Gladiators Axed!

New Sky One director of programmes Stuart Murphy has made his mark on the channel already by axing the revived Gladiators and Shane Richie fronted series Don’t Forget The Lyrics.

Stuart Murphy has barely been in his new job at Sky One for a month but the director of television for the digital channel has already made his mark and been busy. Murphy has axed the revived Gladiators – originally a huge hit for ITV way back in the 90s. Murphy has also pulled the plug on another entertainment programme, the Shane Richie fronted series Don’t Forget The Lyrics.

“Gladiators has done a great job for Sky 1 over two seasons, resonating with our young audience and showcasing our entertainment credentials. But now we need to prioritise and allow for both new entertainment formats and genres not recently seen on Sky 1 such as comedy.I have also decided not to re-commission Don’t Forget the Lyrics for the same reasons. I would like to thank Shine and RDF for their hard work.” – Murphy on axing both shows.

Murphy is believed to be interested in luring away popular ITV series Harry Hill’s TV Burp from the struggling broadcaster and bringing it to Sky One. Earlier in the month it was announced that American drama House would now air on Sky One rather than previous broadcaster Five. Murphy is aiming to attract more viewers to Sky One and have more programming that breaks the one million mark – a similar ambition to Dawn Airey’s at Five.