''Hit40UK'' was a networked Top 40 chart show broadcasting on around 130 UK

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

stations every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm. It was also a TV programme shown on

4Music 4Music was a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Launched on 15 August 2008, the original incarnation, replacing The Hits television channel, showed a mix of music and entertainment pr ...

. The radio version was produced in house by

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(formerly

GCap Media GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed on 9 May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index ...

) and Somethin' Else. The show was cancelled on 7 June 2009 and the last number 1 single was

Boom Boom Pow "Boom Boom Pow" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by group members will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie, being produced by will.i.am. The song featur ...

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

, played at 6:52pm. It was replaced by The Official Big Top 40. The chart continued to be compiled, and a TV version was shown on

, The Box, and

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

, which was renamed UKHot40.

Format

The radio show counted down the top 40 songs in the chart. Unlike the official UK Singles Chart broadcast at the same time by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, the ''Hit40UK'' chart included only the digital downloads and airplay in the UK, whereas the official chart includes physical and download sales with no radio airplay. The show always enjoyed higher audience figures than Radio 1's Official Chart Show since 1993, however, this was because Hit40UK was broadcast on 130 stations, whereas the Official Chart was (and is) only broadcast on

, except for a brief period of 2006, when a weak commercial radio sector caused ''Hit40UKs share to fall below that of its rival. Hit 40 UK Mousemat

Chart history

Inception

''Hit40UK'' descended from ''

The Network Chart Show ''The Commercial Radio Chart Show'' was a radio programme that was broadcast across commercial adult contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations across the United Kingdom, from 30 September 1984 to 30 December 2018. It had many different na ...

'' which began on 30 September 1984 and which was originally hosted by David Jensen and broadcast on competing commercial radio stations across the UK. ''The Network Chart Show'' aired on Sundays from 5-7pm, as competition to

's own Top 40 chart show, ''

The Official Chart ''The Official Chart'' is a long-running United Kingdom music chart programme, airing each Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 1. It airs the UK singles chart compiled by the Official Charts Company. In July 2015 ''The Official Chart'' moved from ...

''. In October 1990, the show was extended to start at 4pm and the chart expanded from a Top 30 to a Top 40 countdown. ''The Network Chart Show'' had been compiled by MRIB until

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took over sponsorship from

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in August 1993. In 1995, it was called the ''Pepsi Network Chart Show'', but in 1996 it was renamed the '' Pepsi Chart''. Pepsi ended their sponsorship of the show on 29 December 2002, and the ''Hit40UK'' name was adopted on 5 January 2003, but Dr. Fox remained the host until 30 May 2004. On 6 June 2004 Stephanie Hirst and Katy Hill became co-hosts of ''Hit40UK'', from 23 October 2005 Hirst hosted the show on her own.

Operation

In March 2006, ''Hit40UK'' began broadcasting worldwide on the U-Pop satellite channel. The international version of the show is hosted by Mark Daley. It can be heard on XM Satellite Radio across the US and around the planet on WorldSpace Satellite Radio. Hirst who during the week hosted the Galaxy Breakfast show in Yorkshire and was enjoying considerable success doing so, had to stand down as presenter of Hit40uk due to objections from Galaxy's rival Yorkshire radio stations Viking FM, Radio Aire and Hallam FM who were due to start broadcasting the chart on 22 October 2006. They were unhappy that a Galaxy Yorkshire presenter would be heard on their station, since they could possibly lose a proportion their breakfast audience to Hirsty's weekday breakfast show. On 12 October 2006, it was announced that the programme was to be relaunched on 22 October with a new presenter, 95.8 Capital FM's Lucio Buffone. A new logo was also introduced to replace their old look.

Emap Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ...

dropped their Smash-Hits! Chart to broadcast the relaunched version of the ''Hit40UK'' show across their Big City Network of stations. In the same week, a dance and urban chart, the Fresh 40, hosted by Dynamite MC, was introduced to commercial radio's dance and urban stations, such as those in the Galaxy Network and the Kiss Network. On 19 April 2009, Lucio's contract with ''Hit40UK'' ended, therefore a new presenter, Rich Clarke, became the presenter of the network chart show the week after, 26 April 2009, introducing a new image to the chart. The top 40 format also changed in January 2009: instead of charting the most popular tunes from radio airplay, downloads and single sales, the chart consisted of downloads and airplay alone.

Cancellation

After a few months of the revamped show, Hit 40 UK ceased broadcasting and the last show was completed on 7 June 2009, resulting in a new chart show to be broadcast on 14 June 2009. Cover presenter, Matt Wilkinson, from

’s

Heart Network Heart is a network of thirteen independent adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming, although only the stations in Scotland and Wales still have their own shows. Ten of the s ...

presented the last ''Hit40UK'' show, although Rich Clarke presented a London-centric version on 95.8 Capital FM live from their ''Summertime Ball''. A similar chart, The Big Top 40 Show replaced ''Hit40UK'', with presenters Rich Clarke and Kat Shoob launching the show on Sunday 14 June 2009. The new show was based on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

downloads, becoming the first real-time chart to be broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is now known as The Official Big Top 40 and is broadcast across Global's

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and

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stations.

Sister chart shows

* Smash Hits Chart (TV Top 40) The Smash Hits Chart was produced by Emap & introduced by Mark Goodier from 2003 until April 2006, when Robin Banks took over. For most of its run, it counted down the week's top 40 singles, as voted for by viewers of TV channels The Box,

The Hits The Hits was a music video Television channel, channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a ra ...

and

. Later in its run, it used the MRIB sales top 10 and a 50/50% airplay/sales scale in the 11-40 positions. It was broadcast across the Big City Network, Kiss Network, The Hits Radio and

Smash Hits Radio Smash Hits Radio was a UK-based digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Radio based in Manchester. It was available throughout the UK on Freeview channel 712. The format was based on the now defunct Smash Hits Magazine. It was a Conte ...

, as well as a number of non-Emap stations. It ceased broadcasting in the Autumn of 2006, due to the launch of the revamped ''Hit40UK''. * The A List (Adult Contemporary) launched in February 2006 on stations including

Real Radio Real Radio was a network of five regional radio stations broadcasting to North East England, North West England, Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each station broadcasts a mix of local and networked programming. On Tuesday 6 May 2014, the statio ...

and Century FM. At launch it was presented by Melanie Sykes and Nick Snaith. The show ended on Sunday 23 December 2007. * Fresh 40 (Dance and Urban) started nearly a year later in March 2007. It was presented by Kiss 100's Dynamite MC, and was broadcast on the

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and Galaxy Networks, plus a few local stations. * Galaxy 40 (Dance, Urban, Pop) launched in late 2008 across the Galaxy Network, but was cancelled in June 2009 due to the formation of The Big Top 40 Show, which broadcasts across 145 stations in the