The corporation said the programme, which has become a staple of its weekend sports coverage, would be scrapped by 2009 as part of a detailed review of its output by Mark Thompson, BBC director-general.
Other BBC programmes will also come under close scrutiny in the review, which is part of its plans to ensure programming and content meets the needs of the digital and on-demand world.
The BBC said calling time on 'Grandstand', which was first presented by Peter Dimmock in 1958, and has aired every weekend since, would not affect its sports programming output.
However, the corporation's trend in recent years for breaking up coverage into individual sectors, such as 'Football Focus' and 'Final Score', indicated that 'Grandstand''s days were drawing to a close.
Earlier in the year, coverage of the Winter Olympics in Turin and the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, were broadcast for the first time without the Grandstand banner.
In the future, it is believed that major events like the Grand National will be given their own allocated programme.
Grandstand's iconic theme tune, which was composed by Keith Mansfield, is one of the most recognisable in UK television, making the programme something of a national institution.
Created by Paul Fox and Bryan Gowgill in October 1958, 'Grandstand' has covered most major sporting events in the last 50 years, including Wimbledon, the FA Cup Final, the Olympics, the World Cup and the Boat Race among many others.
In that time Des Lynham, Steve Rider, Frank Bough, Hazel Irvine, John Inverdale, Tony Gubba and Sue Barker have all presented the show. Part of the programme's legacy includes airing the many commentator gaffes attributed to David Coleman of Private Eye's Colemanballs fame.
Former Arsenal and England goalkeeper Bob Wilson, who has presented many 'Grandstand' shows, said: "I really do truly believe that it does have that sort of iconic status about it. There is enough sport always to go around to fulfil that title of BBC Grandstand."
The BBC also revealed that Davina McCall's ill-fated chat show, 'Davina', which launched in February, has been axed after audience ratings dropped to 2.3m viewers during the eight-week series, which ran on BBC One.
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