The Inevitable Demise of Ski Sunday
2nd September 2026 | James Cove, PlanetSKI
PlanetSKI looks back on what will be remembered as one of the best (only?) snowsport programmes on British television. NEW
We can all hum the theme tune.
Some skiers even have it as their ringtone.
Then we can picture in our mind’s eye Klammer, Maier, Miller, Zubriggen or Vonn taking air at Kitzbuhel and Wengen.
We can visualise Ryding, Hirscher and Shiffrin hitting those slalom gates with acceleration.
Those of my age (60s) can remember the legendary presenter of 20-years, David Vine.
See here for the PlanetSKI news post on the end of Ski Sunday:
Then there was the alpine backdrop which is actually what most of us were watching the programme for back in the day.
Dreaming of our time on the slopes to come, or where we had made our rather less glamorous turns a few weeks earlier.
Ski Sunday was, is and will remain a legendary programme.
I am off a certain, er, ‘vintage’ and have skied since I was 8-years old.
Like many others, Ski Sunday was a part of my life.
My parents tuned in every Sunday afternoon when I was a child, and I watched with them.
We wanted to know how the Bell brothers were doing but really, we wanted to see images of the Alps and feel we were skiers.
There were no such thing as web cams and weather Apps.
The programme showed us what the mountains looked like, and if it had been snowing lately.
It made as identify as part of that wonderful minority group – British skiers.
I now need to take the rose-tinted glasses off, as reality is somewhat different.
Modern viewers couldn’t care a less about all that.
It was a minority programme aimed at a specialist and dwindling audience.
Skiing is becoming even more a preserve of the rich, not the masses.
In the modern world of social media, streaming, getting as many eyeballs for as little money as possible, Ski Sunday is/was, quite simply, past its ‘sell-by-date’.
It is amazing it has lasted so long in the fickle world of TV.
There will be much puff and indignation on social media with skiers threatening to stop paying their license fees, contacting the BBC complaints department and launching petitions.
I applaud all that and echo the sentiment, but it will likely make not a jot of difference.
Here is what BBC Sport had to say:
“Changing audience behaviours and the tough financial decisions needed to make savings requirements mean BBC Sport must continually review how it delivers value for license payers and serves audience across all platforms.
“This decision forms part of that process.”
Basically, not enough people watched it for the cost it was to produce.
Sentiment about skiing plays little part and it is a business decision, made by the bean-counters.
After watching Ski Sunday as a child with my parents I ended up working for BBC TV News and was in charge of the news coverage for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.
Alain Baxter won a bronze medal in the slalom and then had it taken away, the GB curlers won gold and snowboarding was making its first impressions.
A future presenter, Chemmy Alcott, took part.
I worked closely with the Ski Sunday team led by editor, Jonny Bramley and presenter, Hazel Irvine.
A decade or so later I was a judge at the World Snow Awards and Martin Bell came up to me.
“Are you James from PlanetSKI?” he enquired.
“Er, yes,” I mumbled.
“Can I shake your hand as I love reading what you do at PlanetSKI?”
For the first and possibly last time in my life I was totally lost for words.
He had been my childhood hero every Sunday afternoon.
I see Chemmy Alcott regularly at the industry events and we always chat if we have the time – both of us are busy people.
As the programme heads to the archives, my over-riding feeling is that we are so lucky we had it for so long and all good things come to an end.
I shall put my head on the pillow tonight humming that theme tune.
And looking forward to the approaching winter.
Sadly, however without ‘Ski Sunday’.
I celebrate its life, not its inevitable demise.
Thanks for the memories.
PlanetSKI: Number 1 for digital ski news
Your digital platform for ski news, resort information, travel, equipment rental, sport, money saving deals and everything connected with snowsports – web site, social media & more.
