ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - BBC axes childrens programming from BBC1 & BBC2

The BBC has announced that it is axing Blue Peter and other children's programming from BBC One and BBC Two.

All children's programming will air on CBBC and CBeebies following the digital switchover as part of director general Mark Thompson's 'Delivering Quality First' proposal, which aims to cut millions from the budget by 2017 and reassess the BBC's output.

However, Julian Payne, head of press & media relations at the corporation, insisted on Twitter that the move does not mean the BBC is cancelling Blue Peter outright.

"For absolute clarity the BBC is not ditching Blue Peter," he wrote. "Blue Peter already premieres on CBBC and is repeated on BBC One. More 6-12s watch it on digital channel as it is."

In a report on the 'Delivering Quality First' proposals, the BBC Trust said: "Children's output remains a cornerstone of the BBC's public service offering and one of the BBC's foremost editorial priorities.

"In line with this, we support the Executive's plans to maintain the underlying levels of investment in original content production for CBeebies and CBBC. By safeguarding the additional investment into such content over recent years, this means that the proportion of the licence fee spent on children's output (excluding productivity savings) will be higher than currently."

The Trust also noted that the number of children watching the dedicated blocks of programming on BBC One and BBC Two is low and has fallen significantly over recent years.

In addition, only around 7% of CBBC's target audience currently watch CBBC content on BBC One and BBC Two exclusively, while CBeebies content on BBC Two has unique reach of just 2.3% of its target audience.

The Trust concluded that the move of Blue Peter and other programmes would have a "very low" impact on children, but accepted that "the rescheduling may risk some short-term confusion among viewers about where to find children's output".

They added: "We have therefore asked the executive to ensure there is sufficient cross-promotion and marketing of the changes prior to their rescheduling, to help mitigate any possible audience impact."

Blue Peter has been broadcast since 1958, making it the longest-running children's TV programme in the world.

Over the decades, there have been a total of 33 Blue Peter presenters. Among the most notable are Tony Hart, Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves, Anthea Turner, Richard Bacon, Matt Baker and Gethin Jones.

John Noakes and Konnie Huq are the longest-serving male and female presenters of the show. Noakes fronted Blue Peter for over 12 years between 1965 and 1978, while Huq hosted from December 1997 to January 2008.

Blue Peter is currently presented by Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood.

Digital Spy