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VH1

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VH1
Ownership
OwnerMTV Networks (Viacom)

VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division of Viacom.

With then four-year-old MTV's popularity rising drastically among teens, VH1 began capitalizing on the success of the music video. However, VH1's aim was to focus on the lighter, softer side of popular music, including such musicians as Elton John, Sting, Diana Ross, Kenny G, and Anita Baker, in hopes of appealing to people aged 18 to 35, and possibly older.

It has also historically played more adult R&B than its sister channel, and has rarely played any rap or hip-hop videos. Also frequently featured in the network's early years were "videos" for Motown and other 1960s oldies consisting of newsreel and concert footage.

While VH1 still occasionally plays videos and has "video countdown shows", its more recent claim to fame has been much like that of MTV's, in the area of music-related reality programming, such as the signature show Behind the Music, and its focus on pop culture.

Early history of VH-1 (1985-1994)

Format and VJs

File:Vh1 firstlogo.gif
The first logo of VH-1 (1985-1987).
File:Vh1 old.gif
An updated version on the first logo (1987-1994). At Christmas time, the "V" would be turned upside down to resemble a Christmas tree.

From the start, Video Hits One was branded as an urbane version of its sister/parent channel. It played more jazz and R&B artists than MTV and had a higher rotation of urban-contemporary performers. Its early on-camera personalities were New York radio veterans Don Imus (of WNBC and now WFAN); Frankie Crocker, program director and DJ for WBLS; Scott Shannon (of Z100); Jon Bauman ("Bowzer" from Sha Na Na); and Rita Coolidge. Later veejays included Tim Byrd of WPIX-FM (now WQCD), a station whose eclectic ballad-and-R&B oriented format mirrored that of VH-1; and Alison Steele ("The Nightbird" of WNEW-FM). Rosie O'Donnell later joined the outlet's veejay lineup. O'Donnell would also host a stand up comedy show featuring various comedians each episode.

The format left room for occasional ad-libs by the VJ, a godsend for emcees such as Imus and O'Donnell. In true Imus style, he used a 1985 segment of his VH-1 show to jokingly call smooth-jazz icon Sade Adu a "grape" for her oval-shaped head.

Early programming

Typical of VH1's early programming was New Visions, a series which featured videos and in-studio performances by smooth jazz and New Age bands and performers, including Spyro Gyra, Andy Narell, Mark Isham and Yanni. At first, various musicians guest-hosted the program, but eventually musician/songwriter Ben Sidran established himself as permanent host.

VH1 catered to adult top 40, including musicians such as Ace of Base, Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, and other slightly more rock-oriented popular music than what it had originally played, though AC favorites such as Des'ree, Elton John, Madonna, Céline Dion, and Mariah Carey still received heavy video play in 1994, as well.

VH1: Music First (1994-2003)

File:LOGO VH1.jpg
In 1994, VH1 rebranded itself as VH1: Music First.

In 1994, VH1 rebranded itself as VH1: Music First. By 1996, VH1 was heading down the same path as its sister station, MTV, choosing to focus more on music-related shows than on music videos. Old episodes of American Bandstand could regularly be seen on the channel. By that time, the channel's ratings were beginning to fall. As a result, the channel began to lose money, verging on the brink of bankruptcy.

Pop-Up Video

Things changed very drastically for VH1 in the fall of 1996, with the premiere of Pop-Up Video, a very successful and popular show which offered tidbits of information as music videos were being played.

"Pop-Up" television has gone on to become something of a cultural phenomenon. Many tv shows followed suit and had their own "Pop-Up" episodes. These shows include Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Drew Carey Show, Brady Bunch reruns on sister Viacom channel Nick at Nite, and even a special episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Behind the Music

In August 1997, VH1 again hit it big with the premiere of the first of the network's flagship shows, Behind the Music. The hourlong show features interviews and biographies of some of popular music's biggest stars qualified to be profiled on the series. The premiere episode featured Milli Vanilli. To date, there are episodes on everyone from Queen to Queen Latifah to MC Hammer to Fleetwood Mac to TLC to "Weird Al" Yankovic to Britney Spears to Selena, with more episodes being produced sporadically. By the late 1990s, the show had begun to run out of artists to profile, leading to the short-lived BTM2 program, half-hour looks into bands and artists whose popularity was rising, but not yet at its peak.

