Blue Peter is the longest running children's TV show in the world, airing weekly on Fridays since 1958. Since the show's inception it has been known for its wild and wacky pets and equally wacky presenters, introducing us to the likes of Konnie Huq, Richard Bacon, Matt Baker, Anthea Turner and the late, great Caron Keating.
Even Gen Z are likely to have seen Lulu the elephant urinating and defecating on the show, which led to the creation of one of the most famous phrases "never work with animals" along the way or Diane-Louise Jordan updating the Blue Peter website and emailing the then president of the United States, Bill Clinton.
The beauty of these moments being that they all happened live on air. Something that is now of the past, with the show having gone live for the last time, due to 'changing viewing habits'. So, this means only one thing, children of today and children of future generations will no longer understand the joy that comes from live TV nor the art form and creative practice that it is.
So, what does this mean for the future of Children's television?
Former Blue Peter presenter, Simon Thomas, wrote on Instagram: “We probably didn’t realise it at the time, but we were working in the last years of the golden age of children’s TV, a time when children’s programmes filled the afternoons and Saturday mornings on BBC1 and ITV."
Quite frankly, Thomas is right. We no longer have shows such as Live & Kicking, Going Live! or SMTV Live gracing our screens on Saturday mornings. Nor do we have morning music shows such as CD:UK or even shows like Top of the Pops, which are aimed at a younger audience.
Thus, meaning that children today are no longer introduced to the Arts, culture and music through mediums such as live Television. Instead, this leaves them being encouraged (more than they already are) to social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram when it comes to discovering new artists or performers.
As a result, children's TV is only going to become more and more of an obscurity. For now, Blue Peter is not moving online, however, I think it's only a matter of time before we see shows of this kind transferred removed from the small screen and transferred to online platforms.
Take Newsround, for example, as of 2025 this show will be discontinued as a linear service, thus meaning it will only be available online. This is as part of the BBC's shift towards a "digital first" approach, which highlights once again how much the Children's TV landscape is changing. This once again will result in children using online and social media resources to seek cultural and news stories as opposed to TV.
It is not just child audiences that this will have a knock-on effect on either. On-screen talent will be reduced too, meaning less and less people wanting their breaks in broadcasting can use children's TV to learn their craft, leaving them with limited opportunities. Some of this country's finest presenting talent are graduates from the school of Children's TV from Dermot O'Leary to Cat Deeley and Fearne Cotton but now this opportunity is removed from wannabe media stalwarts.
With the news that Blue Peter is no longer going to be recorded live, it is almost certain that children's TV will never have another golden age. There are no more Saturday Morning music shows and children's magazine and news shows are getting more and more scarce. Thus, leaving children to be cultured online and reducing the number of opportunities for up and coming broadcasters and presenters. It's certainly sad to see!
Blue Peter will currently air on BBC IPlayer and BBC Two with the current lineup of presenters such as, Abby Cook, Shini Muthukrishnan and Joel Mawhinney remaining on the show.