MTV
VH1 (known as
VH-1: Video Hits One from 1985 to 1994 and
VH1: Music First until 2003) is an
American cable television network based in
New York City. Launched on January 1,
1985, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of
MTV by playing
music videos, but targeting a slighter older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of
popular music. The channel was originally created by
Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of
Warner Communications and owner of
MTV. Both VH1 and its sister channel MTV are currently part of the
MTV Networks division of corporate parent
Viacom. While VH1 still occasionally plays music videos and the
Top 20 Video Countdown, its more recent claim to fame has been in the area of music-related reality programming, such as
Behind the Music, the
I Love the... series, the
Celebreality block of programming, and the channel's overall focus on
popular culture.
Early history of VH-1 (1985-1994)
Format and VJs
VH-1's aim was to focus on the lighter, softer side of
popular music,
including such
musicians as
Carly Simon,
Tina Turner,
Elton John,
Sting,
Donna Summer,
Kenny G, and
Anita Baker, in hopes of appealing to people aged 18 to 35, and possibly older. Also frequently featured in the network's early years were "videos" for
Motown and other 1960s
oldies consisting of
newsreel and
concert footage. It was introduced on January 1, 1985 with the video performance of "
The Star-Spangled Banner" by
Marvin Gaye.
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 (then of WNBC);
Frankie Crocker (then program director and DJ for
WBLS);
Scott Shannon (of
Z100);
Jon Bauman ("Bowzer" from
Sha Na Na);
Bobby Rivers; and
Rita Coolidge.
Later VJs 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. As an added touch to make the network more like a televised radio station, the early years of the network featured jingles in their bumpers produced by
JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, who had previously made jingles for radio stations worldwide.
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
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 favorites such as
Whitney Houston,
Elton John,
Madonna,
Janet Jackson, and
Céline Dion, stilled received heavy play as well.
New Visions
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 many different musicians guest-hosted the program, but eventually musician/songwriter
Ben Sidran established himself as permanent host.
VH1: Music First (1994-2003)
In December 1994, VH1 rebranded itself as
VH1: Music First, following a ratings decline in the early 1990s.
By
1996, VH1 was heading down the same path as its sister channel, MTV, choosing to focus more on music-related shows than on music videos. Additionally, the network began to expand its playlist of music videos to include more rock and rap music.
Old episodes of
American Bandstand could regularly be seen on the channel. By that time, the channel's
ratings were beginning to fall.
Video Countdown
As part of VH-1's rebranding as "VH1: Music First" in 1994, the channel launched a new series, the
VH1 Top 10 Countdown, that counted down the top ten music videos played on VH1 each week. A combination of record sales, radio airplay, video spins,
message board posts, and
conventional mail would decide the order of the countdown. A rotating cast of
VJs picked up hosting duties for the show over the years. The series expanded from ten to twenty music videos, becoming the
VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown, in 1999. VH1 Top 20 Countdown is premiered every Saturday morning at 9:00 and also shown on Sunday and Tuesday at 8:00 during the same week.
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 series which showed highlights of artist's careers inside a bubble like what would be in a bubble bath.
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. Episodes have ranged from
Aaliyah to
Stryper to
Queen, as well as others such as
Meat Loaf,
MC Hammer,
Fleetwood Mac,
TLC,
"Weird Al" Yankovic,
Britney Spears,
Selena,
Petra,
Pantera, and
Eminem, with more episodes being produced periodically. By the late 1990s, the show began 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.
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
AC/DC,
The Bee Gees,
Carman (singer),
Johnny Cash,
Eric Clapton,
George Clinton,
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,
The Doors,
Aretha Franklin,
Marvin Gaye,
Jimi Hendrix,
Led Zeppelin,
Pink Floyd,
Judas Priest,
Queen,
Kiss,
Vicente Fernandez,
El Chapo de Sinaloa,
Bruce Springsteen,
Neil Young,
The Who,
Michael Jackson and
U2
Save the Music Foundation
During its "Music First" days, VH1 created the Save The Music Foundation, which 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 project was the brain child of VH1 President John Sykes and was developed by Bob Morrison who was the foundation's first CEO. The Foundation also conducted awareness campaigns, musical instrument drives and fundraising events. VH1 Save The Music Foundation celebrated its 10 year anniversary in September 2007.
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.
The most successful of these "diva" shows was produced in 1999 featuring
Whitney Houston,
Tina Turner,
Cher,
LeAnn Rimes,
Mary J. Blige,
Faith Hill,
Chaka Khan,
Brandy, and special "divo"
Elton John.
It became a huge success and was featured in the following years starring
Diana Ross,
Donna Summer,
Destiny's Child,
Shakira,
Anastacia,
Kylie Minogue,
Dixie Chicks, and
Jessica Simpson. Some artists such as
Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey,
Aretha Franklin,
Paquita la del Barrio,
Celine Dion,
Cher and
Faith Hill featured two VH1 concerts.
Movies That Rock
In 1999, VH1 aired its first original movie, a bio-pic on
Sweetwater. Their third original movie (which aired in 2000),
Two of Us, focused on a fictional meeting between
John Lennon and
Paul McCartney. Over the next three years, they made over a dozen movies, including bio-pics on
Ricky Nelson,
M.C. Hammer,
The Monkees,
Meat Loaf, 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.
Diversification
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. VH1 also plays music from Latin artists such as
Ricky Martin,
Marc Anthony,
Enrique Iglesias,
Thalia and
Shakira.
Other past trends
rockDocs was the title under which VH1 aired 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 cultures that changed America. Films produced by other studios have also been aired as
rockDocs, including
Woodstock,
Madonna: Truth or Dare,
Tupac: Resurrection,
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey,
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!, a documentary on the
Beastie Boys, and most recently
Last Days of Left Eye which documented the last month of
Lisa Lopes's life from the band
TLC and
N.W.A.: The World's Most Dangerous Group, featuring the narration of comedian
Chris Rock, which chronicled the rise and fall of
N.W.A.
VH1 endured criticism for
Music Behind Bars, which mainly focuses on musicians in custody. Critics have claimed prisoners, mainly those convicted of murder, should not be entitled to any exposure, especially nationally.
[Victims Protest VH1's 'Music Behind Bars' Show]
The channel aired
Where Are They Now? from 1999 to 2002. It featured former celebrities and their current professional and personal statuses. Each episode was dedicated to a specific genre, ranging from past
child stars to
Aaron Spelling's notable productions, to controversial news figures.
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. Having saturated its
Behind The Music series (and spinoff
BTM2, a 30-minute version that told the stories of current chart-toppers), gotten past the point of showing music videos on a regular basis, and had a 35% ratings decline over the past several years, the network began to target the pop culture nostalgia market just like its sister MTV.
The network primarily plays reality shows now.
I Love the... series
The shift began in late
2002, with the success of the
I Love the '80s 10-part series.
I Love the-show continued with
I Love the '70s in
2003 (when the network's new logo was introduced), based on the
BBC 2000 series of the same name.
[BBC - I love... series] 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 2, 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.
Life imitated art on June 22 when VH1 premiered
I Love the New Millennium" focusing on the years 2000-2007.
The Greatest series
VH1 also produces its
The Greatest series in which a similar format is used to countdown 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. It recently premiered the "
100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs".
40 Most Awesomely Bad
In 2004, VH1 began this mini-series category with "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs...Ever". Additional series in this group include "40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirrty Songs...Ever",
[ 40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirrty Songs...Ever] ,"40 Most Awesomely Bad Break-up Songs...Ever",
[40 Most Awesomely Bad Break-up Songs...Ever] "40 Most Awesomely Bad #1 Songs...Ever",
[40 Most Awesomely Bad #1 Songs...Ever] "40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs...Ever",
[40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs...Ever] and "40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs".
[40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs]
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 word "celebreality" is a portmanteau combining the words “celebrity” and “reality” and is generally used to describe reality TV shows in which celebrities participate as subjects. The term appears to have been coined by Michael Gross, writing for The Toronto Star on May 12, 1991. In his article, entitled “Celebrity’s New Face,” Mr. Gross used a hyphenated form of the word (“celeb-reality”) to describe the tendency of certain contemporary celebrities to downplay the traditional trappings of Hollywood glamour. “You could see the new celeb-reality on display at this year's Oscars,” wrote Gross. “It is Kathy Bates and Whoopi Goldberg, not Kim Basinger and Michelle Pfeiffer. It is Jeremy Irons in black tie and the sneakers he says keep his feet on the ground. It is Kevin Costner, fighting small, important battles, winning big, but reacting with modesty and going off to party privately. The new celebrities are human first, famous second.”
