VH1 or
Vh1 (known as
VH-1: Video Hits One from 1985 to 1994) is an American
cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1,
1985 in the old space of
Turner Broadcasting's short-lived
Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of
MTV by playing
music videos, but targeting a slightly 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, 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.
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. At the MTV VMA's 2002 Carson Daly announced "The Lisa Lopes AIDS Scholarship" a $25,000 educational grant that will go to a young person dedicated to the fight against AIDS.
VH1 Divas
In
1998, VH1 debuted the first annual
VH1 Divas concert and featured the "divas"
Aretha Franklin,
Mariah Carey,
Shania Twain,
Gloria Estefan and
Celine Dion, 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,
Dixie Chicks, and
Jessica Simpson. Some artists such as
Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey,
Aretha Franklin,
Mary J. Blige,
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
Jim Morrison and
The Doors,
Ricky Nelson,
MC 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. The subject matter remains mostly focused on music and musicians.
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. a four-part series on the history of heavy 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, , , , 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.
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 endured 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.
The network is currently working on four new reality projects, slated to run in spring 2010. They include a makeover series for women, a dating advice show for men, a documentary series about the deaths of several celebrities and a series that follows the lives of people at a ski resort in Vancouver, B.C.
I Love the... series
In 2002, VH1 broadcast a ten-part series entitled I Love the '80s. The idea was taken from a BBC series, first broadcast in 2000, in which current entertainers and pop-culture figures offered their take on the trends, events, and personalities of another decade. The success of VH1's I Love the '80s, coupled with the growing nostalgia for ever-more-recent times, led the network to create a parade of similarly-themed programs. These ranged from 2003's I Love the '70s, to further variants like I Love the 80s Strikes Back, I Love the '90s, and . More recently, VH1 premiered I Love the '80s 3-D and , along with the non-decade-based I Love the Holidays and I Love Toys.
The format of these shows 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 00s" 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. Recently in late December 2009, an updated series titled
"100 Most Shocking Music Moments" aired on VH1. In 2008 and early 2009, the channel premiered the "
100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs",
"100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs",
"100 Greatest Songs of the 90s", and
"100 Greatest Songs of the 80s".
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 Break-up Songs...Ever" "40 Most Awesomely Bad #1 Songs...Ever",
"40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs...Ever", and
"40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs".
===Celebreality===
In January 2005 VH1 launched its Celebreality programming block of reality shows featuring celebrities, anchored by The Surreal Life, which mimics MTV's The Real World, instead placing 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, Mötley Crüe'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:
My Antonio is a reality series based on Antonio Sabato Jr.'s search for love.
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 tries to find love.
I Love New York,New York Goes to Hollywood, and New York Goes to Work feature Tiffany "New York" Pollard, from Flavor of Love.
is a spin-off of Flavor of Love
Rock of Love features Bret Michaels searching for love.
is a spin-off of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels
Daisy of Love features Daisy de la Hoya, the runner-up of Rock of Love 2, in her own dating show spin-off.
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.
Megan Wants a Millionaire features Megan Hauserman from Rock of Love 2, I Love Money, and in her own reality dating spin-off. The program was canceled in mid-August 2009, a third of the way through its run, due to show contestant Ryan Jenkins's involvement in the murder of Jasmine Fiore.
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 Serch.
Ego trip's Miss Rap Supreme is another reality contest hosted by MC Serch.
The Salt-n-Pepa Show is a reality series following the '90s rap duo Salt-n-Pepa.
Charm School with Ricki Lake is a spin off of Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels and Real Chance of Love.
The Price of Beauty is a reality/documentary show featuring singer Jessica Simpson travelling the world.
Celebrity Fit Club (U.S. TV series) is a celebrity weight loss reality show.
Since the controversy over the murder-suicide of a contestant from Megan Wants a Millionaire, the channel has toned down it's reality programming.
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,
2Pac,
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. 2008's sole Rock Honors inductees were
The Who.
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.
Although VH1 has drastically reduced its emphasis on music, it does continue to play music videos (just like its sister network, MTV) from 4 a.m. until 11 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.
As of the beginning of May 2010, VH1 has permanently retire the named Nocturnal State and had temporarily cancelled the 5AM ET hour of Jump Start to make room for more reality show re-airs. Also, VH1's music has leaned more and more Top 40-based over the past year. More recently, the 4 and 5AM ET hours reverted back to music on most days, and all of its music hours are now branded as Jump Start.
VH1 Best Cruise Ever
From April 28 – May 2, 2011, from Tampa to Cozumel music fans can experience non-stop music performances from headliners
Train (band),
Lifehouse (band),
Colbie Caillat, and
The Script. Other bands include
Alpha Rev,
Civil Twilight,
Mat Kearney,
One eskimO,
SafetySuit,
Thriving Ivory, Trailer Park Ninjas,
Ryan Star. The cruise is on The
Carnival Cruise Line ship
Carnival Inspiration.
Beyond VH1
VH1 HD
VH1 HD is a
1080i high definition simulcast of VH1. Only newer shows such as
Rock of Love Bus,
The T.O. Show and
Brooke Knows Best air in full aspect ratio HD on it however, and most other programs are shown in aspect ratio with the video
upconverted. The HD channel is available nationally on
DirecTV,
AT&T; U-verse and
Dish Network.
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 Classic: Primarily classic rock music videos, movies, and concert footage.
VH1 MegaHits: A channel which played mostly top 40 adult contemporary videos from throughout VH1's history, from the '80s 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 Gay & Lesbian centric network, Logo.
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.
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 Australia: Since March (April for Optus customers) 2004, VH1 has been available in Australia on Foxtel, Optus Television and Austar. It is also available on the SelecTv pay tv platform. On May 1, 2010 Vh1 Australia was re-branded as MTV Classic.
VH1 Brazil: The Portuguese-language version of VH1 was launched in Brazil on May 1, 2004. However, VH1 Soul had been available to digital cable subscribers since 2004. In 2007 VH1 Soul stopped being available in Brazil. In 2009 the version HD of VH1 was launched.
VH1 Mega Hits Brazil: Replaced the Brazilian version of MTV Hits. The channel plays 24h chart hits non-stop.
*VH1 Denmark: The Danish version of VH1 was launched in Denmark on March 15, 2008.
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 OSN 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 4 until 8 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 Polska: 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. It ceased broadcasting on July 1, 2010 and was replaced by the European VH1 feed.
*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
List of programs broadcast by VH1
MTV
List of MTV channels
The Tube Music Network
Cable Music Channel
Night Tracks
List of DirecTV channels
List of Dish Network channels
VH1 Classic
References
External links
VH1
VH1 Classic
VH1 Country
VH1 Divas Live
VH1 Europe
VH1 Brazil
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
VH1 Soul
VH1 Latin America
VHUno US Latin Channel
Category:English-language television stations in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1985
Category:MTV Networks
Category:Music video networks
Category:Viacom subsidiaries
