For some it was an act of savagery on a par with the vandalism of theBlue Peter garden. The 54-year-old teatime favourite, along with the rest of the BBC's children's programming, will disappear from BBC1 andBBC2, tumbling down the EPG to be confined to its digital channels CBBC and CBeebies.
The switch prompted the biggest outbreak of TV nostalgia since the BBC axed Top of the Pops. Susan Stranks, former presenter of the rival ITV show Magpie and a long-time campaigner for children's broadcasting, said the corporation's output for younger viewers was being "ghettoised". "Children are part of the mainstream of society and it's important that they are reflected in the mainstream as well as the children's channels. It seems grossly unfair."
The BBC had no shortage of statistics with which to justify the switch – here's some they made earlier – with 89% of all viewing of CBBC programmes now through the CBBC channel, compared with only 5% via BBC1 and 6% via BBC2.
It said viewing of children's programmes on BBC1 was in long-term decline, with reach down more than 50% over the last five years. But a portion of that decline was self-inflicted after The Weakest Link transferred from BBC2 to BBC1 in 2008 to fill the gap left by Neighbours which had been bought by Channel 5. Children's shows including Blue Peter were shifted earlier in the schedule and audiences fell.
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