MTVi Lay Offs

MTV’s online operation became the latest to fall in the “dot-com” shakeout, shelving its plans to go public and firing one-fourth of its staff, or 105 people. Judy McGrath, president of the MTV Group, said the stock offering might go ahead later if conditions on the stock market improve. MTVi, which groups the Web sites for MTV, VH1 and two other sites, Sonicnet.com and Country.com, filed a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February to offer shares to the public. Since then, a sharp downturn in investor enthusiasm for Internet companies has led to a series of retrenchments and closures. CBS, which like MTV is owned by media conglomerate Viacom Inc., has made its own cuts in online operations, firing 24 staffers in June, or about one-quarter of its staff.