The BBC has cancelled three long-running entertainment shows — Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and Live at the Apollo — as part of a drive to save £500 million ($664 million) amid a deepening funding crisis at the broadcaster. The corporation called the decisions "difficult" and "really tough," noting the cuts had been targeted at the entertainment genre specifically, as it grapples with a shrinking pool of licence fee payers relative to its overall audience.

Blankety Blank, originally launched in 1979 and revived in 2021 with Bradley Walsh, is made by Fremantle's Thames; Celebrity Mastermind, a spin-off hosted by Clive Myrie running since 2002 across 24 seasons, is produced by Hat Trick Productions, with one more series still to air; and Live at the Apollo, the 22-year-old stand-up showcase that helped launch comics such as Michael McIntyre and Alan Carr, is made by Open Mike Productions and also has a final series left to broadcast. The cancellations sit within a £100 million savings target for the BBC's content division, part of the wider £500 million goal, driven by the fact that while 94% of the UK population uses the BBC monthly, fewer than 80% pay the £180 annual licence fee.