After 24 years, the axe has fallen on Video Hits. Channel Ten has made the move in a wake of budget cuts, which is cold comfort to Australia’s music fans.
I’ve always appreciated the program’s easy blend of commercial top 40 and independent music. In many ways it stands for the same things this blog does, celebrating music in all its forms, enjoying established acts and discovering the latest sounds. Like me it’s also championed local artists, introducing us to many household names before anyone else in the mainstream.
It just seems like Video Hits has always been there. Rage often gets a bit too cool for school, especially since it axed its Top 50 countdown. There’s no such pretension with Video Hits, and while I don’t always enjoy what it’s playing I find myself consistently tuning in. I’ve spent many mornings dancing in front of the box as it played a long forgotten classic, or devouring clip after clip while I ironed or performed other menial tasks. I saw the series through host after host. Hell I can even remember when there were no hosts. I wonder how Ten can ever hope to fill that weekend morning void!
The program will wrap on Saturday August 6 with a retrospective of the last 24 years of music. R.I.P Video Hits.