Channel 4 axes Popworld

From Media Guardian

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2066945,00.html

Channel 4 has axed T4's flagship music show Popworld after six and a half years.
Popworld - which helped launch the careers of Simon Amstell and Miquita Oliver - will end in July, according to today's Daily Mirror.

However, Channel 4, which has a minority stake in Popworld Ltd, said it was committed to the brand and would try and develop it elsewhere.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "Channel 4 has decided not to recommission Popworld, T4's flagship music show for the last six years.

"The show has performed very successfully over this period but we are keen to continue to use our T4 platform as a launch pad for new music formats that reflect our audience's tastes and the way in which they consume music."

Popworld is the latest in a line of music shows to be dropped, following Top of the Pops and CD:UK.

The irreverent Channel 4 show established a strong reputation for witty interviews and links. It also carried the Arctic Monkeys' first TV interview.

However, its original presenters, Amstell and Oliver, left last year and were replaced by DJ Alex Zane and ex-model Alexa Chung.

A recently launched spin-off weekly magazine, Popworld Pulp, closed after just two issues last week.

What with the axing of Top of the Pops, TOTP Saturday, CD:UK, any Saturday morning kids shows on CITV or CBBC and now Popworld, this now means there are no general pop music programmes on terrestrial TV

Popworld lost its unique selling point when it lost Amstell and Co. It gained a cult following from people who watched it because of their cutting remarks, and not for the guests (who, let's face it, you could see anywhere). Even John Peel was a fan.

A straight pop show is not good enough for terrestrial television now, so those who watched it for this reason would have left when they started playing it straight. So not a great surprise.

Neither is the death of the magazine. When far more established pop magazines are dropping dead left, right and centre, why launch another one? It's blatantly obvious that kids are turning to the internet and music channels for pop gossip these days.

Another nail in the coffin for Music shows on Terrestrial... Although I do agree that people are turning to the internet to watch music videos.

But, surely one of the "selling" points of Popworld was that it featured "live" performances. Granted, not in the vein of TOTP or CD:UK, but still something that is becoming thinner on the ground as the axe keeps on swinging.

Blimey - do people not want to see their favourite acts perform their tracks any more; is the nation content with pop videos; or are we being told what we want to see (once again) by the television execs?

Going by the viewing figures, it looks like the people have decided.

And to be honest, decades of miming along to the latest tracks (as opposed to singing them live) may just have come home to roost..

I think unlike the BBC (TV) and ITV though, C4 have a pretty strong commitment to music programming with 4 Music and E4 Music, plus regular specials showcasing specific artists which usually air across C4, E4 and T4.


I agree it's a shame it's going, but at least it's been put down before it dies a long and lingering death, unlike both TOTP and CD:UK.

I wonder if ITV's new music show will still be going ahead in the near future. The last I heard they were shelfing it, due to lack of a sponsor.

It's a point, although in recent times (particularly with TOTP, as I remember, towards its close) most - if not all - of the acts performed live.

A lot of the time, miming was merely a by-product of the difficulty in setting it up for every act to perform live.

Mind you, in the case of some acts, it was sheer laziness.

Yep - and likewise Five had abandoned plans to pick up CD:UK.

Glad it's gone TBH, it's been shlte ever since i can remember. Good ridince i say!

Popworld's ending?What a suprise!

This is crap news what will we watch now on t4 apart from Firends/Spipwrecked spin-offs/repeats or simply repeats of other programmes like Ugly Betty T4 is really going to the Dogs