MTV News is shuttering operations after 36 years following widespread layoffs, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety report. Twenty-five percent of employees across MTV Entertainment Studios, Paramount Media Networks, and Showtime were laid off Tuesday (May 9), roughly five years after MTV endured significant job cuts in 2017.
In a memo to staff shared with Pitchfork, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy wrote that senior leaders “in coordination with HR” “made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%.”
McCarthy continued: “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. Today we will notify employees whose positions are being impacted with leaders communicating the news directly to those teams/or individuals. These meetings will be followed by individual 1:1s with our HR partners.”
MTV News emerged in 1987 with one show: The Week in Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder. Correspondents like Alison Stewart, Tabitha Soren, SuChin Pak, and later Meredith Graves reported for the outlet throughout the years, their coverage spanning music, politics, sex, pop culture, and more.
MTV News was especially influential in the 1990s and early 2000s—on April 8, 1994 Loder confirmed the death of Kurt Cobain, and MTV News transitioned into more frequent programming after breaking that landmark story.
In the ensuing years, reporters for MTV News went on to win Emmys and Peabody Awards for pieces on natural disasters and the Iraq War. In 2017, multiple MTV News writers were laid off as the company re-strategized to focus more on video and short-form content.
Pitchfork has reached out to MTV and Paramount representatives for further information and comment.
