After shaping music culture and delivering groundbreaking content for over three decades, MTV News has officially pulled the plug. Launched in 1987 with the show ‘The Week in Rock’, MTV News, a subsidiary of Paramount Global, became an influential news source for Gen X and older millennials, who sought an alternative to traditional network programming.
Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, SuChin Pak, Gideon Yago, and Alison Stewart, were among the many correspondents who brilliantly covered music, pop culture, politics, and more, catering to MTV’s younger audience. Their unique storytelling and reporting created unforgettable pop culture moments, including the infamous 1994 “boxers or briefs” question to President Clinton during the MTV’s town hall, ‘Enough Is Enough’.
MTV News didn’t just report on pop culture; it became a part of it. From covering sexual health and the Iraq War to the death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, MTV News was there, winning Emmys and Peabody Awards along the way. Yet despite its cultural relevance, the MTV News of 2023 was a far cry from its glory days in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2017, MTV News underwent significant downsizing, attempting to compete with digital outlets like BuzzFeed and Vice. The focus shifted to short-form content and video, returning to its roots of hourly news updates on the cable channel. However, with the entertainment industry evolving and Paramount seeking to cut costs, MTV News had to close shop.
As of March, MTV’s website had around 6 million monthly visitors, a minor increase from the previous year but significantly less compared to competitors like BuzzFeed and Vice, who also faced downsizing recently.
Arguably, no correspondent embodied MTV News more than Kurt Loder, the
ex-“Rolling Stone” writer who served multiple decades at the news division. Loder’s distinct style and on-screen persona made him a cultural icon, appearing as himself in shows like “The Simpsons,” “That ’90s Show,” and “Kenan & Kel.”
In a nod to the glory days, Loder made a final appearance for Paramount in March 2023, albeit in a fictional segment advertising the new season of the Showtime series “Yellowjackets.” Utilizing deepfake technology to resemble his younger self from the early 90s, Loder once again sat at the MTV News desk, reminding viewers of the era when MTV News was not just a news outlet, but a cultural force.
As MTV News signs off for the last time, its legacy will continue to reverberate through music history and pop culture. Its tagline, “MTV News, you hear it first,” will always be remembered as a testament to its pioneering role in the news industry.
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