1812186 FMS9X1 Assignment 2
Q3a) Discuss the significance of the proposed closure of BBC 6 Music.
BBC 6 Music is a national digital radio station launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation on 11th March 2002, and was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years (BBC 6 Music pre-release website, 2002). As a digital radio station, 6 Music is not available on analogue radio, so does not have an FM/AM wavelength, therefore is only available through a digital medium, such as a DAB digital radio receiver, the Internet, through the 6 Music website or BBC’s iPlayer service, or on digital television. The current controller of 6 Music - and Radio 2 - is Bob Shennan, who took the position in January 2009 as the replacement of Lesley Douglas, the previous controller who resigned after the fallout from the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross affair (Holmwood and Plunkett, 2009). 6 Music has a number of shows, catering to a wide range of musical taste, often with well-known presenters, with past and present hosts including Jarvis Cocker, Phill Jupitus (who also hosted the station’s very first show), Suggs, Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq, Huey Morgan, Bruce Dickinson, Craig Charles, Guy Garvey and Richard Bacon. (6 Music Programmes A-Z, 2010) (Website list of presenters in 2002, 2002)
In early February 2010, plans were announced to “shake up” the BBC, an aspect of which included the closure of two of the BBC’s digital radio stations, 6 Music, and Asian Network. With Asian Network costing 6.9 pence per user hour, compared to 6 Music’s 3.4 pence and Radio 2’s much smaller cost of 0.5 pence per user hour (BBC News, 2010), meaning that running these two radio stations is expensive, due to its smaller listener base in comparison to Radio 2, which as of September 2010, has a 15.6% listening share, the largest for a British radio station (RAJAR, 2010), making it much more financially viable. Despite 6 Music and Asian Network’s large per user cost, their budgets are smaller than that of Radio 2, which spends £40 million on content (BBC News – Strategy Review, 2010).
While the BBC’s strategic review did not explicitly state that 6 Music should be closed down, it however stated that only one in five of all UK residents were aware of 6 Music’s existence, and that more presenters with credibility in regards to music knowledge (Dee, 2010). Following the announcement, a large campaign was undertaken to attempt to reverse the decision, with protest groups forming on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Jon and Tracy Morter, the founders of the successful campaign to get the band Rage against the Machine to Number One in the charts in Christmas 2009, which, as of 28th November, has 883,753 members (Facebook, 2010), set up a similar group on Facebook, in order to help save 6 Music from closure, and also as of 28th November, 2010, the group has 175,030 members. (Facebook - Saved 6 Music, 2010). Twitter was also used in the campaign, in conjunction with the website www.love6music.com, with the Twitter account “@love6music,” which has 4,232 followers as of 28th November (Twitter, 2010). In addition to the large amount of support the station received from the British public, the BBC Trust opened the subject to consultation, in order to gauge public opinion with regard to the Strategic Review. Of the 47,933 responses the Trust received online, 78% of these focused on the proposed closure of 6 Music, in addition to 25,054 separate emails and 242 letters, with the “great majority of responses oppose any plans for closure” (BBC Trust, 2010), therefore showing that public response was a major factor in ensuring the survival of the station.
While 6 Music enjoyed large amounts of public support in the effort to keep it broadcasting, the station is not without its critics. George Lamb, a former presenter on the station, attracted criticism for endorsing Boris Johnson’s bid to become Mayor of London, a breach in the BBC’s editorial guidelines regarding impartiality, meaning that presenters cannot endorse a specific party or political candidate while on air. (6Music’s Lamb warned over Boris gaffe, 2008) Lamb’s tenure at 6 Music was also criticised for being very different from the majority of the other station’s presenters, in that his style of presenting did not appeal to many of the station’s listeners, and was more fitting with Radio 1’s audience, leading to the creation of a website that stated the appointment of George Lamb was “against what we believed 6 Music stood for” (George Lamb to leave 6Music daytime slot, 2009), and was also the focus of an online petition featuring over 4000 signatures (Plunkett, 2008), which may have been a deciding factor in Lamb’s decision to leave the station.
