Paramount Shutting Down MTV News

Paramount is shutting down MTV News, reports Variety. 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.

In a memo to staff, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy said that, despite Paramount’s “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.”

Launching in the late ‘80s, Megadeth’s “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying” was used as the intro for The Week In Rock, headed by host Kurt Loder. After a relaunch in 2015, the struggling outlet was let go of most of its staff in 2017.