1995–1996: The beginning

One of the first shows on Viva Zwei was Geschmackssache, a German TV show that featured singers from around the world. The singer would talk about himself or herself and would show some of their favorite music videos to the viewers. Viva Zwei's logo at the time was a logo in a transverse wave form similar to the VIVA logo with a Roman numeral 2 (II) sign beside it, and it was put into the upper right corner of the screen. In mid 1996, the logo was changed to a logo similar of a plus sign with the uppercase word "ZWEI" beside it, and it was put into the lower left corner of the screen.

The 1995–1996 original Viva Zwei channel (more known as Viva II at the time) aired mostly classic 60s, 70s and 80s music as well as current 90s pop music and shows like Das War... (translated into the English language: That Was..., for example: Das War 1964 (That Was 1964), Das War 1974 (That Was 1974), Das War 1984 (That Was 1984), Das War 1994 (That Was 1994) etc.) and Geschmackssache. At this time, VIVA was the mainstream channel for shows.

1997–2001: Change in concept

In 1997, more programming started to be aired such as 2Rock, 2Step, Fast Forward, Trendspotting, Wah² and Zwobot. The channel now focused more on current, alternative styles of music, mainly alternative and indie rock, but also metal, alternative hip hop and electronic music, and started becoming a place for lesser known bands that were not aired on MTV or VIVA to get their music heard, as well as airing music from bigger name stars such as Depeche Mode.

2001–2002: Closure

By 2001, the channel became more popular, but its owner, Time Warner, was losing money; Viva Zwei was generating losses and was not popular enough to survive. In mid-summer 2001, it was announced that Viva Zwei would be shut down.

The shutdown occurred on 7 January 2002. The final video on the network was a sendoff video, a special thanks to Viva Zwei's hosts, a music video from Zwobot, and Mr. Explosion from Zwobot. Then, Viva Zwei switched full time into Viva Plus, a channel dedicated to mainstream pop music. This was considered to be a loss to the music world by fans of the old channel as well as music personalities, because it eliminated a medium for lesser known bands to be recognized.

Some shows lived on on Viva Plus or VIVA though: Fast Forward, a German music talk show hosted by Charlotte Roche, aired on Viva Zwei from 1999 to 2001, moved to VIVA in 2002 and lasted there until 2 January 2005. On 2 January, the farewell episode of Fast Forward aired without Charlotte Roche. It aired only music videos, and at the end broadcast a message saying "Fast Forward Say Thank You" and ended showing its usual closing sequence.

Overdrive ran on Viva Zwei from 1998 to 2002, came back on Viva Plus later in 2002 and lasted there until 2007, when Viva Plus shut down. 2Step and E-Beats were slated to have come back on Viva Plus, but the idea was canceled when it was decided that Viva Plus would only broadcast Get the Clip.

On 14 January 2007, Viva Plus itself was discontinued and replaced by Comedy Central.