VH1 remade- A stopping point for channel surfers

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The renewed VH1 has imagined itself as the antidote for the itchy remote control finger.

Many people consider VH1 primarily a music channel, but executives were surprised by research that found music was the third thing mentioned by viewers when they thought of the network. Nostalgia and storytelling came first.

As a result, "I Love the '80s" was as likely to talk about who shot J.R. as who shot up the Billboard charts.

The "Bands Reunited" series has attracted attention lately. Host Aamer Haleem leads viewers on a journey to find members of defunct acts like Kajagoogoo, the Alarm and Squeeze and persuade them to perform together again. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes not.

On "Best Week Ever," VH1 has created instant nostalgia, treating the events of the past week as they'd appear on "I Love the '80s."

Prime-time ratings during 2003 were up 24 percent over the previous year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

VH1's executives have high hopes for "The Partridge Family" this fall. The network will have a competition over six months to cast people in a remake of the 1970s sitcom, then film new episodes with the people viewers have selected.

"It's a journey from a reality show to a scripted one, which has never been attempted before," Graden said.

Predictably, VH1 starts "I Love the '90s" in a few weeks.

"As a creative person, there's always more to do and I really think VH1 is one of those ideas that is relatively limitless," Graden said. "I think it could be a channel that is twice as big in two years."

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On the Net:

http://www.vh1.com/

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EDITOR'S NOTE -- David Bauder can be reached at dbauder"at"ap.org