MTV Music Channels Sign Off Forever With the One That Started It All: ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’
Written by admin on January 1, 2026
MTV channels dedicated to 24/7 music videos began going permanently dark on Wednesday with a nod to the video that started it all: airing the Buggles’ iconic “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
Earlier this fall, MTV announced it would shutter its 24-hour music channels in 2025, a move impacting MTV stations worldwide including several channels in the United Kingdom: MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live.
The flagship MTV Music channel ended its decades-long run on New Year’s Eve the way it began, playing the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” — the music video that launched MTV on Aug. 1, 1981. BBC journalist Jono Read shared the moment the channel went off-air in an X post documenting the video. Each of the U.K. channels aired a different final video on Wednesday, with MTV 90s showing the Spice Girls’ “Goodbye.”
MTV Music’s last song was Video Killed The Radio Star pic.twitter.com/48WNnbgesb
— Jono Read (@jonoread) December 31, 2025
Viewers who try to tune in to these channels now will see the affected channels’ logos cycling through, telling viewers they can access MTV content on MTV HD. Neither MTV or its parent company, Paramount Skydance, have commented on the brand’s future in the United States.
MTV debuted in August 1981 in the U.S., with a debut in the U.K. and Ireland in August 1987. Much of the most popular MTV programming in the U.S. is no longer music videos but reality shows.
Paramount’s CEO David Ellison said he intends to revitalize MTV and the media conglomerate’s other cable properties, but he did not specify how.
MTV’s music channels were not the only property that took a hit due to budget cuts as part of the Skydance merger. MTV also announced that it would shutter several awards shows, including the MTV Europe Music Awards and MTV Latin America’s MIAW Awards (formerly known as the Millennial Awards).
Paramount is also expected to shutter music-only channels in Australia, Poland, France and Brazil.
