ago 1985 01 01 owned by viacom media networks viacom picture format 1080i hdtv 480i sdtv slogan we complete you country united states language english broadcast area nationwide headquarters new york new york u.s formerly called vh 1 vh 1 video hits one 1985 87 sister channel s mtv mtv2 mtv classic mtv live website www.vh1.com availability satellite directv 335 sd hd dish network u.s. 162 sd hd iptv verizon fios 217 sd 717 hd at & t u verse 518 sd 1518 hd roku usa 601 sd 1601 hd sling tv internet protocol television part of a series on mtv in the united states mtv channels mtv2 classic tres mtv live mtvu programs on mtv mtv personalities censorship on mtv viacom media networks v t e vh1 originally an initialism of video hits one and formerly stylized as vh 1 and vh1 is an american cable television network based in new york city that is owned by the viacom music and entertainment group a unit of viacom media networks . the channel was first launched on january 1 1985 in the old space of turner broadcasting system s short lived cable music channel . it was originally created by warner amex satellite entertainment at the time a division of warner communications and the original owner of mtv mtv and vh1 are now both owned by viacom media networks . the original purpose of the channel was to build upon 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 . more recently much like mtv vh1 has been in the area of music related reality programming such as behind the music the i love series and the celebreality block of programming as part of the channel s current focus on popular culture . as of february 2015 approximately 92.6 million us households 79.6 % of households with television receive vh1 . 1 contents 1 early history 1985 1994 1.1 format and vjs 1985 89 1.2 early programming 1989 1994 2 vh1 music first 1994 2003 2.1 video countdown 2.2 pop up video 2.3 vh1 storytellers 2.4 behind the music 2.5 legends 2.6 vh1 save the music foundation 2.7 vh1 divas 2.8 movies that rock 2.9 diversification 2.10 other past trends 3 current era 2003 present 3.1 i love series 2002 2014 3.2 the greatest series 3.3 40 most awesomely bad 3.4 celebreality 3.5 hip hop and rock honors 4 breakfast television 4.1 other current trends 4.2 vh1 best cruise ever 5 2014 present 6 beyond vh1 6.1 vh1 hd 6.2 sister channels in the u.s. 6.3 the internet 6.4 vh1 around the world 7 see also 8 references 9 external links early history 1985 1994 edit format and vjs 1985 89 edit the first vh1 logo used from 1985 to 1988 in the usa 1995 to 2002 in germany and in 1993 to 1999 in united kingdom ireland . designed by lpg pon dale pon and george lois . the second vh1 logo used from 1988 to 1994 . designed by scott miller . during the christmas season the v would be flipped upside down to resemble a christmas tree . vh1 s aim was to focus on the lighter softer side of popular music 2 including such musicians as olivia newton john kenny rogers carly simon tina turner elton john billy joel eric clapton sting donna summer rod stewart kenny g michael bolton anita baker chicago and fleetwood mac 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 60s 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 . 2 from the start video hits one was branded as an urban 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 wfan fm 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 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 . typical of vh1 s very early programming was new visions a series which featured videos and in studio performances by smooth jazz and classical and new age bands and performers including spyro gyra andy narell mark isham philip glass 3 and yanni . at first many different musicians guest hosted the program but eventually musician songwriter ben sidran became the permanent host . new age music videos continued to play on the channel into the 1990s . they would be seen on the sunday morning 2 hour music video block titled sunday brunch . early programming 1989 1994 edit once vh1 established itself a few years later they catered to top 40 adult contemporary classic rock and 1980s mainstream pop . 4 for a time even country music videos aired in a one hour block during the afternoons . they started out using mtv s famous kabel typeface font for their music video credit tags . it was later replaced in 1991 by a larger font with the year the video was made added to the lower column that identified the label on which the album was released . in 1993 the name of the videos director was included at the bottom of the credits . during this time they also had some non music programming such as a comedy hour hosted by rosie o donnell with various amateur and veteran comedians called stand up spotlight 5 an in depth look at current movies called flix 6 and reports on good civilians and volunteers in the community called good news people . 7 every week the top 21 video countdown usually had a different guest host . 8 occasionally they had themed countdowns as well such as elvira hosting scary videos for halloween in 1991 . 9 long blocks of music videos by a particular artist or band theme or years were also very popular in this era . one popular weekend program was called video rewind in which blocks of 1980s videos from one particular year would play for an hour . 10 there was also a short lived hour long program called by request in which viewers could call a 1 900 hotline number to request their videos . also in 1991 a popular morning program was introduced called hits news & weather that ran from 7 am to 9 am et . 11 it later expanded to 10 am et . it consisted of music videos both past and present along with a 90 second update of the day s news & weather provided by all news channel . the updates were typically shown twice an hour during the program . a box displaying the minutes past the hour was shown below the logo during the period . it was discontinued a week before the channel was re branded in the spring of 1994 . during the week prior classic music videos from forgotten artists bands aired titled whatever happened to ... the channel s playlist was gradually expanding and by 1994 included contemporary musicians such as ace of base melissa etheridge sheryl crow lisa loeb seal and other slightly heavier or more alternative rock influenced music than what it had originally played although favorites such as whitney houston mariah carey rod stewart cher elton john madonna phil collins janet jackson and c line dion still continued to receive heavy play for several more years as well . vh1 music first 1994 2003 edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message the third vh1 logo used from 1994 to 2003 . it was used on vh1 classic uk & ireland in 1999 to 2010 and vh1 classic usa in 2000 to 2007 and is still used on vh1 classic europe in 2004 to present . in may 1994 vh1 re branded itself as vh1 music first 12 following a slight ratings decline in the early 1990s . 2 they began airing history of music videos a to z during the july 4 weekend from 1994 to 1998 where they would show a large percentage of their library of music videos which would include mini marathons of videos by artists with a large number of videos . the success of a to z led to a weeknight 11pm hour long broadcast of madonna videos titled the madonna show . the videos were aired without introduction by a vj and the program was soon shortened to thirty minutes and then scrapped altogether . 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 . 2 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 edit as part of vh 1 s re branding 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 2001 . the show was renamed the 20 in early 2015 and ended later that year . pop up video edit in the fall of 1996 vh1 premiered pop up video in which music videos were accompanied by pop ups also known as bubbles or info nuggets small enclosed areas of the screen containing facts about the band or artist such as career highlights discography biographical details quotes and anecdotes . vh1 storytellers edit main article vh1 storytellers in february 1996 vh1 again hit it big with the premiere of the first of the network s flagship shows vh1 storytellers . the show started with a broadcast of ray davies during his storyteller tour and took its name from this first show . in each hourlong episode artists appear in front of a mostly small and intimate live audience interspersing musical performances with anecdotes related to the songs meaning the songwriting process audience reaction etc. along with davies the series has featured a widely diverse list of artists including culture club willie