BBC makes significant cuts to Light Ents, with more cuts still to come

And for 150 blanks...nothing! Fans of "Blankety Blank", "Celebrity Mastermind" and "Live at The Apollo" will be very disappointed as these are the first three shows to be axed by the BBC in the Corporation's latest attempt to save money.

The BBC is trying to save around £100 million. The Corporation's finances are hanging by a knife's edge as the Royal Charter goes up for renewal next year. Even more cuts at the Content (programming) division are expected to be announced soon.

A spokesperson for the BBC says: "We are incredibly proud of all three of these much-loved shows and would like to thank everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera, for bringing them to screen and making them such a success over many years. Unfortunately, we have to make some really tough choices in light of our funding challenges, and these savings have been identified from the Entertainment genre. We will still continue to commission ambitious Entertainment shows and invest in distinctive UK content from a wide range of independent production companies of all sizes, as well as prioritising digital innovation that can serve fans of these shows and beyond - for example, we will shortly be announcing digital plans focused on stand-up and emerging comedy talent, ensuring we continue to support the stand-up community in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive media landscape. These difficult decisions form part of the BBC’s previously announced first phase of its proposals to make £500m of savings over the next three years."

We all knew that the BBC was up the creek financially speaking, but getting rid of "Blankety Blank", a cheap-as-chips and relatively easy to make easy gameshow, shows just how dire the situation really is. "Live at The Apollo" is probably the one people might be most upset by. Although its viewing figures have steadily dropped from its peak of 5 million back in 2009.

What else is there to cut? I'm sure we'll know the answer very soon.