After a short-lived run of bringing Korean-driven music and news to American television sets, MTV K will be shut down.

In the midst of a major round of layoffs, Viacom’s MTV Networks plans to pull the plug on all three of its MTV World channels, including the Chinese American MTV Chi and the South Asian MTV Desi.      

The channel, offered through DirecTV, was unprecedented in serving the niche market of young Korean American viewers. Those who loved MTV but wanted to see more than blonde gals gossiping on “Laguna Beach” could suddenly rock out to the latest music videos of Jinusean, Se7en and Gummy. Fans tuned in for live performances, exclusive interviews and news stories about Koreans across the globe.    

“It breaks my heart to see Viacom shut down such an inspirational tool in the Asian American community,” says Enik Lin, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for indie rock group Burning Tree Project, whose music videos were regularly featured on the channel. “MTV K made a connection to its viewers. It doesn’t make sense to take that connection away.”

The road has also been rough for other Asian American broadcasting outlets, including AZN Television, owned by Comcast, and the New York-based startup ImaginAsian. Ad revenue has been on the decline with the explosion of online, mobile and video-on-demand media. 

In February, MTV acknowledged in a statement: “The premium distribution model for MTV World proved more challenging than we anticipated in this competitive environment.”

MTV World is expected to be pulled off the air in late April, but some supporters are making a final effort to change its fate. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition urging MTV Networks to reverse the axing.    

“We are an identity that is distinct,” says Ishita Gupta, 25, of Boston, who penned the petition. “We need a space that represents us. We need this type of programming.”

In other words, we want our MTV