MTV Classic (British and Irish TV channel)
MTV Classic was a British pay television music channel from Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel was launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 July 1999 as VH1 Classic. It focused on music videos and music specials from the 1960s onwards, sometimes featuring music videos and concert footage from as early as at least the 1940s or 1950s, such as Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" from 1942. It also aired videos from the 2000s and early 2010s. Every November and December from 2013 until 2021, MTV Classic played Christmas-themed music  branded as MTV Xmas. "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, the first video to air on the original MTV in 1981, was also the first music video to be played when the channel was rebranded as MTV Classic on 1 March 2010. History. Since the rebrand, Viacom had rebranded other international channels as MTV Classic. On 1 May 2010, VH1 Australia was rebranded as MTV Classic and on 10 January 2011, MTV Networks Europe launched an Italian version of the same channel, replacing MTV Gold. MTV Classic began broadcasting in widescreen on 6 March 2012. On 31 March  2022, the channel closed down, and was replaced by MTV 80s. The final video played on the channel was Goodbye by Spice Girls. Temporary rebrands. Viacom occasionally rebranded MTV Classic to a different name to air different kinds of music. Availability. The channel was available in the United Kingdom on Sky, Virgin Media, BT TV and TalkTalk Plus TV and in Ireland on Sky Ireland and Virgin Media Ireland. MTV Classic was previously available on Virgin Media UK but it was removed from the platform on 28 August 2010, along with MTV +1 and MTV Shows, to make room for  Comedy Central HD and returned on 7 January 2020, replacing VH1 which had closed that day. Logos. MTV Classic's on-air identity was similar to MTV's international identity. MTV Classic utilised the new MTV logo along with specially commissioned idents by ICC. These idents were also used on other MTV Classic channels around the world including MTV Classic Australia, which launched in May 2010. On September 14, 2021, MTV Classic revealed a new on-air look and new logo as part of MTV's 2021 global rebrand.