The Roxy (TV series)

The Roxy was a British music television programme broadcast on the ITV network from June 1987 to April 1988 and was produced by Tyne Tees Television, shortly after its more successful Channel 4 music show, The Tube, was decommissioned.

The show was initially presented by David Jensen and Kevin Sharkey. The first edition was transmitted across the ITV network on Tuesday 9 June 1987, introducing Erasure performing "Victim of Love". Subtitled as The Network Chart Show, The Roxy was based on the weekly chart compiled for Independent Local Radio which was broadcast on Sunday afternoons across ILR stations every Sunday afternoon from 5pm, in competition with BBC Radio 1's own chart show.

Whereas The Tube featured rock and punk bands and emerging musicians, The Roxy concentrated on the mainstream UK Singles Chart - and although The Tube won a loyal fanbase and respect from artists, mainstream acts were reluctant to travel to Tyne Tees' Newcastle studios for a three-minute performance when they could appear on the long-established BBC counterpart, Top of the Pops, produced from London.^[2]

The programme also suffered from not having a fixed network timeslot and for a short time, an industrial dispute which affected live studio performances. After just ten months on air, The Roxy aired its final edition on Tuesday 5 April 1988. By this point, some regional stations aired the programme around midnight like Anglia, TVS and Thames while Grampian, Scottish, and Yorkshire opted out entirely.

The demise of The Roxy also signalled the end of major live music TV production at Tyne Tees, which asides The Tube, had also spanned series such as Alright Now, Razzmatazz and Check it Out. The company also produced coverage of Queen's concerts at Wembley and the Milton Keynes Bowl and co-produced U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky.

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