MTV, which is short for Music Television, is known for its revolutionary way of how music enthusiasts receive and perceive music-related media, as the network originally began by airing famous artists’ music videos. MTV was proven to be a success as the years following its release saw the network take different avenues of music media such as music journalism and reality TV, which brought the company to unseen heights. Now it seems pieces of the famous cable channel are ending one by one, as it’s far-left MTV News suddenly closed its website, along with the termination of decades worth of content.
Recently the longstanding MTV News website was abruptly shut down by the company, which ultimately led to the deletion of two decades worth of media content, which could not be found in such good quality elsewhere. Much of the content was related to the music journalism aspect that began on MTV in the mid-1990s. When internet users attempt to visit the MTV News website, they are now directed to MTV’s main website.
The end of MTV News’s website signifies the end of an era of journalism on MTV that originally began in 1996, covering large topics of the time such as the East Coast and West Coast Rap rivalry. Since then, the website has hosted thousands of articles and interviews, with artists of all genres. One of the company’s most popular article columns, “Mixtape Monday”, was monumental to the outlet during the 2000s and 2010s, showcasing detailed journalism on new and upcoming artists and producers in the hip-hop scene.
MTV’s media deletion is not the first occurrence of it in the music world, as MTV’s sister website CMT.com, a country music media company, has also seen archives of its content deleted from the internet. According to Variety, the recent actions are the results of the two music companies’ parent company, Paramount Global, making cutbacks due to recent financial challenges.
As Nelson Muntz likes to say – “HA HA”
It’s kind of sad as MTV was fun to watch in the 80s and 90s, now it’s not even a shadow of its former glory.
Neither is ESPN.
No one will miss it. Including MTV.
I remember growing up in the 1980s in the Houston suburbs, the rock group Journey played a concert at The Summit that was played live on MTV nationwide. It was also simulcast on a local rock station (97 Rock). It was a weekend show, so we set up a large-screen projection tv hooked up to a stereo and had a keg party. So many kids showed up and it was a blast. Odd thing is, no thugs showed up and shot up the party.