The Academy of Music Video

Column 30: VH-1

It's still winter, so it's time to draw up another MTVN outing: VH-1, also once known as Video Hits One, doesn't even try to pretend they're about music anymore. Their website doesn't even try 'music:' it's all reality shows, which, sure, ok, but they've lost their brand.

I'm not going to rate the shows, this is a mv site, but, what gives on the programming change?

The basic gist of it is: Follow the money. My guess is that the money in reality, which was a huge hit on the channel's Celebreality line-up a decade ago (shows like Flavor of Love, I Love New York) finally convinced them to sabotage their own brand. I wouldn't be surprised if the brand gets shelved/renamed, which may or may not be a sad thing. VH-1 is traditionally less revered than Music Television, though their current line-up have brought boffo ratings.

Some of VH-1's videos have shifted well over to MTV Classic, though I know plenty of videos that are begging to be played.

Kev