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Video Hits (Australian TV series)
Encyclopedia
Video Hits was an Australian music video program that first aired on 15 February 1987. From 7 May 2011 it broadcasted on Network Ten
for two hours each Saturday and Sunday morning: 10am – 12pm on Saturdays and 8am – 10am on Sundays. Video Hits was the world's second longest running music show after the Eurovision Song Contest
. The show was cancelled in July 2011 and its last episode aired on 6 August 2011.
Report. In the late 1990s, an "Interactive Top 10" was introduced with songs supposedly voted in by the public. This was later stopped after claims of vote rigging. One case in particular saw a song by Australian singer Rani (called "Always on My Mind") chart in the Top 5 of the interactive chart for more than six months, having sold poorly in shops and getting very little airplay.
In 2003, the show reached 1.5 million viewers every Sunday in metropolitan markets.
From 1986 to 2004, the show featured a non-stop video clip-based format. In 2004, the show introduced a new look and format that included feature interviews each week and clips from different music genres.
During late 2005, the show was broadcast live on Sundays with a live audience. Special guests appeared on the show to co-host, such as The Veronicas
, The Black Eyed Peas
and Melissa Tkautz
to name a few.
In 2006, the show was broadcast live without an audience. The chosen artist picked songs they wanted played along with their own past and present videos in a format similar to ABC
's rival music TV show rage
. As of April 2007, the show still continues with this format.
Video Hits turned 20 years old in 2006 and celebrated with a special event featuring a countdown of the Top 100 Video Clips of the past twenty years, compiled from online and SMS votes. This countdown was shown again in 2007, with slight differences in the list; however, "Thriller
", by Michael Jackson
, was voted #1 both times. Instead, in 2008, a special entitled A-Z of Pop was shown.
A new show called Video Hits First premiered in September 2006. The premise for Video Hits First is that it is rated G and suitable for all audiences, after claims throughout the media that certain music videos were sexually explicit. The format also shows the top 10 video clips from the ARIA Charts
and it also features competitions and interviews with artists.
Video Hits abandoned its top 10 on Saturdays in 2008 (which was moved to Video Hits First from Video Hits in 2007) and its top 20 on Sundays much earlier in the 2000s.
In mid-late 2009, regional affiliate Southern Cross Ten
dropped the show, in order to air their own chart show, known as Hit List TV
, based upon the nightly radio show of the same name that goes to air across Macquarie Southern Cross hit stream stations. The show is hosted by Tim Dormer and Renee Peterson (hosts of radio program The Hit List), and shot on location at Gold Coast attractions including Movie World and Sea World
. This also helps the network fulfil, albeit cheaply, their local content requirements imposed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
.
Tim replaced Matty Acton who relocated to Sydney for a position at 2Day FM
.
In July 2011, it was announced that the show would be cancelled due to a major restructure of Network Ten. The last episode aired on 6 August 2011. The last song played was Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
by Coldplay.
Video Hits supports Australian music charts, featuring local artists such as George
, Frenzal Rhomb
, The John Butler Trio, Little Birdy
, Delta Goodrem
, The Hampdens
, The Cat Empire
and The Sleepy Jackson
.
Video Hits also hosts various competitions through SMS. In 2005, the show gave away more than $650,000 in prizes.
Video Hits Up-Late (or Video Hits Presents) still airs in 5-minute-long to 30-minute-long timeslots early in the mornings on some weekdays and weekends. It is similar to the program entitled Nine Presents which usually airs in 10-minute blocks on the Nine Network
spontaneously throughout the week. Video Hits Uncut was a 90-minute to 120-minute long show formerly broadcast late on Friday (some weeks on Thursdays or Wednesdays) nights. It showed "explicit" (some videos, however, were still edited for content) videos that could not be shown on Video Hits in its morning timeslot. It was rated MA15+. on late weekends, Video Hits Uncut showing selected clips, also to hip hop to pop clips, except rated PG.
