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The Awesome Nation of 6 Music.

And so it came to pass, on the feast of St David, in the 11th year of
the 3rd Millennium that the eclectic musical settlement known as
‘Awesome 6 Music’ reached nationhood, just as the General ordered the
attack on her defences.

“Save the cheerleader, save the world.” the cries came from the
gallery.  We learned how to do this from imported American
Sci-Fi that Auntie had spent millions on to bring to these shores -
“it’s not cultural imperialism it is quality programming,” she had
defended. Well we enjoyed it while it lasted, but at what cost?

“America is not the World” Morrissey warbled.

“We could be heroes” as the sage Bowie had prophesied. “Just for one
day!?”

The BBC is not the world either, and as far as this metaphorical
mixture of factional pseudo-fiction goes, it is what it is. I am just
having fun with it! To me it makes much more sense than the decision to
axe 6 Music, the Asian Network and the apparent self destruction of the
British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 Music is the cheerleader for
quality digital radio, and as the BBC was given a remit to champion
Digital Britain, it only goes to follow that this particular world will begin to
unravel, and the BBC with it, if this worst.decision.ever by
the Director General Mark Thompson is allowed to become actuality.

It’s like 1776 all over again, but this time with a better soundtrack.
For now at least.

What on earth are you talking about Kathryn?

I am glad you asked that question, gentle reader.

Well, the Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation -
Mark Thompson, hereafter referred to as the Numpty General, or General
Numpty (and that’s me being kind!) has completed the BBC Strategic Review
… (you can read in full here in adobe format) and scored a
spectacular own goal, that brings to mind the phrase… “this will not
end well”

—

—

What does that have to do with the Declaration of
Independence?

Nothing, and everything. It’s my blog and I will wing it from left field
if I want to. Like 1776, the Tories are at the heart of it
again. Also a bit like like 1776 it’s a story of Empire, on the one
hand the British Broadcasting Corporation, and on the other Rupert
Murdoch’s News International. Our heroes in this story, The fledgling
colonies, The Awesome Nation of 6 Music -
The Digital Radio station,
its listeners and supporters and their fight for survival.

Enough with the analogies already?

Ok, so no one has actually declared independence, and it would not be
in the best interests of 6 Music to do so, even if that were an option
which it isn’t at present. So from here our story takes on its own
unique character.

The shot heard around the world, was the BBC shooting itself
in the foot!

The BBC has enemies alright, Rupert Murdoch‘s minions being the
largest of them. ITV and just about the whole of
the commercial sector in broadcasting are also against the Beeb, but
the BBC’s own worst enemy at this present time, is itself! More
specifically, the top down management and if the buck stops somewhere
it stops with General Numpty himself. Mark Thompson needs sacking, the
man has no backbone whatsoever! And what’s more he doesn’t know his
arse from his elbow!

You can view an interview with Mark Thompson here, and here where he defends the
decisions. (May be time sensitive and/or country specific) He also
appeared on Newsnight the same night.

Calm down dear! What’s that about the Tories?

The Conservative Party in Britain have never been friends of the BBC.
The Corporation seems to be concerned in an election year that the
Tories will win the General Election and force it to make cutbacks. It
seems to have pre-empted this. Interesting also is another enemy
within, as I found in The Independent.

“A provisional report following a strategic review of the BBC’s
services … has been drawn up by John Tate, the BBC’s director of
policy and strategy and a former head of the Conservative policy unit
who co-wrote the party manifesto in 2005 with David Cameron. The BBC
will be hoping that the proposed concessions will help to ward off a
bloody battle with a future Conservative government after repeated Tory
criticisms that it fails to give sufficient value to the licence-fee
payer. The calculations are based on the assumption that the licence
fee will be frozen in 2013, which is the intention of the
Conservatives.”

Hmm. Former head of Conservative policy unit you say? No agenda there then!
The BBC has always maintained its independence from government, despite
being publicly funded. This independence is guaranteed in it’s
charter, but there can be no doubt in most peoples minds that it is
left leaning on the whole? A case in point was its aggressive
questioning of the Labour Party of the strength of its case surrounding
the Iraq War. Despite this, it does attempt to be neutral and unbiased
and sometimes this can be to their own detriment, in this case by
appeasement.

