Grandstand axed in BBC facelift

Grandstand has been a fixture on Saturday afternoons since 1958
BBC sports show Grandstand is to be phased out as part of the corporation's strategy to survive in the digital age.

The programme, which has been on air for 48 years, is the most high-profile casualty of plans to help the BBC keep pace with changing viewing habits.

That will also involve making fewer TV dramas - but focusing on the biggest and best - and more comedy hits.

The corporation's future is threatened by fragmenting audiences and new technology, it was warned.

It must remain relevant to all audiences, said director general Mark Thompson, who revealed the Creative Future strategy to staff on Tuesday.

BBC CREATIVE FUTURE PLANS

• Grandstand phased out by 2009
• Fewer dramas to be higher quality and higher profile
• More comedy pilots and talent to find hits
• More consistent, braver Saturday night entertainment
• Relaunch BBC website
• New teen "brand" but not with its own channel
• Broadband portals for topics such as sport, music, health

The BBC is also striving to ensure its services stand out when the whole UK has multi-channel TV and more people can watch and listen on demand over the internet.

This will mean focusing on fewer programmes and picking out landmark shows that will make a big impact, with longer runs, higher production values and more interactivity.

But programme-makers will still be encouraged to take risks, nurture new talent and make more pilot shows in an attempt to find ideas that get viewers hooked.

BBC programmes will be made available in more ways - on mobiles and the internet as well as TV and radio - while the public will be invited to create and communicate their own ideas.

"By all means get some decent live sport, but don't destroy an iconic piece of programming"
James, Northampton, UK

Have Your Say: Should Grandstand be scrapped?

A new broadband sport portal will allow viewers to access all the BBC's latest coverage 24 hours a day.

Mark Thompson said viewers were no longer happy to wait until everything was collected once a week in a show like Grandstand.

Grandstand, which will be phased out by 2009, "no longer punches through in this multi-channel world", he said.

Similar broadband portals will also be introduced for areas such as music, health and science.

GRANDSTAND VIEWING

• It was first screened on 11 October 1958
• The show was the first time sport had been shown live every weekend
• Past presenters include Frank Bough, David Coleman and Des Lynam
• The theme tune was composed by Keith Mansfield
• Events covered include the 1966 World Cup Final, FA Cup finals, Wimbledon finals and Grand Nationals

The BBC's online on-demand TV service, which will allow users to access TV and radio programmes seven days after they have been broadcast, will be called iPlayer, it was announced.

Mr Thompson will tell the Royal Television Society's Fleming Memorial Lecture on Tuesday: "There's a big shock coming.

"The second wave of digital will be far more disruptive than the first and the foundations of traditional media will be swept away, taking us beyond broadcasting.

"The BBC needs a creative response to the amazing, bewildering, exciting and inspiring changes in both technology and expectations."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Grandstand
Creative Future press release
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