How would you change Top of the Pops?

Top of the Pops has lost 7m viewers since the 1970s but a spokeswoman says speculation about radical overhaul is "incredibly premature".

Andi Peters, the former TOTP presenter, is planning new changes when he takes charge of the show as executive editor in September.

What is wrong with Top of the Pops? Does it need changing? How would you like it? What are your best TOTP moments?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

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TOTP has its place for pop fans and kids. Similarly, TOTP2 has its place for people who are cheesily nostalgic. Unfortunately this is the ONLY prime time music offering that the BBC puts out. As a public service broadcaster the BBC should have a show at least once a week devoted to new and alternative music and it should be on at a sensible hour where casual channel surfers may stumble across it. Something a bit more challenging than TOTP and Radio 1.
Sam Hutchinson, UK

1) Have an interactive programme after the actual show (as we're into interactivity nowadays)
2) Launch a new programme dedicating to new songs and artists
3) Get rid of TOTP Saturday. Too childish.
Jamie Murphy, London, UK

Why can't we have something more like Later with Jools Holland in the old TOPT Thursday slot? Most of our friends are out on a Friday night anyway (even my grandpa is, and he's over 80). I know it is called Later with Jools Holland, but why is that (quality) music programme on SO late anyway?
Sophie, UK

I have never met a single person over the age of 15 who confesses to watching TOTP yet this thread is alive with criticism and ideas from apparently older viewers. Funny that.
Mark, UK

Bring back the surprise element Kiltie, UK

Having read all the comments I can't believe that no-one has commented on one of the most obvious factors. The show is called 'TOP' of the Pops so why do we have to watch acts which are going down the charts. This was never the case when TOTP was in it's hey-day. You were never informed 'who is going to be on the show next week' because you didn't know. No-one knew how the charts were going to pan out. Even on the night, you didn't get told who would be 'coming up later' - you had to watch the whole show in the hope that your fave band/act would be on. Bring back the surprise element but most importantly, make it for the music on it's way to the top.
Kiltie, UK

Change its name. "Top of the Pops" sounds so cheesy and Tony Blackburn and it makes the programme seem like it's stuck in a 1970s time warp. It probably sounded cheesy even back then in the olden days.
NK, UK

1. Stop catering for plastic pop
2. No more singers only, the band has to be able to play their own instruments and sing - all live
3. Get rid of the awful Green Room. Play more music
4. Get presenters that can make it funny and informative
5. Get a new band with a new album to play one of the tracks; we need more real talent not more manufactured pap
6. Concentrate on presenting the Top 10 singles and albums only.
M. Thomas, UK

The audience it seems to cater for seems to be nearer the CBBC age group rather than the whole family. TOTP2 is good for the older clips from the show, but this would have been better seen in whole episodes. I am afraid that it seems to be an extension to Radio 1's output.
George Handley, UK

Do a single charts TOTP and an album charts TOTP. That way all ages will be catered for.
James, England

We want to hear out of key songs, missed intros, unplugged style seat of the pants moments... Alex, UK

Get rid of the green room for starters, this is a music programme not a chat show. Also, get the acts to sing/perform live. We want to hear out of key songs, missed intros, unplugged style seat of the pants moments and improvisations by the backing musicians that have been made up on the spot! It makes it all interesting, and uniquely different every time. Artists ought to be able to prove to us live and without miming that there's a good reason why people are buying their singles. The likes of Mariah Carey, Radiohead, Daniel Beddingfield, Robbie Williams or Beyonce are not going to struggle with this. S club juniors or Blazing Squad might have a bit more of a problem! TOTP could revolutionise the UK industry and drag it back to where talent is about the act, not their songwriter and stylist.
Alex, UK

Top of the Pops has done nothing wrong. It's still a great concept but stuck with an industry that's run out of ideas. In the modern music world of manufactured groups, groups are made by throwing together a group of blonde model types who can dance a little, and the song is added as an afterthought.
John Tunney, UK

