PopMaster: Ken Bruce music quiz to become TV show on Channel 4

Ken Bruce left Radio 2 last month after more than three decades of hosting the mid-morning show

PopMaster, the radio quiz hosted by Ken Bruce for more than two decades, is to be made into a TV programme on Channel 4, the network has announced.

The presenter, 72, has fronted the quiz on both BBC Radio 2, which he left last month, and his new station Greatest Hits Radio.

In a statement, Bruce said he is looking forward to seeing if he has a "face for TV".

He will host six hour-long episodes for the network's spin-off channel More 4.

The TV series will have broadly the same format as the radio quiz - with contestants going head-to-head to test of their knowledge of pop music from the 1950s to the present day.

There will be a maximum score of 39 points - with questions ranging from name-that-tune to identifying the year that certain songs were released, as well as the bonus rounds on a particular theme.

Like the radio quiz, the contestant with the highest score will progress to the three-in-10 finale, which sees them asked to name three hits by a particular artist or group within 10 seconds.

'Added pressure'

Bruce said: "After all these years we are finally bringing PopMaster to the telly where we'll be challenging music lovers from around the country to not only recall a range of facts and stats about chart toppers and beyond over the decades, but to do so under the glare of studio lights and with the added pressure of television cameras."

The launch follows the departure of Bruce from the BBC after more than 30 years to Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio.

Bruce's former mid-morning slot on Radio 2 is being temporarily hosted by Gary Davies, before a new permanent host, Vernon Kay, takes over next month.

Instead of PopMaster, the show now features a replacement quiz, Ten to the Top, which sees contestants increase their number of points with the more consecutive questions they answer correctly.

A new era for Bruce

Analysis by Steven McIntosh, entertainment reporter

Ken Bruce presented his last Radio 2 show on Friday 3 March, posing for photographs outside the stations headquarters afterwards

Radio formats and DJs don't always translate well to television, so it will be interesting to see if PopMaster can buck the trend. It's notable that the TV series is launching on the smaller More 4 network, perhaps to see if it can build an audience first before being given a higher profile slot or channel.

The TV launch is part of a new era for Bruce, which has come relatively late in the 72-year-old's career. He presented his first show at his new home Greatest Hits Radio on Monday, where the music policy skews considerably older than Radio 2. "Quality music all the way... you're going to love it," he told listeners.

Meanwhile, his former BBC station has launched a new quiz, Ten to the Top, in an effort to replicate the popularity of PopMaster. Broadcast in the same timeslot, it has a distinctive format and is a respectable replacement - the only issue is that most contestants so far have struggled to score many points.

That's because contestants must answer a large number of questions not just correctly, but consecutively. That has proved tricky because the questions jump around the decades, and few contestants are experts in all eras of pop music. Host Gary Davies often jokes when a contestant gets a low score that they shouldn't worry, because, with this quiz, it could be enough to win.

While industry pundits will be interested to see how the televised PopMaster performs, an equal number will have their eye on how Bruce's permanent Radio 2 replacement Vernon Kay goes down with listeners when he takes over the slot (and its all-important pop quiz) in May.

Bruce took the quiz with him to his new radio station when he left Radio 2, as he and co-creator Phil Swern own the rights.

Speaking to the Times last week, Bruce said: he had trademarked the format himself many years ago. "I thought [PopMaster] could have some long-lasting worth so I asked around at the BBC and nobody seemed terribly interested," he said.

"So I said was it all right if I just went and trademarked it myself? So off I went and trademarked it and didn't even pay for it."

When Bruce left Radio 2, a spokesman for the BBC noted it was the DJ's own decision, adding: "We wish Ken all the best for the future."

Vernon Kay (pictured with breakfast host Zoe Ball) will take over Bruce's Radio 2 mid-morning slot next month

The TV version of Bruce and Swern's quiz will be made by 12 Yard Productions, which is owned by ITV and also makes BBC One's Unbeatable and Channel 5's Eggheads.

Bruce has previously hosted special editions of PopMaster, either themed around a particular subject such as Eurovision, or with celebrity contestants rather than listeners. Books and documentaries have been made about the quiz.

But the DJ has previously avoided visualising PopMaster - and this marks is the first time it has been turned into a proper TV series.