| VH1 | |
| Logo Alt: | 3 |
| Launch Date: | 10 October 1994 |
| Closed Date: | 7 January 2020 |
| Picture Format: | 576i SDTV |
| Owner: | (ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia) |
| Sister Channels: | |
| Replaced By: | MTV Classic (Virgin Media UK) |
VH1 was a British and Irish pay television channel that was owned by ViacomCBS. The channel was based on the original VH1 American channel of the same name. The channel ceased broadcasting on 7 January 2020.
VH1 UK was first launched on 10 October 1994[1] as a complementary network to the youth-orientated MTV. It originally took the same focus at launch as the main American network of a focus on mainly adult contemporary artists for an audience between 21-44, with a broad playlist involving music videos from the 70s to the present day along with weekly countdowns, a format maintained until around 2008.
Besides the American network's features and programming (including programme marathons such as Pop-Up Video), a unique feature of the network was Ten of the Best, in which an artist's video is played, then the artist's personal top ten list being played with explanations from the artists for their choices. The same concept was also carried by VH2, but with their alternative artists.
On 24 November until 26 December 2017, VH1 was renamed temporarily as VH1 Christmas.
On 1 May 2018, VH1 moved to Sky channel 174 and as a result, the channel took on a general entertainment focus, matching the American network, though due to the American VH1's programmes being licensed to other networks or broadcasters, it carried content from Channel 5 or MTV. VH1 completed its transition to a general entertainment format in October 2018 with VH1 US programs, including and Ru Paul's Drag Race, though music programmes continued in non-prime timeslots. VH1 Christmas moved to MTV Rocks.[2]
In March 2019, VH1, along with sister channel BET moved EPG numbers on Sky. VH1 moved to 160 and BET moved to 173, swapping places with PBS America and Together TV respectively.
In December 2019, BT TV announced that VH1 would be leaving the UK market along with Universal TV and that the channel would close on 7 January 2020, the same day as sister channel 5Spike.[3] The EPG channel slot was pulled from all platforms except Virgin Media UK, where MTV Classic replaced it after a ten-year absence on that platform.
VH1 inspired two spin-off channels, both of which have since switched to MTV spin-offs: