MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Australia) is an Australian subscription television music channel. The channel focused on music from the 1980s to 2000s. The channel first launched in Australia on 14 March 2004 (as ''VH1'') and in New Zealand on 1 June 2011. On 1 July 2011 MTV International channels launched new logos On 1 April 2016 the channel closed, but was ultimately revived on 27 February 2017 on the Fetch TV platform. It was later revived on Sky in December that year, and was relaunched on 1 July 2020 on

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

, replacing

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

History

As VH1

The channel first aired on Sunday 14 March 2004 when

launched its digital product and then on Austar and Optus shortly after. In April 2006, Australian pay TV newcomer, SelecTV also began to carry VH1. In 2008 it began carriage on TransACT and Neighbourhood Cable. The channel although Australian run, mainly showed programming for the US and the UK with programs such as '' The Fabulous Life of...'' and the celebrity based documentary '' Driven''. The VH1 Website officially launched on 3 August 2006. The website somewhat followed the format of the MTV Australia website. It contained a news section, competitions, features, info on new acts and more. It also has details on shows like Can't Get a Date. The website also provided an e-newsletter. The website was closed down in April 2007 for maintenance and was offline until November. In mid August 2009 the site was expanded from a single page to a mini-site on the MTV website. On 25 November 2006 VH1 presented Australia's Favourite Lyric which presented a long list of songs on the VH1 website for viewers and industry members to vote. When the votes closed the list was made into a top 100 countdown and

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

took out the top spot with their song Never Tear Us Apart. Unlike sister channel MTV, the channel still aired a majority of music programming, with VH1 produced entertainment programming shown on MTV or other channels.

Relaunch as MTV Classic

On 10 February 2010, the channel was announced via the MTV Australia website. MTV Networks in Australia confirmed that VH1 receives fewer viewers each week than its sister channel MTV Australia. Part of the channel's launch included a music event which took the place of the annual MTV Australia Awards which was held in Melbourne at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

. The event consisted of a line-up of local and international artists including former

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

guitarist

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

. "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles was the first music video to be played on the channel. The channel was made available on Australian IPTV service

Fetch TV Fetch TV is an Australian IPTV provider that delivers a subscription television service over a user's regular internet service. Fetch TV launched in 2010 backed by its Malaysian parent Astro Malaysia Holdings. On 2 August 2022, Telstra acquire ...

from launch in June 2010. On 23 November 2010, MTV Classic began broadcasting in widescreen. The channel launched in New Zealand on 1 June 2011 on Sky Television.

Cessation of Service on Foxtel

On 29 October 2013, MTV announced they had been working with Foxtel since early 2013 to offer more diversity on the Foxtel platform, as MTV Classic and MTV Hits fought for the same audience as Foxtel Networks channels

and Hits respectively. The channel to replace MTV Classic is '' MTV Dance'', a channel dedicated to

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, hip hop, and RnB music from around the world - MTV's first channel to be dedicated to three different genres of music. Although MTV Classic and MTV Hits will no longer be available on Foxtel, they will continue to be offered by Australian IPTV service FetchTV and New Zealand pay TV provider Sky Television. The changes took place on 3 December 2013.

Closure of channel in New Zealand

On 1 December 2015, Sky Television replaced ''MTV Classic'' (and sister channel ''MTV Hits'') with a localized version of MTV Music.

Closure

On 28 February 2016, Fetch TV (the last carrier of ''MTV Classic'') announced via their Facebook page that the channel would close on 1 April 2016.

Revival

On 27 February 2017, ''MTV Classic'' was revived on the Fetch TV platform as a result of "popular demand". Available on channel 140, and exclusively on Fetch TV, the revived channel features rock, R&B and pop music from 1980 to 2000. Sky TV New Zealand would also re-add the channel on 8 December 2017. This was later replaced again on Sky by MTV 80s on 6 July 2020. On 1 July 2020, MTV Classic returned to Foxtel on channel 804, replacing

, after a 7-year absence.

