[lhx1985]

I’m sure I’m not the only person who loved The Hits when they first got Freeview

I certainly did clock up way too many hours in front of The Hits, right from launch week up until it's fate as it was swallowed by 4Music.

It wasn't bad for what was essentially a cut down version of The Box, cobbled together quickly when EMAP and Viacom didn't want the other to be the only game in town on the platform.

Comparing The Hits' MHEG with the Box's Dsat teletext page I remember that the Box ran a selections list of about 80 to 100 tracks, while this would be whittled down to just 40 for the Hits.

The branding was heavily borrowed from EMAP's Big City radio network but with promos and features lifted straight from the Box - including BoxTops.

The graphics were simple, lacked proper anti-aliasing and initially stuttered as they faded on.
The third set was the best - the sparkly ones that were first that looked like they were generated by professional kit.

There were some dubious programmes introduced to the schedule once Freeview was in enough homes to make the channel worthwhile, however. Still not sure how 'The Gimp' made it to air.

Think the heart was pulled out of all of the Box networks channels when they put a stop to video selections though.

This happened around the time that all 'participation TV' and premium rate competitions came under huge scrutiny (thank you GMTV and Blue Peter!), but I think Bauer/Channel 4 over-reacted by pulling video selections all together. After all, they could have just made selections non-premium if that was an issue. It would gave been better TV than the endless rotation of countdowns or the later radio-on-TV format that the channels all seem to have adopted.

I still miss The Hits. TMF too, for that matter.