VH1
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 Tina Turner, 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
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)
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 went 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 AC/DC, 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, The Who, and U2
VH1 Save the Music Foundation
During its "Music First" days, VH1 created the VH1 Save The Music 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 project was the brain child of VH1 President John Sykles 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 will celebrate 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. 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, Anastacia, 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
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.
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.
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.
Late 1990s to 2003
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.
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.
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.
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. 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, and most recently I Love New York (TV Series) which is a spin off of Flavor of Love.
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.
Current trends
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
The 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s
The 100 Greatest 21st Century Songs
The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock
The 100 Greatest Artists of Rock 'n Roll
The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll
100 Hottest Hotties
Acceptable TV
Armed & Famous
Bands Reunited
Behind the Music
Best Week Ever
Breaking Bonaduce
Can't Get a Date
Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Paranormal Project
Driven
VH1 Rock Docs
ET on VH1
Legends
The Fabulous Life of...
Flavor of Love
Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School
Gene Simmons' Rock School
The Greatest...
Hogan Knows Best
Ice-T's Rap School
I Love New York
I Love the 70s
I Love the 70s Volume 2
I Love the 80s
I Love the 80s Strikes Back
I Love the 80s 3-D
I Love the 90s
I Love the 90s Part Deux
I Love Toys
VH1 : All Access
Jump Start
Kept
My Fair Brady
Miami Vice
Pop Up Video
Rock Bodies
Rock Honors
Smells Like The 90s
So 80s
So NoTORIous
VH1 2006 Big Awards
VH1 Rocks
VH1 Storytellers
Stripsearch
The Surreal Life
The White Rapper Show
VSpot Top 20 Countdown
Web Junk 20
The Wendy Williams Experience
World Series of Pop Culture
I Hate my Thirties
The List
Cover Wars
Other networks by Viacom are CMT | CMT Pure Country | Comedy Central | Logo | MHD | MTV | MTV2 | MTV Brasil | MTV Chi | MTV Desi | MTV Hits | MTV Jams | MTV K | MTV Networks Latin America | MTV Tempo | MTV Tr3s | mtvU | Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite/Nick Jr. | NickToons Network | Nick GAS | Noggin/The N | Spike TV | TV Land | VH1 | VH1 Brazil | VH1 Classic | VH1 Soul | VH1 Uno
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