Video Hits Presents is now a 30-minute to 60-minute long special broadcast after Video Hits on Saturdays and Sundays. It usually details some (or all) of an artist or band's videos, and sometimes an interview with them. It is usually broadcast before or after the artist/band has released a new song/album/DVD or toured the country, but this is not always the case.
and Dylan Lewis
.
The new format introduced in 2004 included two regular hosts Kelly Cavuoto and Axle Whitehead
– former contestants on Australian Idol
in 2003. Cavuoto was sacked in late 2004 after appearing at a children's TV award show under the influence of alcohol and Whitehead took over as solo host of the show. Whitehead resigned on 1 November 2006 after exposing himself at the 2006 ARIA Awards
, which were held three days earlier.
After Whitehead's resignation, Agolley became host of Video Hits. She has since interviewed many artists including The Black Eyed Peas
, Kanye West
, Coldplay
and Pete Murray. In February 2007, MTV
presenter Nathan Sapsford joined and began co-hosting the show. Soon after, he became the sole host, with Agolley going back to only hosting Video Hits First. On special occasions (such as the recent Video Hits special A-Z of Pop), they both share hosting duties. Sapsford left Video Hits in 2009 and his replacement was Hayden Guppy
. In December 2009, it was announced that Dylan Lewis
would replace Guppy from 2010.
During the summer, after two months from December and January of being without presenters. however, Fuzzy will continues to Summer with the best videos each year or New Year's Eve special.
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
for two hours each Saturday and Sunday morning: 10am – 12pm on Saturdays and 8am – 10am on Sundays. Video Hits was the world's second longest running music show after the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. The show was cancelled in July 2011 and its last episode aired on 6 August 2011.
History
From the late 1980s to 1999, the show highlighted songs featured in the Australian Music Report chart each week. This fluctuated from a Top 40 format to a Top 30, Top 20 and in early 2008, just a Top 10 countdown. In the 2000s, the show switched to the ARIAAustralian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
Report. In the late 1990s, an "Interactive Top 10" was introduced with songs supposedly voted in by the public. This was later stopped after claims of vote rigging. One case in particular saw a song by Australian singer Rani (called "Always on My Mind") chart in the Top 5 of the interactive chart for more than six months, having sold poorly in shops and getting very little airplay.
In 2003, the show reached 1.5 million viewers every Sunday in metropolitan markets.
From 1986 to 2004, the show featured a non-stop video clip-based format. In 2004, the show introduced a new look and format that included feature interviews each week and clips from different music genres.
During late 2005, the show was broadcast live on Sundays with a live audience. Special guests appeared on the show to co-host, such as The Veronicas
The Veronicas
The Veronicas are an Australian electrorock, pop-punk and rock band. Twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso formed the band in 1999 in Brisbane. They have their own line of clothing which was released in 2007....
, The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
and Melissa Tkautz
Melissa Tkautz
Melissa Natalie Tkautz is an Australian-Maltese actress, singer, songwriter and model of Austrian and Maltese heritage. Tkautz was married on Friday 6 February 2009 to her partner of 5 years, Kwesi Nicholas.- Early career :...
to name a few.
In 2006, the show was broadcast live without an audience. The chosen artist picked songs they wanted played along with their own past and present videos in a format similar to ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's rival music TV show rage
Rage (TV program)
Rage is a popular all-night Australian music video program broadcast on ABC1 on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and Saturday nights. It was first screened on the weekend of Friday, 17 April 1987. With Soul Train no longer being produced, it is the oldest music television program currently still...
. As of April 2007, the show still continues with this format.
Video Hits turned 20 years old in 2006 and celebrated with a special event featuring a countdown of the Top 100 Video Clips of the past twenty years, compiled from online and SMS votes. This countdown was shown again in 2007, with slight differences in the list; however, "Thriller
Thriller (music video)
Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson....
", by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, was voted #1 both times. Instead, in 2008, a special entitled A-Z of Pop was shown.
A new show called Video Hits First premiered in September 2006. The premise for Video Hits First is that it is rated G and suitable for all audiences, after claims throughout the media that certain music videos were sexually explicit. The format also shows the top 10 video clips from the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and it also features competitions and interviews with artists.
