MTV News, which the seminal music video channel launched in the late 1980s, is no more. During yet another wave of devastating media and entertainment industry layoffs, 25 percent of the jobs across Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks will be slashed amid Showtime’s integration into Paramount. These layoffs come four months after Showtime laid off 120 employees during its merger with MTV Entertainment Studios. Five years after being significantly downsized, the news production division of MTV was shuttered as part of the cuts. “This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group,” Paramount division CEO Chris McCarthy said in a statement. “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.”
A number of MTV News staffers, meanwhile, took to social media to lament the loss of the cutting-edge news outlet. “Hi! This Friday, May 12 will be my last day at MTV News after eight years,” music editor Patrick Hosken tweeted. “Very open to writing/editing gigs, band bios, anything digital/social. Email is in bio!”
When they stopped playing music videos they became a tedious endless infomercial.
ReplyDeleteThere's a meme floating around out there on the Internets that says "MTV's debut date is closer to Pearl Harbor than today."
ReplyDeleteHell, I'd be happy to get back the old MTV that actually played music.
ReplyDelete