# The Hit List (game show)

The Hit List is a British music game show that puts three pairs of contestants against each other to test their knowledge of music, which began airing on Saturday nights on BBC One on 25 May 2019. The show is hosted by husband and wife Marvin and Rochelle Humes, and it is their first standalone TV show as a couple.

## Format

Across three rounds, the contestants attempt to identify huge hits from across the years. The teams must prove their ability to recognise songs from all genres of music for a chance to win £10,000. Throughout the game, a correct answer to a song must consist of its name and its artist.

### Round One – Five of Five from Five

The teams are played a selection of five 5-second clips from hit tracks of each decade (1970s to 2010s) and must press their buzzer whenever they recognise a song. A correct answer earns the team one point. Scores in this round then carry over to Round Two.

### Round Two

In this round, the teams race to reach ten points first, with the last team to do so being eliminated. All songs here share a randomly chosen theme. Gameplay is the same as in Round One, though a correct answer entitles the team to a follow-up song, while a miss puts the team on "mute" (locking them out of the song) and gives the opponents a chance to claim the point.

### Round Three

The two remaining teams must identify a range of song titles and artists by listening to the very beginning of the songs. Each team is given a 45-second clock and take turns going through several "Hit Lists", each of which has four songs, each of which contains a visual theme; for example, an image of an artist mentioned in the lyrics of a track. Teams also alternate choosing Hit Lists and their songs (the choice order is independent from the play order, so one team may be picking a song for themselves or for their opponents), and once a Hit List is exhausted, a new one is chosen.
This round is played chess clock style – the team in control at any given time must clear a song (or use a "skip") before passing control to the other team, and whoever runs out of time first is eliminated from the game. Teams may give as many answers as they desire for each song until they either provide a right answer or "skip". Each team has three "skips" at the outset, each of which may be used three seconds after the start of each track.

### The Final Chart Rundown

This round sees the final team attempting to recognise ten songs and artists before the money runs out. The team will start the round with £10,000 available in their prize pot, but after five seconds of each track that is played, the money starts to drop at a rate of £1 per hundredth of a second (£100 per second). If the team can correctly name ten song titles and artists before the money disappears, they will go home with whatever is left in the pot. Otherwise, they will leave with nothing. (In Celebrity Specials, losing teams leave with £500 for their chosen charities.)

## Transmissions
### Series

| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
| 1 | 25 May 2019 | 29 June 2019 | 6 |
| 2 | 16 November 2019 | 1 February 2020 | 6 |
| 3 | 26 September 2020 | 29 May 2021 | 12 |
| 4 | 2 October 2021 | 13 November 2021 | 6 |
| 5 | 16 July 2022 | 10 September 2022 | 6 |
| 6 | 1 July 2023 | 2 September 2023 | 6 |
| 7 | 17 August 2024 | 21 September 2024 | 6 |

### Specials

| Date | Entitle |
| 28 December 2019 | Celebrity Special |
| 14 November 2020 | Celebrity Special |
| 31 December 2020 | Celebrity Special |
| 4 September 2021 | Celebrity Special |
| 11 September 2021 | Celebrity Special |
| 18 September 2021 | Strictly Come Dancing Special |
| 4 December 2021 | Strictly Come Dancing Special |
| 11 December 2021 | Christmas Special |
| 1 January 2022 | Noughties Special |
| 24 September 2022 | Strictly Come Dancing Special |
| 1 October 2022 | Celebrity Special |
| 8 October 2022 | Celebrity Special |
| 15 October 2022 | Celebrity Special |
| 10 December 2022 | Celebrity Special |
| 17 December 2022 | Christmas Special |
| 13 May 2023 | Eurovision Special |
| 10 June 2023 | Celebrity Special |
| 17 June 2023 | Celebrity Special |
| 24 June 2023 | Celebrity Special |
| 9 September 2023 | Strictly Come Dancing Special |
| 23 December 2023 | Christmas Special |

## International versions

International format and distribution rights are held by Keshet International.
| Country | Name | Presenter(s) | Channel | Premiere | Finale |
| Finland | Hitlist | Esko Eerikäinen and Shirly Karvinen | MTV3 | 8 November 2019 | 3 January 2020 |
| France | Hit List | Élodie Gossuin and Issa Doumbia | Gulli | 8 January 2025 | 2 March 2025 |
| Netherlands | De Hit Kwis | Romy Monteiro and Kees Tol | NPO 1 | 21 July 2020 | 28 August 2020 |
| Spain | Hit List | Mariam Hernández and Iván Torres | Televisión Canaria | 29 February 2024 | present |