The BBC has cancelled TV shows Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and Live At The Apollo in its latest round of cuts, amid its “funding challenges”.
The corporation said the “difficult decisions” have been made as part of the first phase of its bid to save £500 million over the next three years.
The BBC previously announced its plans to decommission TV shows and reduce its development spend as part of its sweeping cuts, with several Radio 4 programmes among those which have already been axed.
The BBC said: “We are incredibly proud of all three of these much-loved shows and would like to thank everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera, for bringing them to screen and making them such a success over many years.
“Unfortunately, we have to make some really tough choices in light of our funding challenges and these savings have been identified from the entertainment genre.”
The corporation added that it will continue to commission entertainment shows, invest in UK content from a wide range of production companies and prioritise digital innovation.
Among those axed is Live At The Apollo, which allows stand-up comedians to showcase their routines and has historically helped emerging talent by giving them a platform on TV.
The comedy programme, which has run for 22 years, is credited for helping to launch the TV careers of comics such as Michael McIntyre, Russell Howard and Jason Manford.
Live At The Apollo has one more series to be broadcast.
The BBC added: “We will shortly be announcing digital plans focused on stand-up and emerging comedy talent, ensuring we continue to support the stand-up community in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive media landscape.”
Celebrity Mastermind, the popular quiz show which sees stars face questions as they hope to raise money for charity, also has an additional series to be broadcast ahead of its cancellation.
The programme, hosted by Clive Myrie, first launched in 2002 following the success of the original version, Mastermind, which the BBC has confirmed will continue.
Blankety Blank is also being cancelled, having recently returned to screens in 2020 for its latest reboot with presenter Bradley Walsh at the helm.
In a recent interview with Radio Times, Walsh admitted he could no longer continue to host the show due to scheduling conflicts.
He also said he would not be returning for its fourth series – which was due to begin filming later this year.
The popular programme sees contestants try to match fill-in-the-blank answers and originally aired on the BBC from 1979 to 1990. It has since had many revivals.
