After being around for nearly 40 years, MTV News is now being shut down. Variety reports that the network’s entire news division is shutting down as part of massive layoffs across Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks that will hit 25% of their employees, as their Paramount+ streaming service rebrands to Paramount+ With Showtime.
Paramount Networks’ Chris McCarthy sent a memo out to his staff, writing that while they’ve had “success in streaming, we continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers,” and that “senior leaders in coordination with HR have been working together over the past few months to determine the optimal organization for the current and future needs of our business. As a result, we have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%,” McCarthy said. “This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group.”
These cuts come four months after Showtime laid off 120 employees while merging into MTV Entertainment Studios as part of the overall Paramount+ With Showtime strategy.