MTV to Shut Down News Division Everyone Forgot Existed Decades Ago

MTV will shut down its news division as Paramount Global, its parent company, enacts sweeping layoffs across its brands.

MTV News weathered significant layoffs five years ago, but will now be entirely eliminated as the company looks to reduce its total staff by 25%, Variety reported.

Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks President Chris McCarthy indicated in a memo the outlet obtained that the company felt “pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers.”

“[W]e have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%. This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group,” he said. “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,” he added.

MTV News is the latest in a series of media groups to face considerable layoffs, joining the likes of Buzzfeed News, which was also recently dissolved. Other news outlets such as NPR have slashed their staff in recent months while entertainment-based firms such as Disney, Meta, and Amazon have reduced their staff numbers this year.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.