The BBC has dismissed a newspaper report that 6Music and the Asian Network are to be closed as “speculation” - but speculation is often rooted in truth.
Last week 6Music was told to grow it’s audience. This week rumours fly that it will be axed as the BBC looks to cut costs.
BBC 6Music is a digital radio station broadcasting everything that Radio1 and Radio2 won’t. It offers a valuable leg up to younger and often more vibrant broadcasters. It deliberately strays away from the mainstream of 1 and 2. It is, by its nature, less popular – alternative (arguably defined as “not mainstream”) always is. By growing it’s audience, does this mean selling the soul of 6Music?
If 6Music and the Asian Network were axed under the guise of cost cutting, I would be angered at the continuation of paying Chris Moyles £650,000 a year for presenting a breakfast radio show.
If the taxpayer is looking for justification, why don’t we start with Moyles? This isn’t a personal attack. I catch his show sometimes and find him quite amusing - but no more so than listening to George Lamb on 6Music. Moyles' salary is sickening. What are the chances of most of us being able to pull in that kind of money doing a ‘normal’ job? And that’s not bitterness. If the BBC were commercially funded, I wouldn’t have a problem with Moyles earning that much. Radio 1 can only pay it’s presenters this kind of money because it isn’t commercially funded. It doesn’t make business sense does it? (See how you feel when a license fee hike is announced and you find out how much Jonathan Ross pulls in).
Between Moyles and Ross, the BBC is wasting money on superficially ‘talented’ individuals who are part of teams that make great radio and TV shows. Let’s not forget the producers, assistants and sidekicks that make the shows humorous, engaging and witty. Radio and TV presenters are not a one-man-band.
So BBC, listen up. We admire you for allowing the development of alternative radio stations. Don’t pull the plug when things get tough. Don’t lose respect because it’s what you think you should do.
Show support for the underdog and save Radio6.
Steve McNeill
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