The next known citation of the word is by Joyce Millman, writing for The New York Times on January 5, 2003. In an article entitled, “Celebreality: The ‘Stars’ Are Elbowing Their Way In,” Ms. Millman wrote: “Celebreality, the junk genre du jour, turns the notion of reality TV upside down. Instead of real people acting like celebrities on shows like "Survivor," "Big Brother" and "The Bachelor," celebreality gives us celebrities acting like real people on shows like "The Osbournes," "The Anna Nicole Show" and "Celebrity Boot Camp." I'm using the term "celebrity" loosely here — we're not talking about Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts and Dame Judi Dench eating bugs and scrubbing latrines. No, the celebrities of celebreality are a motlier crew, like, well, Motley Crue's Vince Neil, the former rap superstar M. C. Hammer and the wee ex-Michael Jackson ornament Emmanuel ("Webster") Lewis. Those three will be setting up housekeeping together on Thursday in "The Surreal Life" on WB, a celebreality spin on MTV's "Real World." Not to be outdone, ABC sends a Baldwin brother (Stephen), a supermodel (Frederique) and a former "L.A. Law" star (Corbin Bernsen) to Hawaii for "Celebrity Mole Hawaii," beginning Wednesday.”
The Vh1 Celebreality block has also aired shows such as:
- Hogan Knows Best is Hulk Hogan's reality show.
- Celebrity Fit Club is a show where celebrities get in shape.
- My Fair Brady is 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 covers the therapy and life of Danny Bonaduce.
- Celebrity Paranormal Project features celebrities placed in haunted locations to explore and perform tasks.
- Strange Love is a spin-off of The Surreal Life, following the relationship between Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav.
- Flavor of Love is a spin-off of Strange Love, where Flavor Flav (from Public Enemy) tries to find love.
- I Love New York features Tiffany "New York" Pollard from Flavor of Love on her own quest for love.
- Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School,is a spin-off of Flavor of Love
- Rock of Love features Bret Michaels (from Poison) searching for love.
- Rock of Love Girls: Charm School 2 is a spin-off of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
- I Love Money is a spin-off of Flavor of Love, I Love New York,Real Chance of Love, and Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.
- New York Goes to Hollywood is a spin-off of I Love New York.
- Real Chance of Love is a spin-off of I Love New York and I Love Money.
- Glam God with Vivica A. Fox is a reality show with red carpet diva Vivica A. Fox.
- The Cho Show is a reality sitcom following the antics of comedian Margaret Cho.
- Ego trip's The (White) Rapper_Show is a reality contest hosted by MC Search.
- Ego trip's Miss Rap Supreme is another reality contest hosted by MC Search.
- The Salt-n-Pepa Show is a reality series following the 90's rap duo Salt-n-Pepa.
Hip-Hop and Rock Honors
Since 2004, VH1 has showed their appreciation for hip-hop and rock music by honoring pioneers and movements. Hip-hop musicians honored include
Eazy-E,
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. In 2007,
ZZ Top,
Heart,
Genesis and
Ozzy Osbourne were inducted into the VH1 Rock Honors.
Other current trends
On July 1, 2007, VH1 and MHD, the
high-definition music channel of
MTV (now called
Palladia), simulcast live the entire
Concert for Diana from
London, England, on the birthday of
Princess Diana,
Princess of Wales.
[Concert for Diana|VH1.com]
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. As of the beginning of October 2008,
Nocturnal State has been cut down to one hour, and
Fresh: New Music has been supplanted by additional hours of
Jump Start, thus meaning that VH1 now plays 7 hours of music daily.
Beyond VH1
Sister channels in the U.S.
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 MegaHits: 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 Spanish language channel which mostly consisted of music videos of Latin pop, rock, and traditional ballads, tropical, salsa and merengue music. Discontinued February 2, 2008 by MTV Networks to expand normal distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses.
[MTV Networks discontinues VH1 Uno]
The Internet
VH1's online destination,
VH1.com, launched in the 1990s. In the 2000s, VH1 created
VSPOT, a broadband video channel that followed the model of
MTV Overdrive, containing the shows aired by VH1 and
music videos.
VSPOT was renamed to
Video.VH1.com in late 2007.
VH1 around the world
As with other MTV channels, MTV Networks broadcasts international versions of VH1:
- VH1 Europe: VH1 Europe is the VH1 channel broadcast in the European continent as well as Northern Africa, South Africa and the middle-east.
- VH1 Export: VH1 Export is the technical name used for the version of VH1 European 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. The channel is exactly the same as VH1 European, but with different adverts.
- 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 non-stop music channel aimed at teenagers called MTV2 Pop. However, VH1 hasn't really disappeared from German television, since it's still available in its pan-European version.
- VH1 India: In December 2004, MTV India and Zee-Turner teamed up to bring VH1 to India. In India, VH1 is a 24-hour pay channel that will cater to the 13–35 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, STV Bandung, TV Borobudur, Semarang, TATV, Solo, 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 Pakistan: Operated by ARY TV Network)
- VH1 Poland: Launched (or rather renamed) on December 1, 2005. The channel is aimed at people in Poland over 25. The channel was formerly 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 Russia: VH1 Russia launched on December 2, 2005
- 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.
See also
