IT (XM)

"IT: The History of Pop Music" is the name of a special program that XM Satellite Radio aired annually from 2002 to 2007, in which a majority of charted pop songs (and some non-charted songs) from the 1930s to the 2000s were aired in chronological order on seven of the platform's channels (The 40s on 4, The 50s on 5, The 60s on 6, The 70s on 7, The 80s on 8, The 90s on 9, and Pop2K (formerly XM Hitlist)). The special typically aired each summer or fall, starting on the '40s channel and continuing on each subsequent channel as the music hit each decade. The special took just over a month to complete. After completion, playlists for each of the channels were put on XM's website, with the songs listed in the order in which they were played (in 2007, one large list was put up on the website, with the songs organized by year, but in alphabetical order instead of chronological order).

"IT" first aired on XM in 2002, when it was originally known as "The Monster". The special was renamed the following year, apparently due to legal action against the first name. In 2007, in addition to the regular "IT", XM also aired an abbreviated version (titled "The Greatest ITs") on their XMX channel during Thanksgiving weekend. The Greatest ITs was reaired in early November, 2008, although XM did not air the regular "IT" that year, allegedly due to issues surrounding XM's merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio. It is unclear if either version of "IT" will reair in the future.

The following is an overview of "IT" for each of the channels.

"IT" began on the '40s channel by playing many of the big hits from 1930 through 1949. Starting in 2006, "IT" was preceded by a 3-hour special titled "The Roaring '20s Pre-It Special", featuring some of the biggest hits from the 1920s, some of which had never been played on XM before. Total running time in 2006 (not including the "Pre-It Special"): 3 days, 15 hours.

"IT" on the '50s channel featured many big hits from 1950 through 1959. The channel also included early non-charted songs from Elvis Presley and other rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists. Total running time in 2006: 2 days, 12 hours.

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