The move follows the decision by the show's presenter Melvyn Bragg to quit the channel. Speaking about the decision Bragg, who is also planning to leave his ITV controller of arts post, said 'The South Bank Show' would not continue beyond the middle of next year when the final series ends.
It is believed Bragg took the decision to leave after negotiations with ITV over the show's future stalled. ITV, which is set to cut its annual programming budget by £62m to £805m this year, is under pressure to cut costs.
According to the Daily Mail, Bragg is currently discussing working on other arts-related projects with ITV. However the rest of the media seems to have accepted ITV's move as a sign of the times and further evidence of a shift towards populist entertainment.
In a commentary titled 'Is that Susan Boyle singing? Or the death knell for upmarket TV', the Daily Telegraph laid the blame for 'The South Bank Show's' decline on programmes like 'The X-Factor'.
It said broadcasters were abandoning labour intensive programmes that attract relatively small audiences in favour of "bankers which they know will pull in the viewers".
The Guardian featured a column by Germaine Greer, who appeared in the first ever show in 1978. Greer said the decision "was not before time" but predicted placing the archive online would bring in the advertisers it was lacking in its later years.
Alongside Greer on first show, were Paul McCartney and illustrator Gerald Scarfe. However in recent years critics have pointed out the content has shifted downmarket.
In 1997, the show received its highest ever ratings of 9m when it profiled the Irish dancer Michael Flatley.
The decision to drop the show coincides with reports that Rory Bremner-fronted show 'Bremner, Bird and Fortune' is set to be axed by Channel 4. The channel needs to make £75m in cuts and is targeting programmes with low ad revenue.
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