Behind The Music was spoofed on The Simpsons episode "Behind the Laughter", South Park's "Behind the Blow" featuring Terrence and Philip,on the Late Show with David Letterman featuring Paul Shaffer and on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, with segments on bandleader Kevin Eubanks and announcers Edd Hall and John Melendez. Saturday Night Live did a parody of the show with a profile of Fat Albert's Junk Yard Band; but the better-known SNL Behind the Music spoof involved the band Blue Öyster Cult recording their hit (Don't Fear) the Reaper, which featured guest-host Christopher Walken repeatedly imploring the band to give the song "more cowbell!"

Legends

Shortly after, VH1 created a companion series, Legends (originally sponsored by AT&T), profiling artists who have made a more significant contribution to music history to qualify as "Legends" (that is, those artists who do not fit in the category of Behind the Music biographies). The artists profiled so far have included The Bee Gees, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton,George Clinton, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and U2

Save the Music Foundation

During its "Music First" days, VH1 was involved in a foundation that served to preserve and enhance music education programs in local schools. The VH1 Save the Music foundation was established in 1997 and purchased new musical instruments to restore music education programs that have been cut due to budget reductions in the past or to save programs at risk of elimination due to lack of instruments. The Foundation also conducted awareness campaigns, musical instrument drives and fundraising events. It still exists as of 2005, but with a much lower profile.

VH1 Divas

In 1998, VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert and featured the "divas" Aretha Franklin, Céline Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey, and the "special guest" Carole King. Other hugely successful shows were produced in the year after, in 1999 featuring "divas" Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Cher, LeAnn Rimes, Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Elton John, and Brandy. It became a huge success and was featured in the following year starring Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Destiny's Child , Shakira, Anastasia, Dixie Chicks, Jessica Simpson was also featured as divas in VH1 concert. Some artists, such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Cher and Faith Hill featured two VH1 concerts.

Diversification

File:Vh1 4.gif
An updated version of the Music First logo in 1999.

In the late 1990s, VH1 continued to get more diverse and teen-based with its music selection, and with that, the network updated its 1994 "Big 1" logo. Various late-night rock shows have been shown on VH1, featuring alternative rock and metal videos from the 1980s and 1990s. VH1 eventually warmed up to harder rock acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Foo Fighters, and Metallica, and their new videos are generally added into VH1's playlist right away.

By the early 2000s, VH1 even began to play mainstream rap musicians. The latest videos by Eminem, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, and Missy Elliott began to be shown in VH1's rotation and even started to crop up on VH1's top 20 countdown, as of late 2002.

Movies That Rock!

In 1999, VH1 aired its first original movie, a bio-pic on Sweetwater. Over the next three years, they made over a dozen movies, including bio-pics on Ricky Nelson, M.C. Hammer, The Monkees, Meat Loaf, Pink Floyd and Def Leppard.

VH1 continues to air "Movies That Rock" on a regular basis, expanding to include movies not produced by VH1. Typically, these movies air on weekday afternoons and on weekends. The subject matter remains mostly focused on music and musicians, though it recently aired the Looney Tunes movie "Space Jam" which deals with sports.

rockDocs

rockDocs is the title under which VH1 airs various music documentaries, both those produced by VH1 and those produced by third-parties. Such documentary series produced by VH1 include And Ya' Don't Stop, a four-part series on the history of hip-hop, Heavy: The Story of Metal, and The Drug Years, which tells the story of various drug epidemics that have plagued the mainstream. Films produced by other studios have also been aired as rockDocs, including Woodstock, Madonna: Truth or Dare, Tupac: Resurrection, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, and most recently, Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, a documentary on the Beastie Boys."I remember my first time watching Movies that rock. I creamed all over my TV set." ~ Kathy Hackler.

