London (AFP) – “To see it disappear is a shame,” says James Hyman, a former director and producer at MTV Europe, following the news that the channel, now owned by media giant Paramount Skydance, will wind down its international music broadcasting by the end of the year. “MTV Europe was so unique,” he says, describing the channel as a “community” that had “the whole of Europe all watching the same thing.” In 1981, MTV kick-started a new era of music and pop culture, with its almost half-century on-air featuring interviews with top artists, fashion programmes and a whole range of genre-specific music shows.
