The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by Box Television. In 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music.

Overview and availability [link]

The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and current favourites. Originally, the vast majority of music videos were selected by viewers by means of calling a premium-rate telephone number, however the policy was abandoned with the channel playing an automated selection of videos and countdown shows presented by celebrities and singers past and present. Programming was often themed to coincide with events such as St. Patrick's Day and Christmas.

The channel was available free-to-air on the British digital terrestrial television service Freeview on channel 18. It was also available on Sky Digital, encrypted as apart of Sky's Music Pack. The Hits was also available on Virgin Media and was included in the basic package. It was also be seen through the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

Programmes on The Hits [link]

87-07 is a series of programmes where a song is played from each of the years from 1987 to 2007. There was a more up to date version called 88-08 which is the same as 87-07 except it goes from 1988 to 2008. There were different collections of songs depending on different things that the songs had in common, an example of 87-07 is Cheesy Pop 87-07 which includes the songs Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, Saturday Night by Whigfield and C'est La Vie by B*witched which are all commonly regarded as "cheesy pop songs".

Another type of programme on The Hits was where one hundred songs are played, usually counting down to a song that is featured as "number one". This varies from 100 Forgotten Gems of the Nineties to The Nation's Favourite Love Songs. Similarly formatted programmes with fifty or twenty songs were also broadcast.

The Hits Chart was played at around 12.15 and 17:15 Monday-Friday.^[1] The Hits Chart was simply a countdown of the biggest songs of the day.

The Hits had a programme called Every Number One of the Nineties which, as the title suggests, played every number one of the nineties back to back. It was played over a bank holiday weekend in two parts, the first part on the Sunday and the second part on the Monday. Every Number One of the Nineties has been played on 4Music in small segments. A similar programme was Every Number One of the Twenty-first Century.

2008 Replacement [link]

On 20 February 2008, it was announced that The Hits would be replaced by 4Music later in the year, and a trial period broadcast on Sundays under the 4Music banner was broadcast on Sunday evenings during the spring.^[2] In June 2008 it was further announced that this replacement was to take place during the V Festival weekend on 15 August.^[3] The replaced station shows predominantly music videos, alongside live performances and Channel 4 programming like Star Stories and The Sunday Night Project, in addition to documentaries about artists.^[4]

In the weeks before the launch, 4Music aired teaser trailers for the channel as part of its extensive promotion of the rebrand and as part of the promotion one of the three stages for T4 On The Beach was named the 4Music stage.

The end [link]

The Hits ceased broadcasting music videos on Friday 15 August 2008 at 06:00. The last video played on The Hits was 'Thank You For The Music' by ABBA, before fading in to a promo for 4Music.

Ofcom controversy [link]

In November 2007, Ofcom found The Hits had breached broadcast licence for failing to retain copies of its programming. Two viewers had complained questioning the authenticity of some of the winning entries on text-in quiz programme Win Win TV, broadcast overnight on 26 June.

The broadcaster was unable to provide Ofcom with a review copy of the programme in question because of "problems with its logging system". Condition 11 of a Television Licensable Content Service license requires the broadcaster to keep recordings of all output for 60 days after transmission, providing Ofcom with any material on request.

Failure to supply these recordings is a serious and significant breach of the broadcaster’s licence. This will be held on record," the regulator noted.^[5]

The Hits Radio [link]

In 2003, companion radio station The Hits Radio was launched. It continues to this day.

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official Website (Now redirects to 4Music)
• 4Music Sundays
• 4Music
• 4Music on Myspace

v t e Bauer Media Group Bauer Radio Bauer Place Portfolio Northern England CHR stations: CFM Radio · Hallam FM · Key 103 · Metro Radio · Radio City 96.7 · 96.3 Radio Aire · 97.4 Rock FM · TFM Radio · 96.9 Viking FM Scotland CHR stations: 102.5 Clyde 1 · 97.3 Forth One · Tay FM · 97.4 MFR · Moray Firth Radio 1107AM · Northsound 1 · Radio Borders · 96.7 West FM · West Sound FM Northern Ireland: Cool FM  · Downtown Radio Magic Network: Magic 105.4 · Magic AM · Magic 828 · Magic 999 · Magic 1152 · Piccadilly Magic 1152 · Magic 1161 · Magic 1170 · Magic 1548 Scottish AM stations: Clyde 2 · 1548 Forth 2 · Northsound 2 · Tay AM · West Sound (AM) Other Place radio assets: Wave 105 · City Talk 105.9 Bauer Passion Portfolio: Kiss Network: Kiss 100 · Kiss 101 · Kiss 105-108 Kerrang Radio (West Midlands FM and quasi-national digital) Digital stations: Heat · The Hits · Q · Smash Hits Publishing UK Consumer Titles: Angling Times · Bella · Bike · Bird Watching · Car · Classic Bike · Classic Cars · Closer · Country Walking · Digital Photo · Empire · FHM · First · Freesail · Garden Answers · Garden News · Golf World · Grazia · Improve Your Coarse Fishing · Heat · Instant Beauty · Kerrang! · Land Rover Owner International · Landscape · Match · Model Rail · Mojo · More! · Mother & Baby · Motor Cycle News (MCN) · New Woman · Parker's · Performance Bikes · Pop · Practical Classics · Practical Fishkeeping · Practical Photography · Pregnancy & Birth · Puzzle Magazines · Q · RAIL · RiDE · Sea Angler · Shopping for Baby · Skiing · Steam Railway · Spirit&Destiny · Take a Break · That's life! · Today's Golfer · Top Sante · Total TVguide · Trail · Trout & Salmon · Trout Fisherman · TV Choice · Waves · What Bike? · Your Horse · Yours · Zoo US Consumer Titles: ASTROgirl · First for Women · In Touch Weekly · J-14 · Life & Style Weekly · Life Story · M · QuizFest · Soaps in Depth · Twist · Woman's World German Consumer Titles: Bravo · Das Neue Blatt · Volksstimme Business Publications: AM · Fleet News · Pet Product Marketing · Sewells Information and Research Distribution: Seymour · Frontline Box Television (50%) The Box · 4Music (run by Channel 4) · Kiss · Magic · Kerrang! · Q · Smash Hits! Category

v t e Channel Four Television Corporation Television channels Wholly owned Channel 4 (FourText1 Programming T4) Film4 E4 More4 4seven Box Television2 4Music The Box Kerrang! TV Kiss TV Magic Q TV Smash Hits! TV Online services 4oD (Film4oD) Channel4.com Radio1 4 Digital Group 4radio E4 Radio Other Film4 Productions ITV Schools S4C UKIB 1Defunct 2Joint venture between Channel Four Television Corporation (50%) and Bauer Media Group (50%) Category  Commons