Edmonds was one of the BBC's biggest Saturday evening draws

Noel Edmonds has called for a "radical" overhaul of Saturday night TV programmes to liven up the schedules.

Edmonds, who is back broadcasting for the BBC on Radio 2, said a "courageous" programmer was needed to turn around the fortunes of weekend teatime viewing.

Edmonds was joining the debate on the demise of Saturday night terrestrial television after the BBC admitted it was struggling to find a ratings-winner.

Maybe the public is looking for something radically different on a Saturday night Noel Edmonds Edmonds' radio show reviewed

Noel's House Party was among the most popular shows ever to hold the slot, drawing up to 12 million viewers during the 1990s.

Edmonds said: "One of the realities is that life has changed, and Saturday night television is inevitably different.

"I think there are solutions but I think it would be a very courageous channel controller to come up with something the public really want. Maybe the public is looking for something radically different on a Saturday night."

Edmonds said director general Greg Dyke had put the confidence back into the BBC, which was "walking with a swagger".

Edmonds says he is enjoying broadcasting again

"In the late 90s you could see the shoulders had started to go; the accountants had taken over and the programme makers weren't quite sure where they stood," he told Breakfast on BBC One.

"The BBC is a very confident broadcasting organisation and it needs brands like Top of the Pops and Top Gear."

He said it was not true that he had fallen out with the corporation after House Party was axed because of falling ratings.

He also said he was enjoying his radio comeback after completing his first-two hour drive time show on Radio 2 on Monday.

Edmonds is standing in for Johnnie Walker for two months while Walker receives treatment for cancer.

Radio technology had changed "enormously" since he had last entered a studio 20 years earlier, said Edmonds.

"There's no black vinyl to cue up and put on."