BBC 'to axe Radio 6 Music and Asian Network and halve website' in strategic review

[muriel_volestrangler]

This comes via a leak to The Times, so perhaps take it with a pinch of salt - it is a Murdoch paper after all:

The BBC plans to axe two radio stations – 6 Music and Asian Network – cut spending on imported shows and halve the size of its website, it is claimed today. The Times says the measures are part of the BBC's strategic review to be unveiled next month. Under the plan, the BBC intends to shrink overall services and focus more on quality over quantity. There have already been reports suggesting that the BBC will axe the digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network.

Quoting BBC Trust sources, the newspaper states that the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is also being pushed to slash the budget for imported shows such as Mad Men and Heroes by a third.

Thompson reportedly will also introduce a cap on spending on broadcast rights for sports events of 8.5% of the licence fee, or about £300m.

The Times says the BBC's web pages are to be halved, backed by a 25% cut in staff numbers. The web operation's £112m budget will also be cut by 25%. It also plans to include more links to newspaper articles to drive traffic to the websites of rival publishers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/26/bbc-media-radio-internet-website

The Times' article:

The report is being considered by the corporation’s governing body, the BBC Trust, and is due to be made public next month.

It was drawn up by the corporation’s director of policy and strategy, John Tate, a former head of the Conservative policy unit, who co-wrote the party’s 2005 manifesto with David Cameron. It will be seen as an attempt to show a potential Tory government that the BBC understands the effect the deep advertising recession has had on commercial rivals and that it does not need outside intervention to get its house in order.

The proposals, which involve £600 million being redirected into higher-quality content, are based on the assumption that the licence fee will be frozen in 2013. All of the changes will be funded by closures and cutbacks in other services.

As part of a pledge to focus on quality over quantity, Mr Thompson will boost the BBC Two budget by £25 million and give the station a mandate to go upmarket. This will be funded by 25 per cent reduction in the corporation’s budget of £100 million for foreign acquisitions such as Mad Men and Heroes. BBC Trust sources said, however, that they would try to push the Director-General to a 33 per cent cut in the import budget.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece

[Hopeless Romantic]

1. racists

[T_i_B]

2. #saveBBC6music is the top trending subject on UK Twitter right now

and 4th top trending worldwide.

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23saveBBC6Music

[ikri]

3. Could they not cancel Radio One instead?

Since they play utter crap 90% of the time.

6 Music is the best music station on the air at the moment.

[mwooldri]

14. Radio One has improved over the years.

They used to play 100% crap. Now it's only 90%.

[Mr Creosote]

4. Does the 6 refer to

the number of listeners, or the figures in the presenters' salaries? I think I may be the target demographic for this, but on the few occasions I've tried to listen to it I have found it terribly dull, and presented by people who want to be John Peel, but plainly aren't.
I love music, but I can't find a music radio station that I can tolerate at all, apart from some of KCRW's output.

[fedsron2us]

5. Wish they would get rid of BBC Breakfast as it gets on my tits

There is no real news or analysis and endless pumping of upcoming BBC programs.

The endless adverts for the 25th Anniversary of East Enders was enough to make you want to root for Goering's Luftwaffe during the Blitz.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. I agree with some of the comments above

I never could stick Radio 1, but then I doubt it would abandon its flagship radio service. I also find BBC Breakfast to be too much like GMTV, and I think GMTV is shyte.

I realise that some of this is to appease a future Tory government. But didn't the Major government want the BBC to emulate the ITV's output by taking a populist turn? In any case I would welcome a quality over quantity approach, I just wished they'd done that before the inevitable budget cuts.

[T_i_B]

7. Petition to stop the cuts to the BBC

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/BBCcuts

[T_i_B]

12. And here's the Avaaz petition

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bbc/97.php

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. What is the format of BBC6?

As a choir geek, I'm a big fan of BBC3.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. something like 'intelligent modern adult music'

Sample playlists:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/listen/playlist.shtml

Aimed at pop/rock music fans over 25, I think, rather than under (which is what Radio 1 aims at). But not just 'classic rock'. There's a 'listen live' link on that page, though I don't know if it works outside the UK.

[mwooldri]

13. All BBC domestic radio stations can be heard worldwide online (for the most part).

That listen live link works just fine.

