Member Article

TOTP gets the chop

Top of the Pops (TOTP) is coming to an end after 42 years of airing the brightest talent in the pop world. The BBC has made the tough decision to cut the popular music show from its schedules due to ever decreasing viewer ratings.The show’s demise has been blamed on a ‘rapidly changing musical landscape’ and ‘competition from multi-media and niche musical outlets’. When Sir Jimmy Saville opened the show in 1964 with the Rolling Stones, Top of the Pops was the only pop music dedicated programme in the world. However since the introduction of channels such as the MTV family and VH1, music videos and live performances are now available on-tap, making TOPT an antiquated concept.Jana Bennett, BBC Director of TV said: “We’re very proud of a show which has survived 42 years in the UK and gone on to become a worldwide brand but the time has come to bring the show to its natural conclusion. “Although we bid a fond farewell to Top of the Pops we remain as passionate as ever about reflecting the vitality of contemporary music across all our channels.“The last show will be aired on 30th July this year, although the Top of the Pops brand will continue to feature in programmes such as TOTP2 - BBC TWO’s archive show based on the Top of the Pops back-catalogue.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .