October
6 UK culture secretary mourns loss of "Top of the Pops"

British culture secretary Andy Burnham told a music industry conference that broadcasters must "promote and champion new music in this country, rather than having just very safe options on prime-time TV," Ian Youngs writes. Specificially, he wishes for a modern-day "Top of the Pops," which ran from 1964-2006 and helped break acts such as the Smiths, The Police, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys. "The Smiths did become a national name, even though I can remember my dad moaning about them on 'Top of the Pops,' " Burnham said. While UK TV audiences currently adore talent shows like "The X Factor" and "Britain's Got Talent," he said they were "not quite the same." [BBC]