BBC calls time on Top of the Pops
The show's current presenter is Fearne Cotton
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 Salford, 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.
In its 1970s heyday, the show attracted audiences of 15 million, but by 2002 the figure had dropped to just 3 million.
The show 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.
HAVE YOUR SAY
We all recognise that the time has come to move on
Roly Keating
Controller, BBC Two
Send us your TOTP memories
"The team did a stirling 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."