MTV Classic is a 24 hour music channel from Viacom International Media Networks Europe. The channel launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 July 1999 as VH1 Classic. The channel focuses 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, such as Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" from 1942. The channel has also occasionally aired videos from the early 2000s. "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.
Since the rebrand, Viacom has 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.
From 23 November 2013 to 26 December 2013, the channel was temporarily rebranded as MTV Xmas, playing only Christmas-themed music.[2] From 1 August 2014 to 1 September 2014, the channel was temporarily rebranded once again as MTV Summer