''Video Concert Hall'' (''VCH'') is a television program that debuted in 1978 or 1979Denisoff, Serge R. Tarnished Gold: The record industry revisited. Oxford, UK: Transaction books, 1986. p. 369 on the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

and on Showtime,Levy, Alan M., "Showtime-Video Concert Hall Agreement Close," Multichannel News, Fairchild Business Publications, Oct. 27, 1980"Video Concert Hall Returns to TV Screens Nationwide." On Location. January 1984 featuring an unhosted rotation of

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s. The show was often credited as being the precursor to

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, ''Video Concert Hall'' was reportedly the most popular programming on the cable sy

QUBE Qube (stylized QUBE) was an experimental two-way, multi-programmed cable television system that played a significant role in the history of American interactive television. It was launched in Columbus, Ohio, on December 1, 1977. Highly publicized ...

, a

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

unit of

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...

. ''VCH'', as it was often called, was created by radio and cable television executive Lloyd G. Crowe (Jerry Crowe) and Charles W. Henderson, a journalist who would later work for

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, which is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The compan ...

.McCullaugh, Jim. "Atlanta Firm Claims First Ever Nationwide Cable Music Show." Billboard Magazine. 03 March 1980 p. 1, p. 38Hesse, Stephen. "Movie Campaign Wins Top Award." Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 1979, July 4.King, Bill, "Atlantans Pioneering Cable Video Music Show," The Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1980, p. 1-B, p. 10-B ''Video Concert Hall'' was produced by Henderson-Crowe Productions and the company Video Concert Hall, Ltd. at studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Crowe and Henderson served as executive producers of ''Video Concert Hall'', as well as other top-rated syndicated musical variety TV specials. It is also where artists such as

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

(with Sting),

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

, and

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

were first introduced to the American audience ''en masse''. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said in a cover story that ''Video Concert Hall'' was the first-ever nationwide video music programming on cable television, predating MTV by almost three years. ''Video Concert Hall'' creators Charles Henderson and Jerry Crowe are considered the "fathers" of television's music video programming.Werts, Dianne, "Din of Modern Hit Parade Invades Cable Homes," ''The Dallas Morning News'', May 23, 1980 ''Video Concert Hall'' ran daily on USA Network from 1978 to 1981 on a seemingly arbitrary schedule, appearing on early morning, daytime, late night, and early evening timeslots alike for durations ranging from one to four hours. ''Video Concert Hall'' was also carried on Showtime, the Satellite Program Network – SPN, and was seen worldwide on AFRTS (the Armed Forces Network) and frequently as video entertainment on commercial

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

flights. ''Video Concert Hall'' was also among the first advertising supported cable TV networks. ''Video Concert Hall'' was cited as among cable's 15 leading for-profit services in ''Fortune'' magazine's 1981 Fortune 500 issue. The theme music for ''Video Concert Hall'' was the first thirty seconds of " Carouselambra" by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

. Specific to no particular pop music genre, ''Video Concert Hall'' featured

new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

References

External links

*
Video Concert Hall - A Tribute Site
A collection of the videos featured on Video Concert Hall, and a place for fans of the show to share their memories. {{Showtime Network programming USA Network original programming 1978 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings 1970s American music television series Defunct music video networks Television channels and stations established in 1979 1984 American television series endings 1980s American music television series Showtime (TV network) original programming