MTV Marking Prince's Death at Upfront

MTV plans to acknowledge the sudden death of music icon Prince at its upfront presentation Thursday night.

Prince was found dead Thursday morning at his home in Minnesota.

The network has turned its logo purple in honor of Prince all day Thursday. MTV and MTV2 have been airing a dedicated block of his music videos this afternoon. MTV Live will air videos at 3 p.m.

MTV News will air a dedicated podcast highlighting Prince’s impact on music. MTV News correspondents will be on-the-ground in New York and Paisley Park to get feedback from fans.

MTV plans to air Purple Rain Thursday night.

Tomorrow there will be a full Prince takeover of MTV’s Snapchat channel.

Prince was a fixture on MTV in the early days, and he had legendary performances during Video Music Award broadcasts in 1987 and 1991.

"MTV is heartbroken and in utter disbelief at the news that the world has lost Prince Rogers Nelson so suddenly and so before his time,”  the network said in a statement. “Prince was a once-in-a-lifetime artist who transcended every medium and genre he touched and created music with a passion and individuality that inspired multiple generations. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, friends and millions of fans."

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.