The BBC has axed the second longest running show on British television - newspaper review programme What The Papers Say.

Just two years ago the corporation hailed the weekly 10-minute programme featuring commentators reviewing the best and worst offerings from the press as "essential viewing and a firm part of our national media culture".

But in a turnaround, the broadcaster is now claiming the 52-year-old show is no longer necessary because of 'changes in the way audiences consume news'.

Essential viewing: Brian Inglis, presenter for What The Papers Say in the Sixties

What The Papers Say first aired on ITV in 1956 before transferring to Channel 4. It has been on BBC2 in 1989 and the final episode of the last series aired in March this year.

The first programme was fronted by Brian Inglis, then deputy editor of The Spectator, and more than 100 presenters have followed, including Bill Deedes, Janet Street-Porter, Clive James, Alastair Campbell, Ian Hislop and Auberon Waugh.

Prized: Daily Mail writer Ann Leslie with the WTPS Gerald Barry award, for lifetime achievement, in 2001

When it launched there were just two channels available on UK television, and shows such as Sunday Night At The London Palladium, I Love Lucy and Opportunity Knocks dominated the programming schedules.

Only BBC1's Panorama, which launched in 1953, has been on air longer.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "It has had a great run with us, but the media environment has changed dramatically and so has the way our audience consumes the news.

"We already provide this service to our audience through many BBC outlets and will continue to explore new ways to do so."

ITV Productions, which makes the show, insisted that they were keen to find a new broadcaster to air the series and its offshoot annual awards ceremony.

A spokesman said: "What The Papers Say is a unique and iconic show which has been an important part of the British television landscape for more than 50 years."