The BBC has announced the cancellation of three popular entertainment programs – Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind, and Live at the Apollo – as part of wider efforts to reduce costs. The corporation cited funding challenges and the need for financial savings as the primary reasons for these decisions.
While the main series of Mastermind, hosted by Clive Myrie, will continue, its celebrity spin-off is set to conclude after the current season, which has already been filmed. The BBC stated it is "incredibly proud of all three of these much-loved shows" and expressed gratitude to the production teams involved.
Officials indicated that these savings were identified within the Entertainment genre. The decision comes as viewing figures for all three programs have seen a decline in recent years. Celebrity Mastermind's viewership dropped from an average of 4 million in 2017 to 1.7 million for its latest series. Blankety Blank saw a decrease from 5.5 million viewers in 2021 to 2.3 million for its most recent run. Live at the Apollo's audience also reduced from approximately 1.3 million viewers in 2018 to around 660,000 in its latest series, with these figures encompassing catch-up viewing platforms such as iPlayer.