Music still looks to prime-time TV five years after TOTP
23 July, 2011UK music industry leaders are still in active discussions with the BBC about the return of a prime-time television music show, five years to the week after the closure of Top Of The Pops.
The show finished on July 30, 2006 after a 42-year run but both UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey and BPI chairman Tony Wadsworth told Music Week that the fight for a share of the terrestrial television peak goes on.
Discussions have taken place with top BBC TV and radio executives and commercial channel controllers about a TOTP-style programme outside the TV talent show format.
“There is a big gap on prime time TV for a weekly pop show,” said Wadsworth, while Sharkey said the BBC should look at the success of Dr Who as proof of the potential for reviving much-loved brands.
The exact format of such a show is still open to question and there seems to be little appetite to simply revisit TOTP in its old form.
A BBC spokesman said: "We are constantly in discussion with the music industry but there are currently no plans to bring back Top Of The Pops."
And yet the Top Of The Pops brand name never entirely went away.
REVIVING TOTP
Firstly, it still exists as a brand in the form of one-off specials and the archive show Top Of The Pops 2. Earlier this year, it even won back a regular slot, albeit as a re-run programme on BBC4.
Its resonance with the traditional teen market after all this time is far less clear. The brand name has been kept alive through a teen magazine of the same name, although circulation has struggled in recent years, dropping below 100,000 earlier this year for the first time since 2005.
| “If you asked The Vaccines or Arctic Monkeys if they wanted to do TOTP they would do it no question” |
| DYLAN WHITE |
Yet the idea of resurrecting the television programme has never quite gone away, with Simon Cowell among those who have shown an interest.
The idea of reviving Top Of The Pops, however, still has big name backing and Dylan White, founder of Dylan White Promotion & Management, has been campaigning to bring back TOTP since its demise.
The legendary plugger, who has had a hand in the television and radio appearances of everyone from Arctic Monkeys to U2, has been running a petition calling for the return of the programme, signed by hundreds of influential and famous names.
They include acts such as Florence + The Machine, Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, Seasick Steve and the pop artist Peter Blake, and leading music executives, such as UK Music chief executive Feargal Sharkey and BPI chief Geoff Taylor.
“If you asked The Vaccines or Arctic Monkeys if they wanted to do TOTP they would do it no question,” claimed White.
White even managed to get a commission from Channel 5 for a prime-time TOTP-style programme called This Is Pop, although it failed to attract sponsorship.
There clearly remains a residual affection for the programme name and format.
Journalist and author Will Hodgkinson said: “I think it was the idea that it was a mainstream pop show, but occasionally something brilliant would sneak through was really exciting. That’s what we don’t have now.
“We have Jools Holland, but it’s an older audience and you won’t be surprised to see Anna Calvi on there. There is something magical about the idea of having something really mainstream and cheesy, but then Nick Cave might be on there. “
| “There is something magical about the idea of having something really mainstream and cheesy, but then Nick Cave might be on there.” |
| WILL HODGKINSON |
And broadcaster Lauren Laverne said, “I think now more than ever we need Top of the Pops back.”
But she asks the important question that supporters of a revival need to address.
“I don’t know whether you’d want to do it in a chart-based way or more of some kind social media you could base it on.”
Like many, though, she questions the value of the old format in today's world.
THE BAND VALUE OF TOP OF THE POPS
The name may, however, be more valuable than the format. In the digital age with vast amounts of content on multiple platforms, recognisable brands can be a huge asset.
And being a recognisable brand in a world with a confusing multiplicity of services is a bonus.
Another former big television brand, Channel 4’s cult music programme The Tube has also retained value based on its name, built in a few short years on screen in the 80s. Malcolm Gerrie, CEO of WhizzKid Entertainment and former producer of cult Channel 4 programme The Tube told a MusicTank event earlier this month that he had been approached by stars desperate to take part in a revived programme, to coincide with next year’s 30th anniversary of its launch.
But the real demand of the industry is less a revival of a specific show than a place in the prime-time terrestrial TV mainstream.
| “We are not saying ‘bring back TOTP’ but there is a gap and the BBC is missing a trick by not having a show” |
| TONY WADSWORTH |
Music is thoroughly serviced now by digital television – there are 29 music channels on the Sky music package alone. And the top festivals get the kind of coverage that was reserved for the Olympics or the World Cup in the TOTP heydey.
The power of YouTube has also arguably made music once again an audiovisual medium in the minds of young audiences, rather than just audio.
PRIME-TIME POWER
But the power of a terrestrial prime-time slot has been proved in recent years by talent shows, such as X Factor, which pulled in an amazing 19.4 million viewers for last year’s final.
“There is a big gap on prime time TV for a weekly pop show,” said BPI chairman Tony Wadsworth.
“We are not saying ‘bring back TOTP’ but there is a gap and the BBC is missing a trick by not having a show,” which he believes should still be chart based.
But he rejected the idea that music cannot pull in the required ratings, pointing to the viewing figures for landmark events such as Glastonbury.
UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey says he is more relaxed about how much or little the charts feature in any new show. He shares Wadsworth's view, however, that the BBC have much to gain from reviving a prime-time pop programme.
