At 45, I confess to witnessing all manner of sweeping changes at that most hallowed of institutions, the BBC, and have always taken them in my stride as both a listener and viewer, comprehending the changes of DJ's , programmes and especially changes to schedules with relative ease and interest even.

However, I am really pi££ed off that 6 Music is now facing the chop.
For once I might actually put pen to paper as there simply is no radio station like it.
Cull R3, but mess with 6 Music at your peril!

The report is to be considered by the governing body, the BBC Trust, and The Times quotes "BBC Trust sources" as saying they would like the Director general to impose even greater cuts to budget for imported programmes.

There could also be last-minute lobbying on behalf of the two radio stations said to be due for closure. A campaign to save BBC 6 Music has been running on Facebook for some time.

Time to join in Twitter even?!

"Hallowed Institution"? Oh dear. Oh dearie dearie dear… 🙄

I must admit I'd never heard of it till this row started…

gutted. best thing on the radio.

Yes, 6 Music plays a lot in our house.

Brainless stuff, that's in the pockets of the record companies, and could be done equally well on commercial radio (I'm talking Radio 1,2 and local) gets to stay, but the stations that have no commercial alternative get the chop.

I can't see the sense in that.

6Music:
Informative, entertaining, intelligent, presented by credible enthusiasts, non-commercial, an un-rivalled breadth of new and old music.

All for the cost of 1.5 Jonathan Ross' types…

Why on Earth would it be cancelled?

Fight the Power!

Get in touch with the BBC Trust to raise your objections:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/index.shtml

simonfbarnes – Member

I must admit I'd never heard of it till this row started…

That is more a result of the lack of publicity given to the station than as a result of the station's output.

The row has finally brought 6Music to the attention of the masses.

There was a report last week that a commercial station ( with half the budget and twice the number of listeners ) wanted to buy 6 Music from the BBC.

Agreed with Ed Vaizey's remarks, that the station has probably doubled its listeners as a result of all this, and will not in fact now be cut.

It's pandering to political pressure, and the politians are in the pocket of big business (Murdock).

You cut 6Music and the Asian network, which clearly meet the public service rather than lowest demographic remit, and you open a pandoras box, every disgruntled failing newspaper and commercial broadcaster will get the green light to claim that the BBC, in it's priviledged position, has an unfair advantage etc.

I say that we, those who pay for it (and importantly don't pay for Sky) should have more of a say in how it's run and what it spends our money on.

Avaaz campaign

http://www.petition.fm/petitions/6musicasiannet/1000/

if there is a real need for the service then the private sector will fulfill this need.

Yes, look at ITV ….We rarely do.

6Music-Lite with adverts = XFM
ie. 10 mainstream indie chart songs, a bit of The Smiths and adverts.

if there is a real need for the service then the private sector will fulfill this need.

Your faith in market forces is truly touching.

i must admit 6 music (and planet rock) are my stations of choice

s

[goes away to see what all the fuss is about]

If they broadcast in a format i could listen to in my car, it would get another listener.

Well Nemone
02/03/2010
Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip provide a hand-picked playlist for Nemone.

Hmm, I'm going to see them live this month…

SAVE 6 Music!!

It was just on the news about it competing directly with commercial radio. What a load of bollocks.

40mpg – Member
If they broadcast in a format i could listen to in my car, it would get another listener.

+1

I just heard a quote from Mark Thompson DG of the BBC, along the lines of:
"If we were to double, or treble, the listeners <to 6Music> then the demographic would be competing hard with commercial radio"

I beg your pardon? Is he saying that Radio 1 and Radio 2, with their extensive TV and bill-board advertising don't compete with commercial radio??? Presumably BBC1 and BBC2 don't compete with commercial TV either.

So the DG of the BBC doesn't want more people to listen to 6Music?

Is this slightly odd or am I missing something?

Why doesn't he just dis-band the BBC completely? The less-than-superb quality of the low-intelligence, tacky, mass-market tosh dished-out by Sky and ITV can step-in and take over completely then.