A couple of things stand out, Time Slot - Send it back to Thursdays please! and Miming - Make ALL acts perform live. A big part of the problem, for me is the music. It sounds sooo dated, and makes we want to turn off immediately. Come up with something new quickly! Get rid of the green room stuff, and get more music on, and make sure that the acts change once in a while. Its no good watching, and then seeing almost the same show the next week. Lastly, publicise who is going to be on! If people know they can see the big bands on the show, they might tune in. Dont bin TOTP just listen to us viewers!
Anthony Collins, UK

TOTP is suffering the same fate as the rest of the music industry Dudley Nelson, UK

There is not a lot wrong with the current format of TOTP, but TOTP is suffering the same fate as the rest of the music industry. Music in this country is very much dictated to us. We are told what to listen to, and what we will like by commercial radio, TV, and even the BBC. There are what, 5 releases a week if you believe the media? At best. Music is becoming more and more commercialised. The way the BBC are funded makes it one of the best suited organisations to battle this trend. Perhaps they could go around towns and try to catch some of the top local bands, the people yet to hit the big-time. But then again, I am too old to fit into your target audience. The kids would no doubt say that there is little wrong with it. Apart from maybe more videos.
Dudley Nelson, UK

Put a blackman like Jazzy B or Trevor Nelson in charge of TOTP. Erase the bubblegum pop mainstream million pound selling songs without a substance e.g Hearsay Pure and Simple. Explore the urban sounds of England as well as the underground scene e.g indie rock bands, hip hop acts, garage and bhangara playing everynight at venues across the country - be the eyes and ears of a new global invasion of British stars on the International scene. Let TOTP be the platform for all music originating from these shores regardless of ethnicity - whilst promoting music from other countries - as England is the rainbow nation with different nations and cultures and that should be reflected with the music on the radio as well as the television - one nation many visions
A, Berks

There is nothing wrong with TOTP .... 2 that is! It is brilliant. Steve Wright is still the man! Why not give him the other one as well?
Nigel, UK

I have been in bands on and off for 20 years and the situation is the same now as it ever was. TOTP was and still is a marketing tool for the "music industry". There was always fast-food conveyor belt music but now it is predominant in the eyes of the TOTP producers. There are thousands of bands out there who are streets ahead of anything you see on TOTP and that is due to the "business" attitude of record companies. Bands are not allowed to develop, they have to sell loads on their first single or are dropped. The music industry sells music as if it were socks. If popular music was regarded as an art form and not a product we wouldn't have to put up with the bilge we are now subjected to.
Paul, England

Some decent music and presenters who can string a sentence together would be a good start.
Julian, England

What's wrong with it? Apart from the amateur arrogant presenters who think they are more important than the music. If the artists cannot be bothered to turn up to do a studio gig then don't play them. We can watch videos all day on digital if we want that. Make it fast, make it exciting, present it well, and make it on a Thursday.
Peter, UK

What happened to real songs performed by real bands? Jon Lipscombe, UK

There's nothing wrong with TOTP, just the music being released today. It's all the same unfelt generic pop or dance rubbish. What happened to real songs performed by real bands, not sounds that have been sampled elsewhere? There has been an influx of good music recently with Electric Six and Evanescence releasing high-profile quality tracks, but then when you get stuff like the Fast Food Song coming into the charts, it completely takes any credibility behind the music industry away.
Jon Lipscombe, UK

Some people have such short memories. TOTP is for kids as really only kids are interested in the top 40 singles. It's not for 30 somethings reminiscing about 80's music (which on the whole was pretty dire as well). There will always be a place for TOTP and I'm glad about that fact.
Sarah, UK

1) Break a new act every week
2) Ignore the charts. They're meaningless
3) More unplugged acts
4) Every week, send an act round to perform in one lucky viewer's living room.
Rick, UK

