It was initially thought this would be temporary, and that the previous NOW Music would resume in early 2017, but the success of the 1980s format saw this retained indefinitely.

[4] On 7 November 2021, Now 80s started to show American TV series Fame from the beginning of season one in 1982, with three back-to-back episodes shown on Thursday nights and a repeat on Sunday mornings.

In June 2018 availability of NOW 80s was extended to Freeview HD owners in more parts of the country by relocating to the Arqiva COM8 multiplex.

[13] Apart from episodes of the 1980s American drama Fame[14] (billed as Fame – The Original TV Series on the channel's EPG), the channel usually sticks to a back-to-back video format with radio presenters including Pat Sharp, Mark Goodier and Simon Bates[15] presenting, appearing either as a voice-over or on-screen.

In addition to a number of former BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys, the channel has featured many popstars from the era, such as T'Pau's Carol Decker, presenting the video countdowns.

The channel has also created a number of programmes to tie-in with the release of the Now Yearbook series of 4-CD and 3-LP vinyl sets.