VJ's

When the Channel first launched (as VH1) it employed 2 on-air talent but they later began running on mainly voice overs and guest presenters, the 2 hosts were:

Zoe Sheridan Zoe Sheridan (born in Adelaide, 1968) is an Australian television presenter, radio announcer and voice over artist. Sheridan was a co-host of the Hot 30 Countdown on Brisbane radio from 1995 to 1998. She moved to Sydney in 1998 for a regular slo ...

: the glamorous and sexy side of the project who assisted in the production to Inside Track and David Campbell: the son of Australian rock sensation Jimmy Barnes. David also had some chart success with his hit single "Hope" which sold well in Australia, the US and the UK, he also was one of the faces of Inside Track until its cancellation.

Programming

MTV Classic airs a variety of artist related programmes as well as established MTV series. The channel aims at the age demographic of 24- to 40-year-olds.

Original Programming (2010 - 2013)

* '' Behind the Music'' * '' Celebrity Deathmatch'' * '' Classic Albums'' * '' Famous Crime Scene'' * '' Greatest'' * '' MTV Unplugged'' * '' The Osbournes'' * '' Storytellers'' * '' That Metal Show'' In addition to the above, the channel often screens music documentary and concert specials.

ARIA Hall of Fame

MTV Classic have the rights to The

ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

Awards show (aired since 20 August 2006). The Hall of Fame has been an important part of the ARIA Awards since 1988. Traditionally taking place during the ARIA Awards ceremony, a diverse range of artists have been inducted into the Hall of Fame including

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

, Dame Joan Sutherland, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny O'Keefe, Paul Kelly,

John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

, Slim Dusty,

Jimmy Little James Oswald Little, AO (1 March 19372 April 2012) was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher, who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales. Little started his profess ...

and many more.

MTV Australia Video Music Awards

In March 2005 VH1 co-broadcast the MTV Australia Video Music Awards. As well as showing facts about the nominated artists, during this time, they also had a special award called the VH1 Music First Award which was awarded to

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Inside Track

Inside Track featured new music and videos internationally and locally. So far the previous hosts have chatted with

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, Darren Hayes,

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

, Olivia Newton-John and Chris Isaak. * Countdown - VH1 aired full episode repeats and music clips of ABC's popular music show Countdown. The Countdown special included live performances and interviews. * Greatest * The Meldrum Tapes - A compilation of interviews from the archives of Molly Meldrum produced by the ABC, it began airing from February 2008. * RocKwiz * Top of the Pops - In August 2009 VH1 began screening a repackaged and compiled version of the long running UK music show

Programming after revival (2017 - present)

All of these programmes air without interruption. After the official revival in 2020, the schedule was refreshed to include programming blocks at set times throughout a large part of the day (aside from the countdowns). Programming line-up are almost entirely same as VH1 Classic Europe. * 70s & 80s * 90s & Noughties * Classic Clock-Off * Flashback Friday 100 * Good Morning Music * Memory Lane * Non-Stop Classics * Party Mix * Saturday Night Fever * Snooze Sunday * Sunday Sessions * Superstar Spotlight * Timeless Tunes * Turn Back Time * Windback Tracks * Weekend Wake-Up * Yesterday's Hits, Today

Logo history

File:VH1_2003_logo.svg, VH1 logo used 14 March 2004 – 30 April 2010 File:MTV Classic 2010 logo.svg, Original Logo used 1 May 2010 – 30 June 2011 Image:MTV Classic 2011 logo.png, Logo used 1 July 2011 – 30 September 2013 File:MTV Classic 2013 logo.svg, Logo used 1 October 2013 – 4 April 2017 MTV Classic 2017 logo.svg, Logo used 5 April 2017 – February 2018 File:MTV Classic Australia (2018 - present).png, Logo used February 2018 – 14 September 2021 File:MTV Classic 2021.svg, Logo used 14 September 2021 – present

References

External links

MTV Classic Official WebsiteAnnouncement article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mtv Classic Australia MTV channels Music video networks in Australia Music video networks in New Zealand English-language television stations in Australia English-language television stations in New Zealand Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2016 Television channels and stations established in 2017 Defunct New Zealand television channels Defunct Australian television channels