Music Behind Bars

VH1 endured criticism for having a show that focuses on musicians who are in jail. Critics thought that prisoners, mainly those convicted of murder, should not be entitled to any exposure. [1]

Current era of VH1 (2003-present)

In 2003, the network changed its focus again, dropping "Music First" from its name, and introducing their new and current box logo, seen at the beginning of the article. Having saturated its Behind The Music series (and spinoff BTM2, a 30-minute version that told the stories of current chart-toppers) and gotten past the point of showing music videos on a regular basis, the network began to target the pop culture nostalgia market just like its sister MTV. The network started increasing the number of reality shows with a programming block called Celebreality. Today, they include shows like Flavor of Love, The Surreal Life, Celebrity Fit Club and Hogan Knows Best.

I Love the 70s, 80s, 90s

The shift began in late 2002, with the success of the I Love the 80s 10-part series. This spawned I Love the 70s in 2003, thought to be based on the BBC 2000 series of the same name [2]. Eventually, VH1 caught lightning in a bottle several times more with I Love the 80s Strikes Back, I Love the 90s, and I Love the 90s: Part Deux. More recently, VH1 premiered I Love the 80s 3-D and I Love the '70s Volume II, along with the non-decade-based I Love the Holidays and I Love Toys.

The format of these shows (various entertainers giving their takes or opinions on popular culture) has been repeated for the weekly program Best Week Ever. In a sketch on FOX's MADtv envisioning an as-yet fictitious "I Love the 00's" show, VH1 was referred to as "the bitter comics ragging on real celebrities" network.

The Greatest series

VH1 also produces its "The Greatest" series, in which a similar format is used to count down lists like "The 50 Sexiest Video Moments", "100 Greatest Songs of Rock 'N' Roll", "100 Greatest Songs from the Past 25 Years", "100 Greatest One-hit Wonders", and "100 Greatest Kid Stars". In 2001, Mark McGrath hosted VH1's miniseries "100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock 'N' Roll", which compiled a list of the moments in music history that changed its course and shook its foundations. The network also has a list of the "Awesomely Bad Songs" that made the artists' singles the worst or at least the worst to the interviewers on the program. Different themes in this format include "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs", "40 Most Awesomely Bad No. 1 Songs", "40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirty Songs", "40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs", "40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs", "40 Most Awesomely Bad Breakup Songs" and "20 Most Awesomely Bad Songs of 2004".

CelebReality

VH1 also touts its "CelebReality" programming block of reality shows featuring minor celebrities, anchored by The Surreal Life, which mimics MTV's The Real World, instead placing minor celebrities from the past into a living environment. The CelebReality block has also aired such shows like Hogan Knows Best (Hulk Hogan's reality show) Celebrity Fit Club (a show where marginal-at-best celebrities get in shape), Strange Love (a program spun off from The Surreal Life, following the relationship between Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav), Flavor of Love (a show spun off from Strange Love, where Flavor Flav, "hype man" of the hip hop group Public Enemy picks a lover out of multiple women) and My Fair Brady (another spin-off from The Surreal Life, which follows the relationship of Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch, and Adrianne Curry, who won the first season of America's Next Top Model), "Breaking Bonaduce" which covers the therapy and life of Danny Bonaduce, and most recently "Celebrity Paranormal Project", in which minor celebrities are placed in haunted locations to explore and perform tasks.

Hip-Hop and Rock Honors

Since 2004, VH1 has showed their appreciation for hip hop music by honoring pioneers and movements. Musicians include Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., and Public Enemy. All of the shows have been taped in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

On May 25, 2006, Queen, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and KISS were the inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in Las Vegas. The ceremony aired on VH1 six days later.