The station was also criticised after a producer of The Liz Kershaw Show was dismissed in September 2007, after she claimed responsibility for using researchers as competition winners on the show (Daily Telegraph, 2007), which later led to the resignation of 6 Music’s Head of Programmes, Ric Blaxill (Daily Mail, 2007).
Another criticism aimed at BBC 6 Music is that it was not well promoted, as according to the BBC’s service review of 6 Music, only 20% of the adult population were aware of the station’s existence, with only 1% of the population actually listening to 6 Music (BBC 6 Music Service Review, 2010). Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, presenters on 6 Music, referred to it as the BBC’s “secret station,” as it rarely appeared in schedule listings, was not promoted at all by the BBC and was “under-promoted across the BBC network” (Dee, 2010).
The Service Review also stated that “6 Music has been criticised for costing too much money in comparison to commercial radio stations,” implying that there are similar stations which provide a similar service to 6 Music’s audience. When interviewed for BBC News, Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC said “It’s not a station that makes sense on a value for money point of view,” which may be interpreted as one of the main reasons for the station’s proposed closure in February 2010. Thompson also went on to say in that interview: “If we build that audience up, the danger is… you run headlong into mainstream commercial radio in this country.” (BBC News, 2010) By making this statement, Mark Thompson may have been stating that instead of spending money improving awareness of 6 Music, its listeners may be better off listening to its commercial competitors aimed at a similar market, and therefore placing itself in direct competition with the commercial stations, such as Absolute Radio. This in itself is very significant, some media figures claim that the BBC is too large, and should reduce its presence in the media. James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, founder of News International, the company which owns four national British newspapers and has a 39% stake in BSkyB, the country’s largest satellite TV provider, used the 2009 MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival to attack the BBC, stating that BBC News is “throttling the market,” and preventing competitiors from improving, increasing or introducing their own services, and in particular online (Robinson, 2009). In 2010, Mark Thompson, the BBC’s Director General, spoke at the same event in defence of the BBC, and other public service broadcasters (Robinson and Martinson, 2010). James Murdoch’s, and others’, calls for the BBC to reduce its presence are a point of interest, as Sky has an even larger annual budget than that of the BBC, with the figure of around £5.9 billion taken in subscriber revenue from 2009/10 (Key facts and figures, 2010), while the BBC’s total income for 2009/10 was £4.79 billion (Consolidated income statement, 2010). Another reason the proposed closure of 6 Music may be seen as significant is that at the time, the Conservative Party, and Ed Vaizey, the Shadow Culture Minister in particular, welcomed the proposed cuts as “intelligent and sensible” (Martinson and Deans, 2010). Despite Vaizey’s statements welcoming the cuts, he later “claimed he had become an avid fan over the weekend,” and “strongly suspected” that 6 Music would be saved from closure. (Sweney, 2010) While such U-turns are rare for politicians to make, Vaizey’s change of opinion could be seen as having given the campaign another public figure to help support the effort to save 6 Music. The station also enjoyed support of many other public figures and celebrities, including Gordon Brown, David Bowie, Lily Allen and Damon Albarn. With high-profile fans of the station, and tens of thousands of responses received during public consultation, there was an overwhelming majority of support for 6 Music, which the BBC Trust could not ignore, and it is likely that the mass support was a major factor in keeping the station on air.In July 2010, when the BBC Trust released its initial conclusions of the Strategy Review which recommended the closure of 6 Music and Asian Network, it did not accept the BBC Executive’s plans for closing 6 Music. It would also not consider any other proposals regarding the closure of 6 Music unless Radio 1 and 2 underwent changes outlined by the trust, and more importantly, “reassurance that there would be long-term protection for the type of distinctive content currently available uniquely on 6 Music” (Interim conclusions, 2010). This is very significant, as the BBC Trust views the station as being one which caters to a very specific type of audience, and its content is not similar to any other station currently available (Interim conclusions, 2010).With 6 Music’s budget of around £9 million per year, the Trust was “not convinced that allocating its budget to spend on other aspects of digital radio will make a decisive difference to digital take-up.” (BBC Trust, 2010) In comparison to other radio station’s budgets, 6 Music’s budget of £9 million is a miniscule amount of the total spent by the BBC each year, which in the 2009/10 Annual Report was stated as £4.79 billion (Annual Report 09/10, 2010), results in 6 Music taking up 0.187% of the BBC’s total budget for 09/10, making the relatively low financial cost in comparison to other BBC stations a case for saving the station.
