Music biz insiders press for return of "Pops"

By Andre Paine

LONDON (Billboard) - Three years after the BBC cancelled "Top of the Pops," it's still likely to be the most-watched music show on U.K. television this Christmas.

The weekly chart countdown show's final broadcast on July 30, 2006, ended a 42-year run for an institution that had become a global brand. Yet "TOTP" lingers on, with strong ratings for its seasonal specials fuelling calls for its return as a weekly show from industry insiders like "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell. But in October 2008 the BBC rebuffed his offer to buy the rights and air "TOTP" on rival broadcaster ITV.

"Bring it back," says Kevin McCabe, vice president of promotion and press at EMI's Parlophone label, calling the annual Christmas edition a "great promotional platform."

The BBC initially announced that it wouldn't produce a 2008 "TOTP" Christmas show, triggering protests from the music industry and the U.K. media. The public broadcaster ultimately relented to popular demand, airing two year-end holiday specials featuring Coldplay, Take That, Leona Lewis and the Pussycat Dolls.

McCabe says the 2008 ratings showed that "with the correct scheduling, it could easily be a hit again as a weekly show."

According to BBC viewership data, the "TOTP" Christmas special drew an audience of 3.7 million, 30.6 percent of all viewers in its time slot. A December 31 year-in-review show attracted 4.1 million viewers, for an audience share of 20.8 percent, while a March 2009 special during the "Comic Relief" telethon -- featuring Oasis, U2 and Flo Rida -- attracted 6.7 million viewers (32 percent).

Although far below the show's '70s peak of 19 million viewers, the audience totals substantially outstripped the 1 million viewers it averaged in 2006.

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