TOTP wins 'fresh start' on BBC2: BBC aims to switch focus away from viewing figures as it underlines commitment to show.(Television)

BBC head of production Mark Cooper says the decision to move Top Of The Pops to BBC2 represents a "fresh start" for the show.

Talking exclusively to Music Week, Cooper says he hopes the decision will allow people to locus on the show's strengths--and not its audience figures.

"This is a very positive move," he says. "It is about TOTP moving to BBC2 to find a place on the schedule that really works for it. It is a flesh start for a brand that is loved and cherished within the BBC."

Anyone who might suggest that, in being moved to BBC2, TOTP also finds itself in the "last chance saloon" will also receive short shrift from Cooper.

"They said it was the last chance saloon when Andi took over, and before him under Chris Cowey and when Ric Blaxill was in charge," says Cooper. "The very fact that the show is still on the BBC and that we are concerned enough to find the right place for it shows that it is important to us."

Peters will remain firmly the man in charge of the show and will continue the evolution of the show as it prepares to move, with Cooper saying that there are no current plans for radical format changes to accompany the change in slot.

"In essence the show won't change that much," he says. "We will retain the central ingredients of the show--six, seven, eight key performances related to the chart, which will still be the central ingredient of the show. We will continue to press for the best acts in the best combination, every week."