After the announcement of the planned closure, 6 Music’s weekly audience doubled to 1.194 million for the end of June, a record for the station, and an increase in its audience for the second quarter running. (RAJAR, 2010) (Busfield, 2010). With the 50% rise in audience, and the decision not to close the station confirmed, The Guardian’s Organ Grinder blog saw the proposal to be “the best marketing BBC 6 Music has ever had” (Busfield, 2010), as 6 Music’s audience has risen sharply and had been in the public eye for a number of weeks.
Overall, the proposed closure of 6 Music was significant, as it enabled the public to use social media in an effective protest against the decision. Also, with the large number of responses received by the BBC, a valid case for opening up decisions to public consultation has been made, as the increase in public support for the station resulted in the closure plans to be scrapped. Another point of significance is the difference in opinion between the BBC Trust and the BBC Executive, and whether a governing body is good or bad for the BBC. To conclude, BBC 6 Music is a radio station which caters to a unique audience of British radio listeners, with content that cannot be found elsewhere, and for this reason, it has been saved from closure.
Total word count excluding references and further reading material: 1,936 words.
References and further reading material used in preparation for the assignment
BBC 6 Music - Pre-release Website (Archive) [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
Holmwood, L and Plunkett, J (2009) “Bob Shennan named Radio 2 controller,” The Guardian, 27th January.
BBC 6 Music – Website list of presenters in 2002 [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
BBC 6 Music – Programmes A-Z [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
BBC News – At a glance: BBC Strategy Review [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
Compare My Radio – BBC 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
Love 6 Music – Home [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
Facebook – Saved 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
RAJAR – Quarterly Listening Figures [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
BBC News – BBC 6 Music and Asian Network face axe in shake-up [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
The Guardian – BBC 6 Music’s audience rises again [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
BBC Trust Strategic Review – Interim Commissions [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – BBC 6 Music: is its reprieve a triumph for social media? [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – 6Music’s Lamb warned over Boris gaffe [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk - Tory culture spokesman joins 6 Music fanclub with U-turn over closure [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
Media UK – BBC 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 25 November 2010]
BBC - Service Review of Radio 2 and 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 27 November 2010]
BBC – Strategy Review [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 27 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – BBC 6 Music Protest [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 27 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – Organ Grinder blog [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 27 November 2010]
Brooks, R (2010), “Axed radio station BBC 6 Music returns to life,” The Sunday Times, 11th April.
Channel 4 News: Interview with Mark Thompson, Adam Buxton and Bobby Friction (2010) London, Channel Four, March 2nd 2010. [Originally broadcast on TV, but can be found online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLbkeAHyU7I]
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
Channel 4 News: BBC Saves Radio 6 Music (2010) London, Channel Four, July 5th, 2010. [Originally broadcast on TV, but can be found online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chJirgRx4WA&feature=related]
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
Facebook – Rage against the Machine for Christmas No. 1 [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
Twitter – Love 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
BBC News – BBC Trust rejects 6 Music closure plan [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28th November 2010]
BBC Executive – Annual Report 2009/10 [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28th November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – George Lamb to leave 6 Music daytime slot [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – George Lamb to leave BBC 6 Music [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
Plunkett, J (2008) “’I don’t feel I have betrayed anyone,’” The Guardian, 22nd December, MediaGuardian, p5.
The Daily Telegraph – BBC staff face sack in cheat inquiry [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 28 November 2010]
The Daily Mail – BBC 6 Music head resigns following “serious” editorial breaches [Internet]
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[Accessed 28 November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – James Murdoch hits out at BBC and regulators at Edinburgh TV festival [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 29th November 2010]
Sky Corporate – Key Facts and Figures [Internet]
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[Accessed 29th November 2010]
BBC – Summary Consolidated Income Statement [Internet]
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[Accessed 29th November 2010]
The Guardian.co.uk – Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey welcomes proposals for BBC cuts [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed 29th November 2010]
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