Anand Mahindra Says ‘I Want My MTV’ As Iconic Music Channels Go Off Air After 44 Years

MTV’s music-only channels have quietly gone off air, triggering a wave of nostalgia across generations,especially among Baby Boomers and Gen X viewers who grew up with the network as a defining force in global pop culture. After more than 40 years of shaping how audiences discovered, watched and felt music, MTV’s dedicated music platforms have exited with little ceremony.

Industrialist Anand Mahindra echoed the collective sentiment online, reviving the iconic phrase that once captured MTV’s cultural dominance: “I want my MTV.” Reflecting on the channel’s arrival in 1981, Mahindra described it as a transformative moment for his generation. “The end of MTV hits differently for Baby Boomers like me. When it launched, it completely changed how we experienced music,shaping tastes, icons and ideas of what was cool,” he wrote, signing off with a nod to Sting’s famous lyric.

According to BBC News, several specialist MTV music channels,including MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live,stopped broadcasting on December 31, 2025. MTV first debuted in the US in 1981, expanded to Europe in 1987, and later launched a UK-specific channel in the late 1990s.

While MTV HD will continue to operate, it no longer features music videos, having pivoted to reality programming back in 2011. MTV’s music channels in the US, for now, remain unaffected.

The shutdown is part of parent company Paramount’s wider cost-cutting measures, which reportedly aim to save over $500 million globally. The move also reflects a broader shift in consumption patterns, as audiences increasingly turn to streaming and digital platforms for music discovery rather than traditional television.

Online reactions poured in as fans shared memories of what MTV once represented. “MTV didn’t just play music,it defined a generation,” one user wrote. “Waiting for your favourite video, discovering artists visually for the first time,that magic can’t be recreated.”

Another commenter added, “MTV music mornings were pure joy. Millennials will definitely feel this one.”

Summing up the cross-generational sentiment, one post read simply: “Not just for Baby Boomers,MTV lives in Gen Z hearts too. Truly the end of an era.”