TOTP has gone on for far too long and should be dropped from the schedules - it's over 30 years old. When I was a teenager in the 70s and TOTP was new and exacting, I wouldn't have dreamt of watching a programme from say 1935 even if they had made them. Surely today's teenagers want and deserve something more up to date than a format that is almost as old as their parents.
Al, UK

TOTP has become bubblegum, plastic rubbish, where the only "talent" seems to be how much flesh you can show. There is so much good quality stuff out there that never gets an airing! TOTP - Terrible, Obnoxious, Tiresome Pap.
Joe, UK

TOTP should start pushing the boundaries a bit Matthew, England

I tell you what's wrong with TOTP. Putting the likes of Andi Peters in charge. Just because the music industry is saturated with Popstars The Rivals type bands that cater for about 20% of the music loving public doesn't mean TOTP has to reflect this. TOTP should start pushing the boundaries a bit and start leading the way for music entertainment for all. Insisting that acts perform live (not just to a backing tape) would be a start.
Matthew, England

Put on some weird and varied live acts, folk, jazz, rock etc, and give it an eccentric bearded presenter with big teeth. How about calling it Old Grey Whistle Test?
Andy Brown, UK

Forget Top of the Pops - it can't compete with the likes of MTV (with whom it shares its content and audience). Instead, how about a decent eclectic music show - along the lines of the Tube, Later, Whistle Test or the White Room, which actually insists bands play live, isn't in any way connected to the charts, offers real music for kids, adults and the rest of us who don't want to be force-fed the sloppy remains of a sloppy reality TV show. Oh, and another thing, put it on at a time when the audience isn't in bed (are you listening the producers of Later with JH?)
Pip, UK

Bring back the culture that gave us Julian Cope in a hard hat and high court sheriff's reflective donkey jacket at the time of major road protests; Mark E Smith reading his lyrics from cue cards because he couldn't remember them; and The Orb playing chess on stage rather than prancing around miming their single - events that were "water cooler" discussion topics the next day. Bring back the culture that would have acts like this on TOTP in the first place.
Mark, UK

There should be two chart run downs; one being the top 10 singles and the other being top 10 albums and feature artists from both on the show as these are so different these days. Get rid of the backstage chats, they're rubbish and sometimes a bit embarrassing! Finally, introduce a new band each week as a group to look out for in the future.
Jill Rooney, UK

TOTP merely reflects the rubbish churned out by the pop music industry in recent years Mike Wright, UK

TOTP merely reflects the rubbish churned out by the pop music industry in recent years. No wonder CD sales are declining together with the audience of TOTP. Where are the talented vocalists, instrumentalists, songwriters and clearly identifiable artists and groups today? Shrink-wrapped rubbish however packaged and presented remains rubbish - even my teenage kids have ceased to watch TOTP. Above all that, we just do not want to see backstage, the green room or fatuous garbage from so-called presenters.

Concentrate on the music, quality and experienced introductions. It is about time that the pop music industry and TOTP has a long hard think about what they are trying to sell the rest of us. However you might repackage something, if we do not like it we will not buy it. It used to be a major career move for artists to appear on TOTP. Now it is just a part of the promotion machinery. Change it back to the bad old days with Pans People, John Peel, DLT - at least we had great music, artists, entertainment and almost compulsory family viewing of TOTP then as opposed to the present situation.
Mike Wright, UK

I think the success of TOTP2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays contains the answers to all the problems. Firstly, in that show we never see the presenter. And secondly, the music is great.
Andy, UK

Biggest problem is that its target audience is all out on a Friday night either down the park (for the under-18s!) or the pub! Reschedule for a more appropriate day and get rid of some of the awful home design programmes!
Matt Moore, England

I would combine it with TOTP2 into a single, hour long programme - you could show the current chart for the first 30 minutes, and then oldies in the second half of the show
Jon, England

Try watching a proper music show like Later with Jools.
Adrian Smart, UK

The problem is what you could call the Gareth Gates effect. You have people of limited talent signed up by the record companies, relentlessly marketed and forced to do covers of (and murder) old 60s/70s songs. Bands like Coldplay, Oasis and individuals like Ms Dynamite, David Gray or even Eminem are what music making should be about. The BBC is contributing to this problem however with shows like Fame Academy. Until these talent-less individuals and groups are given less prominence over the talented, the music industry will continue to suffer.
HS, UK

It needs to be moved back to Thursday or even earlier in the week Harrison, UK

The problem with the Pops is firstly its slot, it needs to be moved back to Thursday or even earlier in the week. Secondly the presenters clearly have no idea of the music (or the business for that matter) that they are presenting unlike their counterparts at MTV and Channel 4. Thirdly music as a genre has a difficult time on the BBC, nobody knows where it is, there's hardly any choice apart from if you're a Robbie fan. The BBC needs to develop a branded block and give a slot of say three hours over to music of which the Pops would form part and ideally mid-week which would attract the target audience, at the weekend sitting in front of the TV is last thing on their minds.
Harrison, UK

Top of the Pops is no longer relevant for teenagers and young people because of the wide range of satellite music channels and DVD/video. However, it may be still relevant to those in their prime i.e. 30+. A radical approach would be to re-target the show to this group. Let's get the old school back to present it, DLT, Bates, Bruno Brookes and Steve Wright. Much more entertaining than the bland presenters who aren't appealing to the current target audience.
Monty Davies, UK

1) Don't put it up against Coronation Street. (Of course it's going to lose viewers!)
2) Put it on earlier in the week, nearer to when the chart is released. What's wrong with Thursday, 7pm?
3) Make it longer or have two editions.
4) Don't drop it!!!!!
Bryan Spink, UK

I know it's already been said, but worth saying again - "Bring back Pans People!"
Simon Mallett, UK

Having watched TOTP from the late sixties to date, I feel that the programme has lost its appeal and should calmly be laid to rest. No-one pays much interest to the pop charts these days, even the stores have their own version of the charts. The fact that there is a greater diversity of music than can be truly represented in a half hour programme. RIP TOTP.
Baber, England

The problem is that TOTP is a victim of the "fast-food" pop culture which now prevails. Image is now far more important than musical content, so consequently the show is often devoid of quality sounds. There are now far too many "acts" jumping around or striking a pose. And the presenters are just as bad!!
Mark, England

I have never visited a country where pop and club music are the predominant music styles. My friends asked me to bring back cool music from the UK. Sadly, I will not have anything to showcase for them but the same boring stuff that is shown on MTV. Change the music styles once in a while. Get a nice mix and you may help introduce viewers to a new style of music they may have never paid much attention to.
Manuel Medina, Visiting UK from Puerto Rico

I grew up on TOTP because there was nothing else...then came Channel 4 with the Tube (changing views and literally introducing a visual music magazine) and things have changed again with the onset of cable/digi/sat dishes. In my opinion, the BBC cannot compete! My 17 year old son thinks it is a total joke to watch....and to be honest so do I ... it is soooo cringingly dated!
Stephanie, UK

It's inevitable that TOTP will suffer from a lack of diversity Andrew Davies, UK

TOTP has always reflected the charts which, in its heyday were varied with many different types of music. Now that the only people who buy singles are 12-year-old girls it's inevitable that TOTP will suffer from a lack of diversity. The only answer is to feature different charts e.g. rock chart, country chart, pop chart, indie chart rather than just the Top 40.
Andrew Davies, UK

I reckon the current problems lie with the presenters. In the good old days, they simply introduced the act. These days they seem to want to BE the act. There's too much mucking about and not enough music.
CJ Hendrick, UK

Nothing is wrong with it! It's just that there's now loads of channels to choose from so they can't expect the same amount of viewers as there were in the 70s. They should not mess with it too much or get rid of it, as there are hardly any music shows on terrestrial TV and we don't all have cable/satellite/digital.
Helen, Exeter, UK

