article_snippet: Alan Freeman launched BBC Radio 1's first official countdown show with Pick of the Pops in 1967 and since then Show became a cultural staple on Sunday evenings, known by many children who taped Show on cassette - Show will now be moved to Fridays as the music industry becomes more focused on digital downloads .
article_snippet: A chart countdown has been part of Radio 1's Sunday evening programme since 1967, with Alan Freeman's Pick of the Pops.
article_snippet: From 1987 Alan Freeman's Pick of the Pops was the first to announce the UK's number one each week - but this will now change to Fridays, with the official top 40 compiled on Friday morning.
article_snippet: Alan Freeman launched the countdown to the UK's number one with Alan Freeman Pick of the Pops, airing in 1967.
article_snippet: Alan Freeman's show originally featured the top 20 songs and announced the UK's number one, after the full top 40 was announced on the Tuesday the week before.
article_snippet: However Freeman's show later became known as The Radio 1 Chart Show and now The Official Chart, is the longest running music chart programme in the UK.
article_snippet: In 1987 new technology meant Freeman's show could announce the top 40 first, leading to increasing popularity with teenage listeners and the chart show becoming renowned for revealing the nation's music choices.
article_snippet: At Freeman's show height in the 1980s around 4million people tuned in every week to hear the top 40 countdown, which frequently featured interviews with the top three artists before the number one was revealed.
article_snippet: Alan Freeman started Freeman's show, with a programme counting down the top 20 singles .
article_snippet: Freeman's show has run every single week for almost 50 years apart from on 31 August 1997, when Freeman's show was replaced on BBC Radio 1 by news coverage of the death of the Princess Of Wales, Lady Diana.
article_snippet: The Top 40 chart is first issued on Sunday afternoons from 4pm to 7pm by BBC Radio 1, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website.
highlights_snippet: Official countdown of UK's top singles began with Alan Freeman in 1967 .
  