ITV Studio Sessions: Bringing Back the Magic of Music TV
Top of the Pops fans can rejoice as a primetime music TV programme is coming to ITV fronted by a big-name presenter. It has been 18 years since the BBC drew the curtains on the beloved chart show, which saw the world’s most influential artists, from The Beatles to David Bowie, perform in front of a live audience.
A New Era of Music Television
In the intervening years, TV bosses have made few attempts to fill the void, bar a few notable exceptions including the Greg James and Dotty show Sounds Like Friday Night. It followed a similar format to TOTP and also met a similar fate. Now, though, ITV is taking a stab at what is considered one of the most difficult programming genres due to the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube.
Introducing ITV Studio Sessions
ITV has confirmed a brand-new music show, ITV Studio Sessions, in partnership with Priority from O2 and Lifted Entertainment. The show will be presented by Clara Amfo and will air every Friday night in a primetime slot from early May. The six episodes will focus on a different artist with the line-up confirmed as Becky Hill, Cat Burns, Jess Glynne, Tom Walker, Yungblud, and Sekou.
- Performances of new music, old favorites, and unique covers
- Conversations with Clara Amfo about their careers
Clara Amfo’s Excitement
Saying that she was ‘thrilled’ by the new gig, Clara added: ‘I wholly believe that music performance on television is still such a treat for artists to do and for their fans to enjoy. As the host and consultant producer, I’m truly looking forward to having rooted conversations with our guests, so that audiences can learn something new about them and of course see them celebrate their most beloved and new songs.’
The Need for Music TV
The news will certainly be music to Fearne Cotton’s ears after she previously expressed her bafflement over the desert that is music TV and the end of the TOTP, a show she used to present. Live music fans will also be thrilled, according to Metro.co.uk‘s Kitty Chrisp, who argued that a revival of TOTP or more music TV programming was necessary due to prohibitive ticket prices.
- Accessible live music for all
- Uniting people through music
Watch ITV Studio Sessions
All of the episodes of ITV Studio Sessions will be available to watch on ITVX from Friday, May 3 and will be exclusively broadcast on ITV1 every Friday night at 10.45pm.
