Save BBC 6 Music!
You must have by now heard of the news that the BBC is cutting down on costs and for this very reason will be cutting the one music radio station that it’s even possible to like in the UK – 6 Music. The alternative music station is, pending a review by the BBC Trust, going to be closed down alongside the Asian Network. This is a particularly outrageous decision for these five reasons:
- It puts more emphasis on Radio 1 to play more genres during the daytime, which would make it less of a ‘pop’ station. You can hate that station for all the love in the world but it’s there to serve a purpose, and that purpose will get far more distorted.
- The BBC will lose a lot of listeners who wouldn’t even dream of moving to any other BBC radio station that plays music. They have practically nowhere else to go for something similar to 6 Music.
- It puts jobs under risk and we will lost a lot of talented DJs. Steve Lamacq is perhaps the finest music DJ this country has to offer and his loss will be felt, Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour is the perfect late night program and let’s not forget people like Shaun Keaveny and Lauren Laverne who might not have a job if 6 Music goes under.
- They’ll lose serious credibility for their music/radio policies, giving people the impression that the BBC have just given up on music. This not only includes members of the public that they serve, but also many of their employees (Chris Addison and Charlie Brooker have already established their disdain). I don’t blame them, quite frankly.
- This is no more than pandering to the needs of certain Conservative businessmen/women and politicians to keep them happy ahead of an election that they are supposed to win, but now isn’t looking as likely as once feared.
Absolute Radio would be willing to buy the station but I think everyone knows that its home is the BBC itself. If you want to e-mail the BBC Trust and let them know of your disappointment in the hope (not much, but good God there’s still some left!) that they might keep this unbelievably important radio station, the address is [s]trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk[/s] SRconsultation@bbc.co.uk. We can only pray for some good news but whilst there is still a glimmer of hope it’s worth a shot.
If you get a response from them that isn’t an auto-reply, please share it in the comments below because not everyone who e-mails will get a reply.
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Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by Max
Filed under: Features, News
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