Top of the Pops Axed After 42 Years

Top of the Pops is being axed by the BBC after 42 years on air.

The long-running show has been ditched because of falling viewing figures, despite several relaunches.

At its peak in the late sixties and seventies Top of the Pops attracted up to 19million viewers a show, now it has plummeted to an all-time low of just one million.

Some believe that the rot started to set in in 1996 when it was moved from a Thursday night to a Friday. It was then relaunched again in 2003 before moving to Sunday evenings on BBC2.

BBC Director of television Jana Bennett 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.”

Noel Edmonds, who became on of the famous faces to host the show, said: “Top of the Pops is a great British brand and it is very dangerous to throw away one of the most recognisable names in television.”

The show’s final edition will be screened on Sunday July 30. Top of the Pops was first aired from a disused church in Manchester on New Years Day 1964.