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BBC Head of Music Reveals Quest for New Flagship Music TV Show

Dave Hogan, Getty Images

Four years after it finally axed long-running chart show, 'Top of the Pops', the BBC are in the market for a new flagship TV music programme, the Guardian reports.

"We are working on it," head of popular music Andy Parfitt told a Broadcasting Press Guild breakfast. He also hit out at suggestions of a lack of BBC music coverage, calling complaints "absolute rot" and pointing to festival coverage and 'Later with Jools Holland' as evidence of the corporation's commitment to live pop on TV.

'Later...' -- presented by Jools Holland [pictured] is the Beeb's current flagship music show, but with its late night BBC 2 slot it only draws in around 1 million viewers per episode. Parfitt seemed to rule out rescheduling 'Later...' or reviving an old brand like TOTP for a new primetime BBC 1 slot.

"It would be great if we could get a new popular music-based programme with a new format, a new kind of offer that really worked for the audience," he said. "The work is on to try and find a format but we are not trying to relaunch or reinvent Top of the Pops. That is kind of a red herring."

Parfitt also insisted that -- despite the four year failure to come up with a replacement for TOTP -- his producers were persevering with the search for a viable new identity for live pop on BBC 1. He said that Jan Younghusband, the current Commissioning Editor, BBC Music & Events, is leading the quest.

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stan mason

The Birchall/Mason team have written twelve full-length musicals and two hundred songs. The musicalls are currently being considered by various acting groups north and south of England while the first album of songs is being sold on Amazon, ITunes Worldwide, EMusic, Rhapsody, Napstar and Medianet. My credentials are as a scriptwriter/consultant to films such as The Graduate, All The President's Men, Capricorn One and many others in Los Angeles. We are willing to come to London to present some of the musicals to you and to play the songs. New musicals are in short supply and they can be distributed all over the world. I await your reply. Stan Mason.

October 07 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply