It was for years a weekly ritual, marked by teenagers sitting in their bedrooms earnestly pressing the record and pause buttons to capture their favourite tunes while desperately trying to avoid including the presenter's commentary. But now the Sunday night tradition of recording the top 40 on a cassette when dozens of children promised their parents they were in fact doing homework, has come to an end after almost 50 years. The BBC has announced it is moving the top 40 show from its usual Sunday afternoon slot, made famous by presenters including Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman, to a Friday evening to meet the demands of the global digital music industry. Alan Freeman launched BBC Radio 1's first official countdown show with Pick of the Pops in 1967 and since then the show became a cultural staple on Sunday evenings, known by many children who taped it on cassette - it will now be moved to Fridays as the music industry becomes more focused on digital downloads . The change comes after the music industry agreed a global release date for singles and albums, as digital downloads and streaming replace the traditional music store as a measure of popularity. As well as the change of slot, the show will be shorter, giving less time for all songs in the charts to be played. But station controller Ben Cooper has has denied the move means the chart was being 'downgraded', claiming it had to 'adapt or die.' UK singles currently come out on Sundays and albums a day later, but the The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) - which represents the worldwide record industry - announced last month they were introducing Friday as a global release day from summer. This makes use of digital downloads, which mean music can be downloaded anywhere in the world at the same time. The Sunday night chart has recently started including digital downloads in the top 40 rankings. Radio 1's Greg James, pictured with former presenter Fearne Cotton (left) and presenter Gemma Cairney (right), will present the new top 40 run-down, which will be an hour shorter than the current show on Fridays . Mr Cooper said: 'The days of having your fingers on record and pause with a cassette, taping your favourite songs from the chart, are long gone. Radio 1 now operates in an instant digital world.' A chart countdown has been part of Radio 1's Sunday evening programme since 1967, with Alan Freeman's Pick of the Pops. From 1987 the show 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. Station controller Ben Cooper said the move did not mean the chart was being 'downgraded' In the 1980s the show attracted more than 4million listeners, with teenagers proudly showing off their recording skills on Sony Walkmans the next day. In recent years the number of listeners has fallen to 1.2million. Mr Cooper said the new show would have to be 'a little more choosy' about which tracks it played but pointed out the current three-hour long show does not play all 40 tracks. He said the top 20 would be played every week. He added: 'If anything this gives the chart a new lease of life, it gives it an exposure to a new audience on a Friday afternoon and it gives it a new presenter and it gives it a new format. It's going to have to be tighter and slicker. 'If we don't adapt we will die.' Starting in mid-July, the new show will be two hours long, focusing on the top 20, and will be accompanied by a live TV programme on CBBC. The IFPI hopes that by synchronising release dates around the world, there will be more excitment built up around new singles and it will decrease piracy. It will mean people will be able to access songs at the same time anywhere around the world and will help artists who wish to publicise their music through social media. Mr Cooper said the Sunday night show, presented by Clara Amfo, attracts around 1.2 million listeners, while Greg James pulls in more than 5 million across the week. James backed the move, saying: 'The chart must feel like it's providing news, not just confirmation of something the listeners already knew.' The Sunday slot is expected to be filled with a new show co-produced with CBBC in a big to bring a younger audience to the station. Alan Freeman launched the countdown to the UK's number one with his Pick of the Pops, airing in 1967. 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. However the 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. Tony Blackburn was a popular household name when he presented the top 40 in the early 1980s . In 1987 new technology meant the 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. At its 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. The chart show became a 'tea time staple' in the 1980s, with many teenagers holing themselves up in their bedroom to try and record all 40 tracks on cassette tapes. Monday morning was often a time to show off to friends their skills at recording the songs. Alan Freeman started the popular countdown show, with a programme counting down the top 20 singles . It has run every single week for almost 50 years apart from on 31 August 1997, when it was replaced on BBC Radio 1 by news coverage of the death of the Princess Of Wales, Lady Diana. 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. The way the top 40 has been compiled has changed. In 2004 the first UK official downloads chart was launched, and this became integrated with the top 40 in 2007 - showing the importance of downloaded music as well as physical purchases, which reflected the digital transformation of the industry. Jo Whiley became the first female to present the top 40 show in 2002, taking over from Mark Goodier . From July last year audio streaming is included alongside downloads and physical sales on the Singles Chart. Tony Blackburn presented the chart show from September 1979 until December 1982 before moving to BBC London and then BBC Radio 2, where he still presents a regular slot. He also earned renown during this period as the UK presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest. Mark Goodier became a well known figure for presenting the show, hosting it for two stints from September 1990 until March 1992; and from April 1995 to November 2002. Jo Whiley became the first female to present the UK Top 40 on 24 November 2002 , a week after Mark Goodier's departure from the show, as one of a string of one-off presenters each week until Scott Mills presented the UK Top 40 each week from 5 January 2003 until 2 February 2003. The show has been gradually moving from its traditional Sunday night format to embrace the digital music industry. From February 2012 a new look show started with the music videos of the top 10 singles aired live online from 6pm.
BBC's chart show is moving to Fridays for the first time in its history . Official countdown of UK's top singles began with Alan Freeman in 1967 . Show became a Sunday evening 'teatime tradition' as fans followed charts . Will switch to a Friday evening slot from July as industry becomes digital . Radio 1's Greg James will present the top 40 which will be an hour shorter . Move follows a change in record industry of the global new release day . Station controller Ben Cooper said the chart show had to 'adapt or die'