We listen a lot to BBC Radio 7....

[ikri]

10. Music biz unites to save 6Music

From The Register

In a letter to the BBC director general Mark Thompson, the BPI and indie association AIM say the closure of the station is bad for new music. 6Music plays four to five times the amount of new music other stations play, while half of the music programming is never played anywhere else, they point out.

...

The disappearance of the progressive small major label has left a gulf between the Big Four and indies, bringing with it new opportunities as well as a squeeze. Indie association AIM is celebrating the first UK independent number one album in 20 years (Vampire Weekend's Contra on the XL label). Former major label act Prodigy signed to former folk label Cooking Vinyl recently.

The full text of the BPI/AIM letter.

Dear Mark,

We were surprised and alarmed to read the report in today’s Times suggesting that BBC Radio 6 Music and its Asian Music Network are to close as part of a costs review. BBC Radio 6 has established itself as a vital platform providing exposure to a wide range of emerging British music talent.

The report published last week by the BBC Trust on 6 Music emphasised the unique role that the station has in supporting new artists and in nurturing UK talent. According to research in that report, 91% of listeners say that 6 Music introduces them to music that is new to them, and 89% of listeners say that they hear music on the station that they do not hear elsewhere. It finds that 6 Music plays four to five times more new songs than comparable commercial stations. We also understand that up to half of the music output of the channel comprises music that is not given radio exposure elsewhere, and much of this is from new or emerging British artists. There is no other radio station which is remotely comparable in scale or depth for showcasing new music.

As a recent example, exposure for Florence & The Machine on 6 Music was the beginning of their UK success, culminating in them winning the Best Album award at the BRIT Awards this month. There are many examples of successful British artists whose early work was championed by Radio 6, who would not otherwise have attracted wider attention. It is therefore vital to the artistic and cultural diversity of this country that the role of Radio 6 as a taste-maker for the airwaves is preserved.

Although 6 Music’s audience share remains relatively modest, it is the fastest growing of the BBC digital radio channels and its on-demand usage online is high. It clearly has significant potential for further growth.

The Asian Music Network also provides an important channel for exposure for Asian music in the UK, which does not gain exposure on many major commercial stations.

As the UK’s main public sector broadcaster, the BBC has a unique capability and responsibility to promote music that has yet to develop a significant commercial following. Closing 6 Music and the Asian Music Network would substantially reduce the opportunities for exposure for many new British artists and also for artists who do not fit into the commercial mainstream, but who still need to reach an audience. If the press reports of the potential closure of these stations are correct, on behalf of the UK recorded music industry and in the interests of British music, we strongly urge you to reconsider this decision.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive, BPI

Tony Wadsworth, Chairman, BPI

Alison Wenham Chairman and Chief Executive, AIM

The consensus among a lot of people seems to be that there are a lot of 6 Music fans out there, but the DAB only format of the station severely limits the number of people who can listen to the station. If it was broadcast on FM it would probably be one of the most popular stations in the country.

With Radio 1 playing the same pap as most commercial stations and Radio 2 playing a lot of middle of the road, inoffensive music the gap that 6 Music fills is one that the BBC should be filling, if a commercial station isn't going to play the range of music you'll get on 6 Music the surely it falls to the BBC to fulfil their charter by using 6 Music to give those bands the airtime they'd almost never get elsewhere.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Tory culture spokesman joins 6 Music fanclub with U-turn over closure

Last week Vaizey commented in the Guardian that the BBC's proposals to cut internet, radio and TV services were "intelligent and sensible".

However, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal that when challenged by an angry fans of the station, he admitted he had not heard the station before but claimed he had become an avid fan over the weekend. This was part of a public backlash over the closure of 6 Music, which included tens of thousands of supporters protesting via Twitter and Facebook.

"Having not listened to 6 Music, I took it on trust that the BBC knew what it was doing in this regard," said Vaizey in response to an email sent by a member of the public who took him to task over his support for the package of cuts.

"Several things have happened since I spoke out. I had no strong views on 6 Music on Friday, I now know it is brilliant with a passionate and articulate fan base – I am now an avid listener to 6 Music. I suspect that 6 Music has doubled its audience. I strongly suspect 6 Music will be saved."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/01/ed-vaizey-bbc-6-music

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.