Beginning May 1, music fans will have a 24-hour pass to VH1 Classic programming. The network is expanding its 12-hour programming wheel to a full 24 hours through a deal with the BBC to procure material from its vast library of concerts, movies and specials featuring artists from the 1970s to the ’90s.
The network’s new weekly movie offerings, shown under the banner “Rock and Roll Picture Show,” will include Madonna: Truth or Dare, Woodstock and Imagine: John Lennon. The series debuts May 6.
Other new programming franchises are “Class of,” in which music videos from selected years are featured (this becomes a weekly series in June); “Classic Albums,” in which the tale behind the making of a well-known album is relayed (debuting in the fall); and “Classic Artists,” a behind-the-music look at selected music stars (also set to debut in the fall).
Beginning in September, VH1 Classic will also begin showing episodes of the classic BBC series The Old Grey Whistle Test, a low-budget offering that ran from 1971-87 and featured no-frills performances from such artists as Tom Petty, The Police and David Bowie. Some of the performances to be shown have never been seen in the U.S.
VH1 classic debuted in 2000 and reaches approximately 40 million U.S. households.