Video Hits abandoned its top 10 on Saturdays in 2008 (which was moved to Video Hits First from Video Hits in 2007) and its top 20 on Sundays much earlier in the 2000s.
In mid-late 2009, regional affiliate Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
dropped the show, in order to air their own chart show, known as Hit List TV
Hit List TV
Hit List TV is an Australian music show that first aired in 2009. It is produced by Southern Cross Broadcasting and airs on a number of television channels within Australia...
, based upon the nightly radio show of the same name that goes to air across Macquarie Southern Cross hit stream stations. The show is hosted by Tim Dormer and Renee Peterson (hosts of radio program The Hit List), and shot on location at Gold Coast attractions including Movie World and Sea World
Sea World
Sea World is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and theme park located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. The...
. This also helps the network fulfil, albeit cheaply, their local content requirements imposed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Australian Communications and Media Authority
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is an Australian government statutory authority within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy portfolio...
.
Tim replaced Matty Acton who relocated to Sydney for a position at 2Day FM
2Day FM
Not to be mixed up with Today FM in Ireland.2Day FM is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and part of Austereo's Today Network.- Transmission :...
.
In July 2011, it was announced that the show would be cancelled due to a major restructure of Network Ten. The last episode aired on 6 August 2011. The last song played was Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was released on 3 June 2011, as a digital download except in the United Kingdom where it was released on 5 June 2011. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. The song...
by Coldplay.
Format
Video Hits generally plays Top 40 Australian and overseas titles as well as clips that are being promoted but not in the charts.Video Hits supports Australian music charts, featuring local artists such as George
George (band)
George are a rock band from Brisbane, Australia. Their first album, Polyserena reached #1 in the Australian Charts on 17 March 2002.-History:...
, Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1992 with mainstay Jason Whalley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. In 1996, Lindsay McDougall joined the line-up on lead guitar and backing vocals. Two of the group's albums have peaked into the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart, A...
, The John Butler Trio, Little Birdy
Little Birdy
Little Birdy are an Australian indie rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 2002 by singer and guitarist Katy Steele, drummer Matt Chequer, guitarist and keyboardist Simon Leach, and bass guitarist Scott O'Donoghue...
, Delta Goodrem
Delta Goodrem
Delta Lea Goodrem is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. Signed to Sony at the age of 15, Goodrem rose to prominence in 2002, starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker. Goodrem has achieved eight number-one singles and three number-one albums in her home...
, The Hampdens
The Hampdens
The Hampdens are a modern Australian band known for their literary lyrics, originally from Perth, Western Australia, but who are now based in Melbourne.-Biography:The band's name is taken from Hampden College in Donna Tartt's novel "The Secret History"...
, The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire are an Australian ska and jazz band formed in 1999. Core members are Harry James Angus , Will Hull-Brown , Jamshid "Jumps" Khadiwhala , Ollie McGill , Ryan Monro and Felix Riebl...
and The Sleepy Jackson
The Sleepy Jackson
The Sleepy Jackson are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia. The band's name was inspired by a former drummer who was narcoleptic. The band revolves around the distinctive vocal style of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Luke Steele...
.
Video Hits also hosts various competitions through SMS. In 2005, the show gave away more than $650,000 in prizes.
Video Hits Up-Late (or Video Hits Presents) still airs in 5-minute-long to 30-minute-long timeslots early in the mornings on some weekdays and weekends. It is similar to the program entitled Nine Presents which usually airs in 10-minute blocks on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
spontaneously throughout the week. Video Hits Uncut was a 90-minute to 120-minute long show formerly broadcast late on Friday (some weeks on Thursdays or Wednesdays) nights. It showed "explicit" (some videos, however, were still edited for content) videos that could not be shown on Video Hits in its morning timeslot. It was rated MA15+. on late weekends, Video Hits Uncut showing selected clips, also to hip hop to pop clips, except rated PG.
Video Hits Presents is now a 30-minute to 60-minute long special broadcast after Video Hits on Saturdays and Sundays. It usually details some (or all) of an artist or band's videos, and sometimes an interview with them. It is usually broadcast before or after the artist/band has released a new song/album/DVD or toured the country, but this is not always the case.
