Blue Peter presenters Shini with dog Henry, Joel Mawhinney and Abby Cook Credit: BBC
The BBC has stopped broadcasting Blue Peter live for the first time in seven decades.
Episodes of the world’s longest-running children’s TV show, which first aired in 1958, will instead be pre-recorded as the corporation adapts to dropped viewing figures.
The show will still be broadcast on CBBC and BBC Two, according to a BBC spokesman, despite reports that it would be taken off television entirely and moved online.
Former presenters, including Richard Bacon and Simon Thomas, have lamented the decision, while the show’s outgoing director said it was the “end of an era”.
Blue Peter’s viewing figures hit eight million during the show’s peak and it is said that Princess Diana and her sons, Princes William and Harry, once regularly tuned in. The show also launched a myriad of broadcasting careers.
But the show’s blend of viewer and presenter challenges, make-and-do segments and characterful pets has waned in popularity in the digital age, with just 37,700 people now tuning in each week.
The BBC confirmed on Sunday that the show, which had previously been broadcast live from Media City UK in Salford and aired on CBBC on Fridays at 5pm, has now “transitioned to a pre-record model as viewing habits change”.
The broadcaster said the series has been a mix of live and pre-recorded shows for decades and will continue to be broadcast on CBBC, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
In comments reported by the Mail on Sunday, Martin Williams-Neale, the show’s long-serving director, said on Friday: “Today is my last day on Blue Peter and I’m proud to be directing its final live show. It really is the end of an era.
“A huge thank you to my talented and loyal crew, many also leaving the programme today, for your hard work and dedication.”
Thomas wrote on Instagram: “We probably didn’t realise it at the time, but we were working in the last years of the golden age of children’s TV, a time when children’s programmes filled the afternoons and Saturday mornings on BBC1 and ITV.
“An era when audiences were measured in the millions rather than the thousands.
“I don’t say golden in arrogant way; but everything has fragmented now and the way children consume entertainment has changed forever. There will never be another era like it again.”
The broadcaster, who is now a presenter on the Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday, said that the show gave him “incredible memories that will stay with me forever” and that bosses “took a chance on me” when he had no experience.
Reacting to Thomas’ post on X, Bacon wrote that he “loved” Blue Peter, and said “being live is what made it alive”.
He wrote: “I remember walking from one side of the studio to the other – doing a piece to camera – and seeing the whole crew, five cameras, and another on a crane, track with me.
“I know that doesn’t sound like much – but the first time it happened it was mind blowing. It was just a big, well-made, lovingly made, really well resourced live kids TV show.
“That had been live in that building for decades. It was a magical experience (for, you know, all of 20 months).”
Bacon was sacked from Blue Peter in the 1990s, after admitting taking drugs, but later returned and received a Blue Peter badge on the show’s 60th anniversary.
A BBC spokesman said: “Blue Peter won’t just be available to view online and will remain on the CBBC and BBC Two linear channels, as well as BBC iPlayer and sign zone.
“The programme has been a mix of live and pre-recorded shows for decades and has transitioned to a pre-record model as viewing habits change.
They added: “As we continue to navigate a challenging market and young audience viewing habits evolve, it is necessary to make some changes to ensure that BBC Studios Kids and Family Productions delivers a dynamic, digital-first brand that will future-proof the show and sustain its legacy for years to come.”
The current line-up of presenters includes Shini Muthukrishnan, Joel Mawhinney and Abby Cook.
