MTV Hits

Infobox_TV_channel
name= MTV Hits
logofile= Mtv hitsusa.jpg
logoalt=
logosize= 150px
launch=May 1, 2002
owner= MTV Networks (Viacom)
headquarters= New York City, U.S.
former names=
sister names=MTV, Nickelodeon, MTV2, The N, Comedy Central, Noggin, TV Land, Nicktoons Network, Spike, Nick at Nite, MTV Tr3s, VH1 Soul, CMT, VH1
web=http://www.mtvhits.mtv.com
slogan=
terr avail=
sat serv 1=
sat chan 1=
sat serv 2=
sat chan 2=
cable serv 1 = Available on many cable systems
cable chan 1 = Check local listings for specific channels
dummy parameter=

MTV Hits is an American music video channel that debuted on May 1, 2002. Unlike present day MTV, MTV Hits plays music videos all day, every day, with very few commercials. Like the other digital MTV/VH1 channels, MTV Hits is based on an automated wheel schedule introduced in the first years of MTV2. The loop repeats three times a day, starting at 6am Eastern, and then resetting at 2pm and 10pm.

Programming

After a couple of years on the air, MTV Hits' playlist became more predictable and less random than it originally was at its inception. During this time, the new videos that were in heavy rotation were usually played once per hour or once every two hours.

Since 2004, MTV Hits has taken a few efforts to add variety into its programming. Near the end of 2004, MTV Hits began playing more obscure videos, as well as a larger selection of older music videos, than it had previously played.

When an artist is about to release a new album or project that MTV Hits deems worthy of the honor, the channel will often air nothing but programming and videos involving those artists for a period of days. Madonna had a whole 10 days devoted to her on the channel in May 2004, while Hilary Duff had four days devoted to her (August 13-17, 2005) to promote her new album, "Most Wanted". Jennifer Lopez also had an entire week (February 26-March 4, 2005) devoted to her to promote her new album "Rebirth". Justin Timberlake had a weekend to himself for his most recent album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds". On April 3rd, 2007 Beyonce took over the channel to promote the re-release of her 2nd Solo album "B'Day".In November 2007 Alicia Keys took over the channel for a week to celebrate the release of her new album "As I Am". During this week she aired new playlists (keep a child alive,classic soul,think music and her own playlist.)She also aired non-music programming on issues such as HIV.

MTV Hits has experimented with airing same-day or same-week repeats of MTV show "Total Request Live", with commercials edited out and replaced by MTV promos. However, the schedule of TRL on MTV Hits has been inconsistent and more prevalent during TRL 'theme week' shows.

In December 2005, MTV Hits aired "My Hitlist Month," in which artists such as The All American Rejects, Nelly, Ashlee Simpson, Ryan Cabrera introduced their top 10 videos, sometimes showing their own new videos. Regular viewers also introduced their own hitlists in segments that were either filmed "man-on-the-street" style throughout the New York City area, or filmed at MTV's Times Square studios. There was also a "Breakup Song" hitlist and a "One Hit Wonders" hitlist. MTV Hits since returned to regular video format, but began mixing in some hitlists from December, which many viewers have considered an annoyance. In February 2006, new hitlists were produced, and they are played for the most of the day. "My Hitlist Month" was repeated again in July 2006, this time called "My Summer Hitlist Month", with the addition of a text messaging element in addition to the web elements from the December promotion.

After "My Summer Hitlist Month", MTV Hits returned back to its normal programming, with a new logo bug which faded in and out of several colors, and would fade at the end of a video, then reappear at the beginning of the next. The eight-hour wheel and TRL repeats were retained.

In late August to promote the release of "Making the Band 3" group Danity Kane's album, MTV Hits repeated their season of the series several times over a week, along with their episode of "Making the Video" for their first single, "Show Stopper".

The Hitlists (which had been airing in the last hour of each program loop) have been discontinued as of the end of September 2006.

In the week of December 18, 2006, the Hitlist theme returned under the name "Playlistism." Playlistism consisted of playlists from various artists as well as an mtvU, an MTV2 playlist, and all hitlists of the previously aired specials are mixed in.

