mood, and motion. It gave sound to moments and faces to voices. For many, it was the first encounter with a new favourite artist or the background to a late-night heartache.
So, before the curtain falls, it was all worth taking one last spin through the decades.
