hit40uk

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hit40uk is a networked music singles chart broadcast on around 130 UK commercial radio stations every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm. It is currently the biggest chart show in the country.

[edit] Background

The radio show counts down the top 40 songs in the chart. Unlike the official UK Singles Chart broadcast at the same time by BBC Radio 1, the hit40uk chart includes radio airplay, not just sales. The show has enjoyed higher audience figures than Radio 1's Official Chart Show since 1993, except for a brief period of 2006, when a weak commercial radio sector caused hit40uk's share to fall below that of its rival.

hit40uk descends from The Network Chart Show, which was hosted by David Jensen on the commercial radio network from September 30, 1984 to July 25, 1993, sponsored from 1985 onwards by Nescafe. On August 1, 1993, Pepsi began their sponsorship of the show and Neil Fox became its host; it was known as the Pepsi Network Chart before becoming the Pepsi Chart around 1996. Pepsi ended their sponsorship of the show on December 29, 2002, and the hit40uk name was adopted on January 5, 2003, but Fox remained the host until May 30, 2004. On June 6, 2004 Simon Hirst and Katy Hill became co-hosts of hit40uk; Hirst later hosted the show on his own.

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.

On October 12, 2006, it was announced that the programme was to be relaunched on October 22, with a new presenter, Capital Radio's Lucio. A new logo was also introduced to replace their old look. Emap 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.

[edit] Sister chart shows

In 2005 the uk commercial radio industry announced that it would launch two new chart shows to compliment the main hit40uk show. Both would also air Sundays 4pm - 7pm.

  • The A List (Adult Contemporary) was the first to launch in February 2006 on stations including Heart, Real Radio and Century Radio. At launch it was presented by Melanie Sykes and Nick Snaith. The show ended on Sunday 23rd December 2007.
  • Fresh 40 (Dance and Urban) was next to launch nearly a year later in March 2007. It is presented by Kiss 100's's Dynamite MC, and is broadcast on the Kiss and Galaxy Network's, plus a few local stations.

[edit] External links


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