Force everyone to do it unplugged. That way it's actually something different, and it'll root out the manufactured pop bands as being as shamelessly simplistic as they are.
Ross, UK

It should show a wide variety of music rather than just pop Matthew Hyndman, England

The music need reviewing, it should show a wide variety of music rather than just pop. The show's backdrop, title and studio format should change to make it look less pop. Maybe TOTP should grow into more shows, a mid-week one with the chart, an end of week one with new release and possible a Saturday night show which combined interviews with features on bands
Matthew Hyndman, England

There seems to be no continuity. Let's have the same presenter for a while and lose the silly green-room interviews. Just do what TOTP used to do - showcase as many successful/new bands and artists as the 30 minute slot will allow.
Mike Hunt, UK

If the record companies were to produce some decent records then TOTP would thrive.
Alan, England

There are different music charts, so I would suggest keeping the top 10 UK single sales (that is the basis of the show) but say have a run down of the top 10 UK albums as well, and possibly include a feature group/artist to do a two song live set, or a feature group/artist from abroad to introduce a different flavour and style - similar to Jools Holland.
Russell, UK

It's antiquated, just like the institution that produces it. Goodbyee!
EndofEra, Vladivostok

Andi Peters will do a good job David, Worcester, UK

DLT is about as relevant as cassette singles. I love TOTP - it has a good mix and is well respected. Andi Peters will do a good job. I'd like it to be on for an hour though - to take on CD-UK.
David, Worcester, UK

Put the show on at a different time, because it clashes with the soaps!
Damien, UK

I think it would be better to have a regular set of presenters who front the show.
Julie, England

Let me present it, why not? Surely I can't do a worse job than has already been done!!
Richard C, Croydon

Get Jayne Middlemiss to present every week. She is fit.
Esteban, UK

TOTP should be made longer, to an hour, so there is more music and more interviews. Moving it to a better time slot would improve ratings and maybe (God forbid) good music.
Suzanne, England

It's just that people don't realise it's on Nimesh Joshi, Leicester, UK

There's nothing wrong with it at all! It's just that people don't realise it's on a lot of the time so maybe try a bit more marketing eg a couple of direct ads in media such as Radio Times mag or billboards and stuff, using really popular stars such as Beyonce, Britney, Eminem etc? And I think it's important to have all kinds of genre represented with the show to try and attract more people!
Nimesh Joshi, Leicester, UK

How about developing a break-away strand of TOTP to act as a middle of the road music show which featured pop-ish groups but towards a more 18-22 age range ie Travis, Radiohead etc - something between TOTP and Later with Jools! With TOTP make it a rule that NO-ONE can mime - all must sing live, that'll cut out the chaff from the wheat in today's charts!
Tom, UK

Ask John Peel to suggest an underground track of the week Matt Prescott, Oxford, UK

I would ask John Peel, or another DJ, to suggest an underground track of the week... John Peel plays lots of great music each week - most of which I've never hear of again! As things stand TOTP has no edge or unexpected excitement to it and as a result TOTP does little to enhance the quality or range of the nation's record collection.
Matt Prescott, Oxford, UK

Change the name - it sounds childish and dated. Change the colour scheme as currently looks cheap and dated. And change programme music as also dated! Sorry to be harsh but you asked!
Kerry, England

Bring back Pan's People!
Paul, England

I wouldn't change a thing, TOTP is fantastic. Maybe a few more mainstream bands would help keep the viewers or a change in time slot - more people go out on Fridays now!
Keith, UK

Make it different from MTV Helen, UK

Well first of all we need some proper music, not just focusing on manufactured bands, live acts only - make the bands actually sing and promote new music. Make it different from MTV and the like.
Helen, UK

TOTP is a national institution, the format doesn't need changing!! Long live TOTP!!
Amy Fletcher, Bristol, UK

Put it back on a Thursday, when the age group who watches Top of the Pops are actually in!!
Ian Chappell, England