The BBC's flagship pop music programme Top of the Pops has been cancelled
after 42 years, the BBC has announced.
"The time has come to bring the show to its natural conclusion," said the
BBC's director of television Jana Bennett.
In a statement, the BBC said the weekly programme could no longer compete
with 24-hour music channels.
Top of the Pops was first broadcast in 1964, from a converted church in
Manchester. The final edition will be shown on 30 July.
The pop programme was only commissioned for six episodes when it began in
1964.
But it proved so popular that it won a weekly slot and has been broadcast by
the BBC ever since, celebrating its 2,000th show in 2002.
The very first show was presented by BBC Radio 1 DJ Jimmy Savile and the
first artists to appear were the Rolling Stones, who sang I Wanna Be Your
Man.
Many Radio 1 presenters hosted the show over the years, including Dave Lee
Travis and Noel Edmonds. The current presenter is Fearne Cotton.
Jimmy Savile said he was "not at all" sad about the news and "not surprised
in the slightest".
"In those days you would have to wait until Thursday night to get your fix
and you don't need to do that anymore," he said.
"Top of the Pops has been overrun by video of music on TV."
Although it has had numerous face-lifts in its 42-year history, Top of the
Pops has always featured the chart rundown, culminating in the number one
single of the week.
Dance troupe Pan's People were a highlight of the show in the 1970s
In the days before music videos dancers would perform to songs by artists who
couldn't make it to the studio.
Although the Go-Jos were the first dancing troupe to feature on the
programme, the best-remembered dancers were Pan's People.
They made their Top Of The Pops debut in 1968 dancing to Tommy James And The
Shondells' hit Mony Mony, and stayed for nearly a decade.
In its 1970's heyday, the show attracted audiences of 15 million, but by 2002
the figure had dropped to just 3 million.
It was relaunched in 2003 with former presenter Andi Peters in charge, but it
failed to attract new viewers and was moved to BBC Two the following year.
"The team did a sterling job in revitalising the format for our audience,"
said BBC Two controller Roly Keating, "but we all recognise that the time has
come to move on."
Mike Read, who was a presenter in the 1980s, said: "It was a situation that
was obviously coming because of dwindling audiences.
"There are lots of people who say `I used to watch it years ago but I don't
like the music'. There needed to be a mix of old and new."
In a statement, the BBC stressed its commitment to other music shows, such as
Jools Holland's Later programme and the BBC Four Sessions.
Noel Edmonds said he thought it was "dangerous" to "throw out one of the most
recognised brands in TV today".
"It's a huge commodity and kids are still listening to music, even if they
are downloading it.
"It's a tragedy when a broadcaster doesn't understand such a powerful brand."
The Top of the Pops spin-off show, TOTP2, will also make irregular
appearances, incorporating archive footage from the series and occasional new
performances.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5099894.stm
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I still have video tapes of some of the old shows lying around in the attic
