‘Pitch Battle’ has been axed.
The singing competition – fronted by former ‘Great British Bake Off’ presenter Mel Giedroyc – has reportedly been given the chop indefinitely by the BBC after it failed to pull in enough viewers when the first series hit screens earlier this year.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "It just didn’t work from the word go and BBC bosses have decided to put it out of its misery after just one series.
"They have trialled some other formats and will replace it with one of those. It’s sadly another failed notch for Mel post-‘Bake Off’, as viewers just never really got on board with it. Bosses think they could bring it back at some point, but it seems very unlikely."
The show was based on the US movie ‘Pitch Perfect’ and saw groups go head-to-head in acapella riff offs, while singer Kelis and choirmaster Gareth Malone judged them on their vocals with the help of guests Chaka Khan, Seal and Nick Jonas.
However, a spokesperson has claimed the BBC were proud of the format but have decided to pull the plug on a second series in order to make "room" for other shows.
A representative said: "We are proud of ‘Pitch Battle’ and would like to thank everyone involved in the show but we sometimes have to make difficult decisions in order to make room for new shows so it will not be returning to BBC One next year."
And ‘Pitch Battle’ isn’t the only series the broadcaster have decided to ditch as Gary Barlow’s ‘Let It Shine’, which was also fronted by Mel, has also been dropped.
A source said previously: "The show was a huge success in many ways but the concept for a second series just wasn’t quite there yet. The first series was a project that had been worked on for years before coming to fruition."
Pitch Battle gets the axe