Although VH1 has drastically reduced its emphasis on music, it does continue to play music videos (just like its sister network, MTV) from 3 a.m. until 10 a.m. ET. The overnight block was called Insomniac Music Theater until August 2005, when it was renamed Nocturnal State.

VH1 aired a made-for-TV movie in 2006, called Totally Awesome, a spoof of the 1980s.

List of programs broadcast by VH1

Future, Current and Past

Affiliated channels in the U.S.

Further information: List of MTV channels

Like MTV and Nickelodeon before them, VH1 also launched spinoff digital networks as part of The Suite From MTV. Initially, four VH1 spinoff networks were formed. Others later joined the staple, including:

  • VH1 Classic: Primarily classic rock music videos, movies, and concert footage.
  • VH1 Mega Hits: A channel which played mostly top 40 adult contemporary videos from throughout VH1's history, from the 80's to the early years of the 21st Century. Due to low viewership, the network was discontinued. The satellite space was utilized by corporate parent MTV Networks to launch Logo, a general entertainment network targeted at the gay and lesbian community. Logo airs two music video-based programs, NewNowNext Music and The Click List: Top 10 Videos.
  • VH1 Soul: Classic and neo-soul music videos from yesterday and today.
  • VH1 Uno: A mix of Latin pop, rock, and traditional ballads, Tropical, Salsa and Merengue music.

International channels

Further information: List of MTV channels

VH1 Australia

Main article: VH1 Australia

Since March (April for Optus customers) 2004, VH1 has been available in Australia on Foxtel, Optus Television and Austar.

VH1 Brazil

Main article: VH1 Brazil

The Portuguese-language version of the channel was launched in Brazil on November 21st 2005. However, VH1 Soul is available to digital cable subscribers since 2004.

VH1 Europe

VH1 Europe broadcasts from London to Continental Europe. The line-up mainly consists of documentaries, including series like 'The Fabulous Life Of...' and 'The Rise and Rise Of...'. Shows are usually subtitled or dubbed in various languages. Most strands of programming identical to VH-1 UK, but with different schedules and advertisements.

VH-1 Classic Europe is also available to many viewers and is, at present, entirely devoid of advertisements, with round-the-clock music videos.

VH-1 Germany

During the mid-1990s, a German-language version of VH-1 was broadcast, featuring more adult music than MTV, and using the original 1985 US logo. It proved unsuccessful and eventually had to make way for a mobile-content teen channel called MTV2 Pop.

VH1 Poland

Launched (well, to say the truth renamed) on December 1, 2005. The channel is aimed at people in Poland over 25. The channel was formetly known as "MTV Classic" and (especially in its last months) was the same as present VH1, airing the same programs for the same target group.

VH1 India

In December 2004, MTV India and Zee-Turner teamed up to bring VH1 to India. In India, VH1 will be a 24-hour pay channel that will cater to the 16–44 age group.

VH1 Indonesia

In Indonesia, VH1 programming also airs on MTV Indonesia at 5 and 7 pm, and on local terrestrial channels such as Jak-TV, Jakarta, TV Borobudur, Semarang, and Makassar TV, Makassar (UHF21) and also a full link channel seen on satellite PALAPA C2.

VH1 Latin America

On April 1, 2004, VH1 Latin America joined MTV and Nickelodeon Latin America targeting audiences 25–49 years old. Until then, the VH1 main channel available for Latin America was the original US version. The Spanish-language channel is tailored for the market and feature a mix of music and entertainment with local and international-recording artists, as well as original programming.

VH1 UK

Main article: VH1 UK

VH1 UK targets 25–44 years old, and has much of the same content as the main US channel. There has been two sister stations in the UK: VH1 Classic and the now axed channel VH2.

VH1 Export

VH1 Export is a version of VH1 UK available in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Levant territories broadcasting via satellite, exclusively from the Showtime Arabia pay-TV network. In Africa (on DStv) and Thailand, on UBC 33.

See also


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