For more than three decades the Brit Awards has held sway as the biggest night in the UK’s music calendar with some jaw-dropping performances and the occasional cringeworthy incident.

Now the BBC has announced plans to launch its own annual music bash this year, to recognise the songs and performers who have made the biggest mark and promising eye-catching collaborations.

It will be hosted by Radio 2’s Chris Evans – a host of ITV’s Brits coverage in years gone by – along with Fearne Cotton, and will come from Earl’s Court, which was a regular venue for the Brits until they moved to London’s O2 Arena in 2011.

The corporation said that the new event was the musical equivalent of its long-established Sports Personality of the Year event, rather than a rival to the ITV show.

The new event comes after the Brits struggled to pull in a large audience in February. It was two million viewers down on last year and recorded the lowest audience since 2006, despite high-profile acts such as One Direction and Arctic Monkeys turning up to collect awards.

The BBC Music Awards will be staged on December 11 and are designed as “a spectacular celebration of the best in popular music from the last 12 months”.