Posted November 28, 20231 yr Back on BBC Two and hosted solely by Clara Amfo this year: Top Of The Pops returns for a special hosted by Radio 1’s Clara Amfo. The show will take a look back over the last 12 months delving into music’s biggest stories and showcasing performances from some of the most talked about artists of 2023. Top Of The Pops: Review of 2023 is a BBC Studios (1 x 60) production for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. It was commissioned by Suzanne McManus, Commissioning Editor for Entertainment. The Executive Producer for BBC Studios is Alison Howe.
November 28, 20231 yr I thought they didn’t do one last year? Glad it’s back anyway even if just for a day. Will this be a New Years episode I take it rather than what song is Christmas #1?
November 28, 20231 yr Author I thought they didn’t do one last year? Glad it’s back anyway even if just for a day. Will this be a New Years episode I take it rather than what song is Christmas #1? Last year was the first one with the ‘Review of…’ format. It was broadcast at 22:40 on Christmas Eve, and did show ‘Food Aid’ at the end.
November 28, 20231 yr Oh FFS, not this glorified clip show again. I guess 'proper' Xmas Top of the Pops is gone for good then? Edited November 28, 20231 yr by HiyaLuv2
November 28, 20231 yr It seems like it. Surely it wouldn't cost very much to get a few easy bookings to sing in front of the TOTP logo in the Live Lounge or something!
November 28, 20231 yr I agree I’m glad there’s some sort of show but surely the classic TOTP format wouldn’t be hard to achieve with local acts like Sam Ryder, Becky Hill and Jax Jones!
November 28, 20231 yr Author I agree I’m glad there’s some sort of show but surely the classic TOTP format wouldn’t be hard to achieve with local acts like Sam Ryder, Becky Hill and Jax Jones! That's basically what they were doing for the last 10 years though, and ratings dropped every year.
November 28, 20231 yr Who cares about ratings it’s an institution that is only shown once a year as a tradition!
November 29, 20231 yr Author Who cares about ratings it’s an institution that is only shown once a year as a tradition! Well, clearly the BBC do or it would still be on :P
November 29, 20231 yr It was rather stinking up the schedule to be fair. They get more viewers putting a kids film in the slot. And I suppose it does cost quite a bit to put on 2 hours of live music. But it wouldn't hurt to make a little bit more effort on the show they do make. It was odd last year that they had Sam Ryder in the studio for a chat but he didn't even perform. I'm sure he'd have happily done a performance for him. A slightly shoddy clip show is still better than nothing for me though. Incidentally, last year's show got 523k on BBC Two. Edited November 29, 20231 yr by AcerBen
November 29, 20231 yr That’s the thing though should the bbc care as much about ratings considering they are a public sector broadcaster?
November 29, 20231 yr That’s the thing though should the bbc care as much about ratings considering they are a public sector broadcaster? That only really works as an argument for producing educational/factual/niche interest programmes, the sort of thing that commercial broadcasters won't touch. That doesn't mean they have an obligation to produce a new episode of TOTP every Christmas - and as a broadcaster they can point to plenty of other ways how they give airtime to pop music throughout the year. Edited November 29, 20231 yr by AcerBen
November 29, 20231 yr It's a slight shame that they didn't put on a studio show last year after two years of not being able to have an audience, but I think they just felt it wasn't worth it. The brand is still alive though so surely could be worse.
November 29, 20231 yr Do the viewings/ratings take into account those who watch on iPlayer or catchup? Lets be honest, most people spend their bank holidays doing better things than sitting in front of the TV in the middle of the day, and I for one would watch the show after it had aired in the majority of cases. As others so often express on BuzzJack, I would love to have a weekly or even monthly, show with performances from some of the big names about, with the occasional Glastonbury clips shoved in for good measure, but I just don’t know if they should make it to try and acquire a prime time slot on Friday night or just go for an iPlayer exclusive. Something is better than nothing. How long has it been since they trialled Sounds Like Friday Night?
November 29, 20231 yr Author Do the viewings/ratings take into account those who watch on iPlayer or catchup? Lets be honest, most people spend their bank holidays doing better things than sitting in front of the TV in the middle of the day, and I for one would watch the show after it had aired in the majority of cases. The 2019 Christmas Day show received 1.8m live viewers, and this only went up to 1.9m with iPlayer included. The NYE show went from 1.5m live to 1.6m. I'll have to search out anything beyond this, but IIRC the ratings went even lower. - https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/rating...ime-slot/078525
November 29, 20231 yr You can’t just keep making something because people say it’s an ‘institution’ or a ‘tradition’. It clearly isn’t anymore given people aren’t really watching it anymore. I used to love seeing the biggest hits of the year, some Christmas chart contenders and the countdowns of both charts back in the late 90s/early 00s but it doesn’t work anymore. They can’t get performances of the biggest hits, even Ed Sheeran didn’t bother turning up in 2021. The fact is, what people want is not something they can have anymore. Back in 2008 when they tried to shelve it, people still cared. But no one outside this forum batted an eyelid last year and a whole generation have grown up without a weekly Top Of The Pops and it’s literally a case of they don’t know what they’re missing. I’ll do what I normally do and try to source the 1998 Christmas special-always puts me in a Christmassy mood!
November 29, 20231 yr The 2019 Christmas Day show received 1.8m live viewers, and this only went up to 1.9m with iPlayer included. The NYE show went from 1.5m live to 1.6m. I'll have to search out anything beyond this, but IIRC the ratings went even lower. - https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/rating...ime-slot/078525The 2021 show got 1.5 million on the day (as an overnight). Not much worse than the previous years. Oh and Sounds Like Friday Night was last on in 2018.
November 29, 20231 yr You can’t just keep making something because people say it’s an ‘institution’ or a ‘tradition’. It clearly isn’t anymore given people aren’t really watching it anymore. I used to love seeing the biggest hits of the year, some Christmas chart contenders and the countdowns of both charts back in the late 90s/early 00s but it doesn’t work anymore. They can’t get performances of the biggest hits, even Ed Sheeran didn’t bother turning up in 2021.I don't have the same history with TOTP as others but I don't know how often we even get to see live performances from some of the big artists right now, at least on television. That said, if people aren't interested then you can't do much about that. Even if you try and get exclusives or something - like tracks artists haven't performed anywhere else (although that probably isn't a bad idea).
November 29, 20231 yr Yeh I was really just talking from the heart with my post earlier rather than the head but it just seems a shame. TOTP is very much of its time I guess RIP 1964-2006
November 29, 20231 yr Aside from televised festival footage, can anyone list what BBC/ITV shows still have an element of a live performance by a major artist? This can include talent shows such as Strictly as well as late night talk shows.
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