Today, the Playlistism programming remains on the air with new Playlists and Hitlists. TRL reruns were removed from the channel in September 2008.

The possible reason behind the "Playlistism" trend currently on the channel is to please its viewers who felt the network was being too mainstream and repetitive. However the previously aired hitlist specials from December 2005 and July 2006 still make up the majority of the playlistism programs.

Presently, most of the music videos that have ever aired on MTV, VH1, or BET network can be seen on MTV Hits, though the channel usually focuses on airing videos from 1999 to the present day.

Common network playlist themes

*MTV Hits Playlist A basic playlist updated daily which features the top videos being played in heavy rotation on MTV, MTV2, and MTV.com. More resembles MTV Hits's former format before Playlistism.
*MTV Live Performance Playlist Live performances from MTV's archives, including "Unplugged", Spring Break, "Yo MTV Raps", the network's awards programs and FNMTV.
*Latest & Greatest Playlist Resembling the format followed by the VH1 Classic video show "Classic/Current", with an archive video followed by the artist's newest single. Formerly Earliest & Latest.
*VMA Playlists- A promotional playlist for the MTV Video Music Awards consisting of perfomances from past ceremonies; usually seen in August and September before that year's VMA show. Usually themed to a certain category.
*MTVU Playlist-A playlist based on videos popular on mtvU, MTV's college-focused channel
*MTV2 Rocks! Playlist- Features videos in rotation on MTV2's "You Rock the Deuce" and other rock shows on that network.
*Artist Collection Playlist- Videos from one featured artist.
*Hip-Hop Honors Playlist - A promotional playlist for VH1's Hip Hop Honors program, focused on the honorees of that program.

Discontinued playlists

*MTV2 Playlist A basic playlist resembling that of an average MTV2 hour.
*Body of War Playlist This playlist featured music videos with a political message about the war in Iraq.
*Spread The Love Playlist A dedication list featuring viewer requests and text messages scrolling on the bottom of the screen.
*MTV Live Concerts A year in review list featuring all of MTV's live programming for the year, and rebroadcasts of the network's award shows, including mtvU's Woodie Awards.

On New Years Eve MTV Hits had attempted to show the greatest videos of all time on the New Years Eve Playlist which was divided into sections for each hour (80's Hits,80's Hip Hop Hits,90's Hits,00's Hits:Best of 2000-2006, and 2 hours of 2007Hits, the remaining 2 hours was made up of the Rockin Beats Playlist that aired in October and the Remix Playlist.

Currently the majority programming seen on this network is the previously aired viewers and artists hitlists which have aired in the 2005 and 2006 hitlist specials,in addition to newly created artist hitlists. The airing of these hitlists currently make up 6 out of the 8 hours of programming on the network, which has become overly repetitive. The only hitlists that have been updated are the MTV Hits and 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Playlists.

Availability

MTV Hits, a part of the MTV Digital Suite, is available on most digital cable systems, but not Dish Network or DirecTV. Time Warner Cable does not carry the network except on their former Adelphia systems, where previous contracts with MTV Networks are required to be honored, and Bright House Networks, of which Time Warner Cable formerly had a stake in. The network is also not seen in New York City on non-Cablevision systems; Time Warner is the majority cable provider for Manhattan, Staten Island, and Brooklyn/Queens. The network is also carried on some cable systems in Latin America, South America, Mexico, and Romania in a localized form.

MTV Hits in the UK & Ireland

In the UK and Ireland, MTV Hits plays chart hits non-stop. There are very few MTV shows on this channel, but there are many music-related themed zones (such as 'Urban Beats' & 'Spanking New Music'). The channel launched on May 1, 2001, replacing MTV Extra.

ee also

*MTV
*MTV Jams
*MTV2
*MTVX

External links

* [http://www.mtvhits.it/ MTV Hits Italy]
* [http://mtvhits.mtv.com MTV Hits US]
* [http://mtv.co.uk/mtvhits MTV Hits UK]
* [http://www.mtv.tv/mtv.tv/dynamo/shells/h_music.jhtml MTV.TV Hitlist UK]