The Beeb should stand up for itself. It is by no means perfect, but it
is the best thing we have in broadcasting, and culturally important to
our country. Granted that it does have a responsibility to the British
public as licence fee payers to deliver value for money, greater than
any responsibility to its competitors as far as I am concerned. The
biggest problem its rivals have is that they are simply not as good.
That is not the BBC’s fault. If cuts were necessary to  enable
better quality and value, The Numpty General and his advisers have
missed the point dramatically.

The problem is, that while the general public may accept these cutbacks may have been required to streamline the ‘business’ and provide better value, Thompson has threatened to cut off a limb when a few minor operations were all that was necessary. By all means cut back on the website if you must, but losing 6 music is not the way forward. Not at all! In fact, 6music
provides exactly the thing that the BBC is supposed to be about,
something that is not provided by the commercial sector. 6 music is
unique in that it is an eclectic mix, plays new and undiscovered music,
and is a welcome gem of a radio station in an arena which has become
otherwise filled with bland assembly-line clones.

Whoa! Enough with the serious stuff! A word from our
sponsors?

While I am on the subject, I will wander off on a tangent. I hate
Digital Radio, generally. Apart from the improvement in sound quality,
the quantity of stations, like Digital Television has reduced the
individuality of broadcasters. I bought a DAB radio some years ago
after being sold on the idea by, you guessed it the BBC. The BBC
stations are the only ones I will listen to, because everything else is
a pale imitation of each other – mostly pre-programmed playlists and
spoiled by too frequent and lengthy advertisements for stuff I do not
need or want.

The Director of Moronic-ness

A couple of days after the announcement, and in the midst of the
gathering storm of protest, Thompson sent out one of his lackeys, Tim
Davie.

“The BBC’s director of audio and music, Tim Davie, said today that he
is “passionate” about BBC 6 Music but it had to go because the BBC’s
network of nine standalone national radio stations had grown too big.

Davie said take-up of digital radio had been slow and he wanted to use
his budget to invest in “unique, high quality radio, not supporting a
large number of services”.”

Turns out, Davie does not have any experience in radio. He is from Marketing. So why not market 6 Music and maybe they would have more listeners? And get it on FM where the larger audience is. Duh!

The comments on the Guardian blog speak for themselves, many took issue
with the obvious contradiction.

“unique, high quality radio, not
supporting a large number of services”

As one commenter, Bexxx put it:

“This is exactly what 6Music is – high quality, distinctive and unique
content which can’t (and never would) be found in the commercial
sector. It is an asset to the BBC and precisely what I thought the BBC
was supposed to be all about. I appreciate you may need to cut some of the services you provide, but why cut something unique when some of the other services you provide are currently offered successfully
elsewhere? And why cut a station with a comparitively low budget?”

Indeed.
As you can see here, (via the Guardian) the
budget of 6 Music is £9 million a year, compared to £100 million on
foreign acquisitions, like that imported American Sci-Fi mentioned at
the beginning of this article. That could have been reduced by 25%, and
the commercial sector left to pick up the slack. I have no great
problem with the BBC buying foreign (read American usually) imports.
But if it was necessary to make cuts, that’s where it should have been.
£123 million on licence fee collection costs! I think they take the
wrong approach to this, and it seems like a huge waste of money. Make
it easier for people to pay by supplying everyone with a top-up swipe
card for example, cut out the Stalinist approach to collecting fees and
allow concessions for students and unemployed. Hearts and minds! I am
no great fan of the current system actually as it stands but I would
not prefer the alternative. I’d prefer general taxation or additional
tax on purchase of televisions and PVRs.

So what should be cut – if anything?

BBC 3 is suggested a lot it seems from phone-ins I have heard and
online, but it has produced some good comedy programmes, Gavin
and Stacey and Little Britain spring to mind. I am a huge fan of the
former, and can take or leave the latter, but I understand its
popularity. It has to be said here, that the vast majority of the
programming on BBC3 is utter-utter garbage. Apart from the occassional
jewel, it’s mostly like ITV. The only problem here is ITV is shit!
Everyone knows this, don’t they?

I don’t think it is necessary to lose BBC 3 completely, but a rethink
on the strategy of BBC 3 and 4 is surely needed, because you never know
whether you are going to get something immense or completely pointless.
That said though, I would keep them and rebrand them. At what the hell
happened to the Learning Zone? