Blue Peter could move from BBC One after more than 50 years on the channel.
Senior BBC staff are in discussions about moving the iconic children’s show from the flagship channel to CBBC, the children’s digital channel, as part of a cost-cutting drive. The proposal reportedly comes in a bid to end the “children’s block” of afternoon shows on BBC One.
Blue Peter is the longest-running children’s show in the world. It first aired in 1958 and has remained on BBC One for the 53 years since.
The programme, broadcast twice a week at 4.30pm, already has a strong presence on CBBC, which airs repeats and spin-off shows. Viewing figures for Blue Peter’s CBBC repeats are already higher than on BBC One, as young viewers turn increasingly towards specialist channels.
The proposed move is one of a number of radical ideas floated as part of the BBC’s Delivering Quality First (DQF) initiative, which is looking at efficiency savings to cut budget costs. Other ideas have included dropping overnight programmes on BBC One and dropping daytime shows on BBC Two in favour of rolling news.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “It is important to stress that this is only one of many DQF proposals and that there are no immediate plans to remove children’s content from the BBC’s terrestrial channels.”
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Station bosses cut the number of weekly episodes from three to two in 2007.