MTV Music

MTV Music was created as a response to the changing role of the MTV brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. As MTV’s principal channel expanded beyond music into general entertainment, Viacom International Media Networks introduced a separate service dedicated primarily to music videos. MTV Music launched on 1 February 2011, replacing MTV Shows. The launch coincided with an exchange of the MTV and MTV Shows positions in the Sky UK and Sky Ireland electronic programme guides: MTV moved into the entertainment section, while MTV Shows moved into the music section and was renamed MTV Music. The new channel formed part of a broader family of specialized MTV music services, including MTV Base, MTV Classic, MTV Dance, MTV Hits, MTV Rocks and MTV Live. Its central proposition was continuous music-video programming rather than the reality, scripted and general entertainment programming increasingly associated with the main MTV channel. Selected programmes on the UK and Ireland service could also carry subtitles, a feature that distinguished it from some other MTV Music feeds. MTV Music moved to widescreen broadcasting in the UK and Ireland on 28 March 2012. The brand subsequently received regional extensions. MTV Music Ireland launched on 31 October 2013 as a simultaneous broadcast of the UK service with Irish advertising and sponsorship. That localized operation ended on 31 May 2019, after which the UK feed served Ireland. A UK time-shift service, MTV Music +1, launched on Sky on 15 February 2016, replacing the standard-definition version of MTV Live HD. The time-shift channel was later withdrawn during a wider rationalization of UK MTV music channels. The name was also deployed on separate services beyond the UK and Ireland. Italy received MTV Music in 2011, while Australia, New Zealand and Poland received regional versions later. A pan-European MTV Music 24 service carried non-stop music videos in numerous European and nearby markets until it ceased in June 2021. These regional channels shared the MTV Music identity but had different distribution histories and are not the same entity as the UK and Ireland service. The UK channel’s role changed as the wider portfolio contracted. Following the closure of MTV OMG, MTV Rocks and Club MTV on 20 July 2020, MTV Music incorporated a Sunday chart based on MTV Rocks-related programming. In 2022, the channel temporarily suspended normal schedules after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It filled the interruption with sombre music-video blocks, including Programming Pause and Nothing but Music, and made a further one-day adjustment for the Queen’s state funeral on 19 September. After Liam Payne’s death in October 2024, MTV Music again interrupted its schedule to air Liam Payne: A Tribute. On 6 July 2024, MTV Music replaced The Official UK Top 20/40 and The Official Chart Update with This Week’s MTV Top 20. In March 2025, it adopted a new set of on-air idents consistent with the newer presentation of European MTV music channels. Reference material reports that Paramount Networks UK & Australia planned to close MTV Music and several sister UK music channels at the end of December 2025 as part of a restructuring following Paramount Global’s combination with Skydance Media. The final transmission status should be checked against current operator and regulator records.

• 2025

  On-air identity refresh

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  MTV Music introduced new idents in March 2025.

• 2024

  Introduction of This Week’s MTV Top 20

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  The channel changed its principal weekly chart offering on 6 July 2024.

• 2020

  Portfolio consolidation

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  Closures of several sister MTV music channels increased MTV Music’s role within the remaining UK music-channel lineup.

• 2019

  Irish feed discontinued

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  MTV Music Ireland ended and the UK feed became the service distributed in Ireland.

• 2016

  MTV Music +1 launches

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  The UK time-shift service launched on Sky on 15 February 2016.

• 2013

  Irish localized service begins

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  MTV Music Ireland launched with localized Irish advertising and sponsorship.

• 2012

  Widescreen transition

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  The UK and Ireland service began broadcasting in widescreen on 28 March 2012.

• 2011

  Launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland

  [1]MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org

  MTV Music launched on 1 February 2011, replacing MTV Shows and taking a dedicated music-video role within the MTV portfolio.

A dedicated, mass-market MTV music-video channel for UK and Irish pay-television audiences, positioned as a more music-focused counterpart to the broader entertainment-oriented MTV service.

• Subscription television channel · 2011

  MTV Music UK & Ireland

  The principal service covered by this dossier. It is a pay-television channel centered on continuous music videos, chart programming and themed music blocks for audiences in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was designed to preserve a dedicated music outlet within MTV’s increasingly entertainment-oriented channel portfolio.

• Localized television feed · 2013

  MTV Music Ireland

  An Irish simultaneous broadcast of the UK service that added local advertising and sponsorship. It operated from 2013 until 2019, when the UK version replaced it in Ireland.

• Time-shift television channel · 2016

  MTV Music +1

  A delayed UK version of MTV Music launched on Sky in 2016. It provided time-shifted access to the channel’s music-video schedule and was later closed during changes to the UK MTV channel portfolio.

• 2025

  Plan the closure of UK MTV music channelsStrategy

  Background

  Reference material attributes the planned closures to restructuring by Paramount Networks UK & Australia following the creation of Paramount Skydance.

  Action taken

  The operator reportedly planned to close MTV Music and four other MTV-branded UK music pay-television channels at the end of December 2025.

  Aftermath

  The definitive outcome and final transmission date require confirmation from current operator or regulatory records.

  Source

• 2024

  Replace the principal UK chart formatsOther

  Background

  The channel had been airing The Official UK Top 20/40 and The Official Chart Update.

  Action taken

  From 6 July 2024, MTV Music replaced those programmes with This Week’s MTV Top 20.

  Aftermath

  The change made the channel’s principal weekly chart a branded MTV format rather than the previous Official Chart programmes.

  Source

• 2020

  Consolidate the UK music-channel portfolioStrategy

  Background

  Several MTV music channels were closed on 20 July 2020 amid changes to the portfolio.

  Action taken

  MTV Music absorbed a Sunday chart associated with MTV Rocks programming after MTV OMG, MTV Rocks and Club MTV ceased broadcasting.

  Aftermath

  The channel carried some programming concepts formerly associated with the closed services.

  Source

• 2011

  Create a dedicated MTV music-video channelProduct launch

  Background

  The main MTV channel had moved toward broader entertainment programming while specialist music services and online platforms increased competition for music-video audiences.

  Action taken

  Viacom International Media Networks replaced MTV Shows with MTV Music in the UK and Ireland and assigned the new channel a primarily music-video schedule.

  Aftermath

  MTV Music became the dedicated music-focused counterpart to the broader MTV channel in the UK and Ireland.

  Source

1. 1MTV Music (UK & Ireland)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2MTV Music UK & Ireland official websitemtv.co.uk