BBC to revive ‘Top of The Pops’ chart show format?

BBC1 is looking at the possibility of starting up a weekly live music charts-oriented TV show – ten years after it axed the long running Top of The Pops.

BBC executives are talking to producers, agents and music biz heavyweights including X Factor head Simon Cowell to find the “magic chemistry” to make it a hit.

The Top of The Pops name will not be used, presumably as the BBC is distancing itself from the sex crimes of some presenters as Jimmy Saville. But like that show, it will be based around tracks from the British and US Top 40 to draw in a mass over-25 demographic and also introduce the latest new acts.

The new show will not be aimed at the younger Radio 1 audience, which has its own shows as Live Lounge which are viewed 20 million times a month. With 2.8 million subscribers Radio 1 is the largest radio station on YouTube. It plans to cater for younger fans with live streaming next year and a series of specialist monthly shows including those covering hip hop and alt-rock.

Ben Cooper, controller of Radio 1 and Xtra, told The Independent that due to competition from the internet, the new show’s format would stay away from Top of The Pops’ approach of “one musical performance after another, because you can get that on YouTube.

“When people ask about whether Top of the Pops is coming back, what they are really saying is, ‘When can we get a once-a-week primetime BBC1 music slot’?”

Cooper admitted that the BBC swung into action after it lost The Voice to commercial network ITV from 2017, leaving it with no prime-time music show. At its peak The Voice UK reached 9.2 million although its 2015 grand finale only drew 7.9 million.

“That does give you an opportunity, a moment in history, to go, ‘Right, let’s crack this, what can we do to bring music and entertainment together for a primetime BBC1 audience? That’s the Holy Grail.”

Cooper explained to The Independent that it’s going for as wide a demographic as possible. “You want a moment that will feature on Gogglebox, that’s what you are after, that family-on-the-sofa moment. Where, ‘you call this music?’ Will come from one side of the sofa and ‘but mum, it’s the best’ from the other.”

The show would be shown in Australia through the BBC Worldwide channel.

Top of The Pops was launched in January 1964, originally screening on Thursday nights, and serving as a TV version of radio chart shows. It was supposed to run for a few weeks but lasted for 42 weeks. The first episode included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones performing to backing tracks. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy had their own versions.

Among its highlights were Jimi Hendrix shouting “I don’t know the words to this, man” after the wrong act’s tape was played during his segment, and Oasis performing Roll With It with Noel Gallagher miming to Liam’s voice and Liam pretending to play guitar.

By the 1990s, after major revamps and timeslot changes, it started to lose viewers and considered uncool, with acts as The Clash refusing to go on it. By 2004, viewer figures dipped under 3 million after it was axed two years later, although special editions are aired annually over Christmas and New Year. Its loss in taking new artists to a mass audience was felt. Artists as Pet Shop Boys criticised its axing and Simon Cowell claimed he’d try to buy the rights for the show from the BBC.