Update: MTV President Refutes Rumors of 'TRL' Cancellation

Update 7:20 p.m ET:MTV President Chris McCarthy says the series has not been canceled, according [...]

By John Connor Coulston

Update 7:20 p.m ET:

MTV President Chris McCarthy says the series has not been canceled, according to multiple reports, and in fact will be expanded. There are plans to build out two more regular TRL programs, one in the morning and one for late night.

TMZ reports an MTV spokesperson says the show will be back in new "daily late night and morning shows this summer." The rep adds the show's been a huge success since its return.

Original story:

MTV has reportedly cancelled Total Request Live — better known as TRL — yet again.

The show was originally cancelled in 2008 but was revived in October 2017.

TMZ reports that employees were informed of the cancellation over email. The show will no longer air on the network, but it will apparently still be around in a new format.

MTV told employees TRL would "pivot to short form content that will be featured on social and digital platforms."

The show went on hiatus in February and was originally scheduled to return on April 9. However, it is now unclear when the TRL brand will begin producing new content.

While the core music-centric program is gone, the network still intends to keep TRL's spinoff after-shows. That includes the Jersey Shore aftershow slated for April 19.

The network has not formally announced the cancellation and/or the planned format change.

The original run of TRL became a cultural staple after it began in 1998. Host Carson Daly led the broadcast as it welcomed music A-listers including Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Eminem, Mariah Carey and countless others. The broadcast was particularly known for its Times Square headquarters were troves of fans would wait outside to catch glimpses of stars through the studio's glass windows.

Things went downhill over the years with the show airing its final broadcast on Nov. 16, 2008. It went out with a star-studded farewell special that included included Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Christina Aguilera and Taylor Swift.

After a few one-off specials over the years, MTV officially revived the show with a slate of young hosts and correspondents. They were mostly social media personalities with large online followings, such as DC Young Fly, Erik Zachary, Gabbie Hanna, Gigi Gorgeous and The Dolan Twins.

Twitter users were not too kind about the show's cancellation. Many expressed their lack or surprise over the cancellation and gave their opinions as to why the revival did not work. Other shared their support for the social media personalities who led the show.

"(It was cancelled) because y'all had s—y guests like the Dolan Twins [and] other YouTubers," one user said. "It did not live up to the guests TRL used to have back in the day. That's what MTV gets for being shallow [and] caring more about their flop views than actual quality, which could've increased their views."

Another user wrote, "TRL got canceled, and I'm not afraid to say that it only lasted so long [because] of the Dolan Twins. And the twins deserve so much better than TRL."

Photo Credit: MTV

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