Presenters
At the time of its cancellation, the hosts of Video Hits and Video Hits First were Faustina 'Fuzzy' AgolleyFaustina Agolley
Faustina "Fuzzy" Agolley is an Australian television presenter who hosted the long-running music television show Video Hits until it was canceled in 2011...
and Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis is an Australian television and radio personality.-Personal life:He was educated at Caulfield Grammar School, graduating in 1990, and studied for a Bachelor of Education in Drama and Music degree at the University of Melbourne. John Bannon, former South Australian premier is Dylan's...
.
The new format introduced in 2004 included two regular hosts Kelly Cavuoto and Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead is a former Australian Video Hits TV host and current singer, musician, and actor. In 2008, he released his first studio album Losing Sleep which debuted outside of the ARIA top 50...
– former contestants on Australian Idol
Australian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
in 2003. Cavuoto was sacked in late 2004 after appearing at a children's TV award show under the influence of alcohol and Whitehead took over as solo host of the show. Whitehead resigned on 1 November 2006 after exposing himself at the 2006 ARIA Awards
ARIA Music Awards of 2006
The 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...
, which were held three days earlier.
After Whitehead's resignation, Agolley became host of Video Hits. She has since interviewed many artists including The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
and Pete Murray. In February 2007, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
presenter Nathan Sapsford joined and began co-hosting the show. Soon after, he became the sole host, with Agolley going back to only hosting Video Hits First. On special occasions (such as the recent Video Hits special A-Z of Pop), they both share hosting duties. Sapsford left Video Hits in 2009 and his replacement was Hayden Guppy
Hayden Guppy
Hayden Guppy is an Australian TV presenter.He was a former co-host of Video Hits, alongside Fuzzy Agolley until he left for reasons not cited in January 2010. He was part of the secondary cast on variety show Rove, until it disbanded in 2009...
. In December 2009, it was announced that Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis
Dylan Lewis is an Australian television and radio personality.-Personal life:He was educated at Caulfield Grammar School, graduating in 1990, and studied for a Bachelor of Education in Drama and Music degree at the University of Melbourne. John Bannon, former South Australian premier is Dylan's...
would replace Guppy from 2010.
During the summer, after two months from December and January of being without presenters. however, Fuzzy will continues to Summer with the best videos each year or New Year's Eve special.
Compilation albums
The following albums were released to promote the Video Hits program:- Video Hits 1 (1988) on CBS Records
- Video Hits 2 (1989) on CBS Records
- Video Hits Classics (1990) on CBS Records
- Video Hits – Australian Classics (1991) on Sony Music
- Video Hits (1995) on Sony Music
- Video Hits '96 (1996) on Sony Music
- Video Hits – Past Hits Vol. 1 (1997) on Sony Music (2 CD set)
- Video Hits – Past Hits Vol. 2 (1998) on Sony Music (2 CD set)
- Video Hits – Viewer Top 20 Countdown (1998) on Sony Music
- Video Hits / Just Dance (2000) on Sony Music (2 CD set)
- Video Hits '86–'96 (2005) on Sony BMG Australia (2 CD set)
- Video Hits '96–'06 (2006) on Sony BMG Australia (2 CD set)
- Video Hits – More Hits (2006) on Sony BMG Australia (3 CD set)
- Video Hits – 20 Years of Australian Hits (2007) on Sony BMG Australia (2 CD set)
- Video Hits First (2008) on Sony BMG Australia (CD/DVD set)
- Video Hits One Hit Wonders (2009) on Sony Music Australia (3 CD set)
- Video Hits – The Number Ones (2009) on Sony Music Australia (3 CD set)
- Video Hits – The Greatest Covers (2010) on Sony Music Australia (3 CD set)
DVD compilations
The following DVDs were released to promote the Video Hits program:- Video Hits '86–'96 (2005)
- Video Hits '96–'06 (2006)
- Video Hits – More Hits (2006)
- Video Hits – 20 Years of Australian Hits (2007)
- Video Hits First (2008) (Note: DVD was a bonus on the CD)