After 36 iconic years, MTV News is signing off

Kurt Loder stans lament: MTV News will be shutting down after 36 years as part of a restructuring plan at Paramount.

On Tuesday, layoffs hit roughly 25% of employees belonging to Paramount Media Networks, Showtime, and MTV Entertainment Studios, per Variety. The move followed months of internal discussions about how to best reorganize assets to accommodate Showtime’s rebranding under the new “Paramount Plus with Showtime” handle.

MTV News was significantly affected by layoffs a few years back but continued to operate on a limited basis. However, the recent decision will finally shutter the longtime news division. Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks President Chris McCarthy said in a memo to staff that although Paramount Plus has been successful in the streaming space, “[W]e continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers.”

According to McCarthy, “This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group. Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward.”

The reorganization will consolidate the remaining business into “two functions.” The first is “studios,” comprising Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios. The second is “networks,” combining the Paramount-owned networks MTV, Nick, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, CMT, Smithsonian, TV Land, Logo, and Pop TV.

The news comes four months after Showtime laid off 124 associates when it merged with MTV Entertainment Studios as part of the Paramount Plus with Showtime strategy.

It’s always a sad day when people lose their jobs, but there’s an extra sting for those of us old enough to remember hearing the opening riff of Megadeath’s “Peace Sells” on our rabbit-eared TV sets and knowing it was time for the flagship MTV News program The Week in Rock — a kind of cultural touchstone for late-’80s kids who relied on longtime Rolling Stone critic Kurt Loder to tell us what was cool.

Loder’s status as host seemed to lend the entire MTV News division some cache, as it was one of the first and only news outlets to approach current events through the lens of pop culture. MTV News told late Gen-Xers and early Millennials what to care about, which included efforts to encourage more young people to vote.

So pour one out for the first people to explain to Metallica fans who the hell Ross Perot was, or why a woman’s right to choose was probably something worth fighting for. If anyone needs mental health resources, there aren’t any. But you can always hate-watch Pop TV, whatever that is.