:{SAD FRIDAY}: the melancholy mistress of Happy Friday
:{SAVE BBC 6MUSIC}:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/
03700 100 222
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=278123313911
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/blog/save-6-music
I was very sad to read today that the BBC plans to close 6Music:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece
“Mark Thompson, the Director-General, will admit that the corporation, which is funded by the ÂŁ3.6 billion annual licence fee, has become too large and must shrink to give its commercial rivals room to operate.”
If this is true, it feels entirely wrong-headed to me:
1: Dropping 6Music won’t give “commercial rivals room to operate”, as the station’s audience is not a priority for the commercial sector.
2: 6Music has an annual budget of around ÂŁ6 million which, out of the ÂŁ3.6 billion garnered from the licence fee, is small change.
3: 6Music’s audience may be small, compared to Radio 1 and 2, but they are 700,000 people who aren’t served elsewhere within the BBC [or beyond].
4: Surely this is part of the BBC’s public service broadcaster remit and tweaking Radio 2’s schedule won’t satisfy 6Music’s listeners [who are license payers too].
5: 6Music does a valuable job of breaking new bands, Florence & The Machine being a good, current example, who then move on to Radio 1, win BRIT Awards, etc.
6: 6Music is probably sounding more cohesive than ever [especially during daytime] and commands listener loyalty that other stations would kill for.
7: Eight years after its launch, wouldn’t the real waste of the license fee be to spend millions of pounds building a station, only to close it down?
If any of this bothers you, please make some noise, whether it’s complaining to Auntie Beeb [details above], using social networking gubbins, or writing something for:
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/blog/save-6-music