The BBC has confirmed it is pulling the plug on Ski Sunday, bringing to a close a programme that has graced British television screens for nearly half a century.
The corporation pointed to shifting viewer habits and the difficult financial choices demanded by its savings targets as the driving forces behind the decision.
First aired in 1978, the winter sports magazine show becomes the latest casualty of the BBC’s ongoing efforts to trim its sports output.
It follows Football Focus, which was scrapped earlier this year after a 52-year run, marking a painful period for fans of the broadcaster’s long-established sporting programmes.
The announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon, with BBC Sport acknowledging that the decision formed part of a broader review of how it serves licence fee payers.
Philip Bernie, the BBC’s head of sport events, described the programme as “a truly iconic programme and a much-loved part of BBC Sport’s output for many years,” adding that “generations of viewers have enjoyed its coverage of the best in winter sports.”
He expressed deep appreciation for those who had worked on the show, saying: “We are enormously proud of the role it has played in bringing these moments to audiences across the UK, and extremely grateful to the brilliant people who have delivered them, not least the current outstanding team.”
Bernie was candid about the pressures facing the corporation. “These decisions are never easy, but as audience viewing habits evolve and we work to deliver value for licence fee payers, we have to make tough choices,” he said.
The corporation’s official statement underlined that “changing audience behaviours and the tough financial decisions needed to meet savings requirements mean BBC Sport must continually review how it delivers value for licence fee payers and serves audiences across all platforms.”
The broadcaster stressed that this particular axing “forms part of that process.”
Despite the cancellation, BBC Sport insisted it remains “committed to bringing audiences the very best of winter sport, above all at the Winter Olympics, across BBC Sport’s platforms.”
The corporation has pledged to maintain its coverage of skiing and other major winter sporting occasions as part of its Winter Olympics broadcasting, with the next Games scheduled for 2030.
Nonetheless, the loss of a dedicated weekly winter sports programme will leave a conspicuous gap in the BBC’s seasonal sporting calendar.
The programme was born in the aftermath of the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, with its first edition broadcast on 15 January 1978. It subsequently became a fixture within Sunday Grandstand, concentrating primarily on the blue riband disciplines of downhill and slalom racing.
David Vine served as the show’s principal presenter for two decades before stepping back in 1996. Former ski racer Graham Bell and snowboarder Ed Leigh later established a well-regarded presenting partnership, with four-time Olympian Chemmy Alcott joining Leigh in 2021.
Fans were quick to voice their dismay on social media. One viewer wrote: “That’s so sad. I’m not into skiing but as a kid used to watch that with my dad with David Vine on comms.”
Others could not resist the obvious puns, with one quipping: “Had been going downhill for a while to be fair.”