The arguement from Maxwell was that the BBC would not survive if it were not Government funded. Erm what's my licence fee for then if not to help fund it. It is not free for me to listen to i pay for it. THe commercial ones are free for me to listen to.

Oh and i wouldn't miss BBC Radio 1.

PSA, they're playing tracks from the new Gorillaz album (due out next week) on 6 music today…

7.something million listerners to Chris Moyels

700,000 (rounding up to 100,000) listerners in total to 6music.

Unless it's total budget is <10% of Moyles wage, how can they justify it?

if there is a real need for the service then the private sector will fulfill this need.

…and there is the problem with the private sector right there. It eliminates any variation other than a homogeneous lump of mass appeal fare.

I suspect it's a move to appease the "incoming government" who have all but vowed to do their best to smash the shit out of the beeb anyway. This is just the start of it folks. Thompson said this morning that the beeb can't be all things to all men. FFS, that's exactly what it should be. Otherwise we all descend to the lowest common denominator.

who have all but vowed to do their best to smash the shit out of the been anyway.

Yeah, but to be fair who wouldn't?

oooh sorry.

i was just copying what my learned stwr's said about libraries/schools/healthcare……..

so you all want to cut out the waste, but not when its what you like.

NIMBY? anyone?

Oh and i wouldn't miss BBC Radio 1.

I f*&^ing would. Still the only (easily accessible) radio station playing new, cutting edge music. Admittedly 80% of it is bilge, but the 20% would be a big hole.
[edit]those percentages may be slightly out 🙂

Unless it's total budget is <10% of Moyles wage, how can they justify it?

because it offers a public service to a niche that no other provider will can or will do?

I agree that they should stop buying as much TV from the States and use the money to make their own original broadcasting, that way they will not be competing with Sky, they get it right and they make money too. That's from someone who quite liked 24 but won't pay Sky to watch it (or anything else for that matter).

oh, porterclough

the gorillaz album was available yesterday streamed and today on xfm – nil points.

The BBC provides an advertising free environment, while R1 is out of my area of interest my daughter has at least got one advertising free place to listen. She's been bombarded by enough advertising in her 15 years without Murdoch levering some new intrusion.

BUT with the rise of Spotify and other web based music delivery things would 1Extra or Six Music or other niches have their position undermined? The listeners to these stations are usually the early adopters of this sort of thing – that's why they have digital radios in the first place. Maybe they have reached their point of infection and the rate of uptake is going negative.

7.something million listerners to Chris Moyels

700,000 (rounding up to 100,000) listerners in total to 6music.

Unless it's total budget is <10% of Moyles wage, how can they justify it?

Read my post above. the DG says that if 6Music did increase its listener-ship then it would then be competing with commercial radio. which he presumably doesn't want to do, despite pushing Radio 1 & 2 to do exactly that.

Explain this.

Just because the majority want to watch very vaguely known former soap actors ice skating doesn't mean that that we should get rid of everything else. Some people enjoy being stimulated and informed.

<Radio1 is> Still the only (easily accessible) radio station playing new, cutting edge music. Admittedly 80% of it is bilge, but the 20% would be a big hole.

May I introduce you to 6Music?

Never heard of 6 music until this row blew up and only listen to radio in my van so can't listen anyway .,therefore not interested in what happens to it

Seems you've misquoted me there Jamie 😉

As funders of the BBC we should be championing the potential for increasing diversity that the BBC can offer not supporting a contraction and a reduction in choice.

(easily accessible) radio station playing new, cutting edge music. Admittedly 80% of it is bilge, but the 20% would be a big hole.

May I introduce you to 6Music?

Only available through a DAT radio or computer is not easily accessible. Not to me anyway.

the gorillaz album was available yesterday streamed and today on xfm – nil points.

Not sure I understand your point. XFM is ok as well, if you could get it where I live I'd probably listen to it. It's like 6Music only not as good.

I've paid my licence fee and Radios 1, 2, and 3 are all complete wastes of bandwidth. 4, 5 and 6 on the other hand are quite good.