“People were less than enthusiastic about bringing back Dr Who, but just look at how well it has done since they did,” said Sharkey. “Dr Who is a good lesson for us all.”
The fight for terrestrial TV space beyond talent shows then will go on. “I know there is a passion in pop music, the key is the format,” Wadsworth said.
Music Week TV survey
George Michael
A Music Week survey Of a single month of television in 1990, 2000 and 2005 demonstrates the growing marginalisation of music on terrestrial television over more than a decade.
In the pre-digital television days of 1990, music played a much more prominent role in the schedule.
Alongside Top Of The Pops, there was The Tube at 6pm on Friday evenings and an ITV chart show on Saturday mornings. Regular late night slots included Channel 4’s The Hitman And Her and a Top-10 Albums show on ITV.
The South Bank show also regularly featured music, with an in-depth George Michael (pictured) interview among the highlights.
Channel 4 also had regular concert slots and interviews. The 1990 schedule included a strong emphasis on classical music and jazz with concerts and documentaries.
By 2000, Top Of The Pops occupied a BBC1 slot on Friday evening at 7.30pm.
There was an attempt by the then fairly new Channel 5 to take over the Thursday night slot that TOTP had occupied until 1996, with the Pepsi Chart Show, also at 7.30pm.
The other key slot was Saturday morning with a coveted spot for pop bands on one of the then, popular pre-teen shows on BBC1 and ITV, while children’s TV presenters Ant and Dec followed their show with an older leaning show CD:UK.
Top Of The Pops 2 occupied an evening slot on BBC2 but apart from that nostalgia-based show, the ITV Sunday morning My Favourite Hymns was the only other fixed music slot.
In our studied month, there were very few in-depth music programmes, part from one late-night reprise of the Mercury Prize Awards and an Abba Special on Channel 5.
By 2005, Top Of The Pops had shifted to a Sunday BBC2 slot.
Channel 5’s Pepsi Charts had been relegated to a late-night billing.
While Saturday had become the peak music day, with CD:UK on ITV and Channel 4’s T4 beginning to take off.
There were again, few in-depth programmes and those that aired, including ITV’s review of the Reading Festival, BBC1’s Mobo Awards show all came after 11pm.
In the pre-digital television days of 1990, music played a much more prominent role in the schedule.
Alongside Top Of The Pops, there was The Tube at 6pm on Friday evenings and an ITV chart show on Saturday mornings. Regular late night slots included Channel 4’s The Hitman And Her and a Top-10 Albums show on ITV.
The South Bank show also regularly featured music, with an in-depth George Michael (pictured) interview among the highlights.
Channel 4 also had regular concert slots and interviews. The 1990 schedule included a strong emphasis on classical music and jazz with concerts and documentaries.
By 2000, Top Of The Pops occupied a BBC1 slot on Friday evening at 7.30pm.
There was an attempt by the then fairly new Channel 5 to take over the Thursday night slot that TOTP had occupied until 1996, with the Pepsi Chart Show, also at 7.30pm.
The other key slot was Saturday morning with a coveted spot for pop bands on one of the then, popular pre-teen shows on BBC1 and ITV, while children’s TV presenters Ant and Dec followed their show with an older leaning show CD:UK.
Top Of The Pops 2 occupied an evening slot on BBC2 but apart from that nostalgia-based show, the ITV Sunday morning My Favourite Hymns was the only other fixed music slot.
In our studied month, there were very few in-depth music programmes, part from one late-night reprise of the Mercury Prize Awards and an Abba Special on Channel 5.
By 2005, Top Of The Pops had shifted to a Sunday BBC2 slot.
Channel 5’s Pepsi Charts had been relegated to a late-night billing.
While Saturday had become the peak music day, with CD:UK on ITV and Channel 4’s T4 beginning to take off.
There were again, few in-depth programmes and those that aired, including ITV’s review of the Reading Festival, BBC1’s Mobo Awards show all came after 11pm.
Top Of The Pops Timeline
-
1964 First programme on January
1 with Jimmy Saville and
Alan Freeman
1983 1000th edition aired
1991 Radio 1 DJ presenters
replaced with a younger
regular team
1991 TOTP moves to a live
performance only format
1994 Top Of The Pops 2 begins
1994 Programme reverts to Radio
1 and celebrity presenters
1996 TOTP moves from Thursday
to Friday evening
1997 Return to regular presenters
2002 2000th edition aired
2005 TOTP switches to a BBC2
Sunday night slot
2006 Final programme broadcast
2011 TOTP returns to a regular
slot, albeit to show repeats
1 with Jimmy Saville and
Alan Freeman
1983 1000th edition aired
1991 Radio 1 DJ presenters
replaced with a younger
regular team
1991 TOTP moves to a live
performance only format
1994 Top Of The Pops 2 begins
1994 Programme reverts to Radio
1 and celebrity presenters
1996 TOTP moves from Thursday
to Friday evening
1997 Return to regular presenters
2002 2000th edition aired
2005 TOTP switches to a BBC2
Sunday night slot
2006 Final programme broadcast
2011 TOTP returns to a regular
slot, albeit to show repeats