03/09/10Music 6 Gets The Boot, Is It Really Just The Music Biz With the BBC?
BBC Breaks the News to Disgruntled UK Listeners
6 Music is getting the boot, and UK listeners aren't too happy about it.
BBC's director of audio and music, Tim Davie, recently announced its plans to axe digital radio station 6 Music, citing less than stellar feedback for the drop. The BBC believes that nine standalone digital networks are too much for its small listener base and are instead turning their focus toward Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Live.
"I am confident that these proposals are the right way for us to deliver our mission, but it's also right that license fee payers get to have their say," says Davie. "That's why the BBC Trust exists: to ensure you get a chance to input before final decisions are made."
Be careful what you wish for, Tim. The people have spoken and it's clear that they do not agree with you.
Most users believe that 6 Music offers unique and original content that simply can't be deployed onto other stations. In the words of commenter spicecakes, "Both Radio 3 and 6 Music might be relatively expensive to run compared to Radio 1 or 2, but their value in terms of providing high-quality (to use the buzzword of those proposing these cuts) cultural output that would not otherwise exist cannot be quantified in economic terms alone."
Consumer feedback also centers around another concern: Davie's motives. Several comments hit upon Davie's former job - marketing director for Pepsi - and its implications in terms of his direction for music in the UK.
The whole situation begs the question: What shall we do when those in charge of the direction of public music are not the performers, the writers, or the composers, but instead business-minded corporate transplants?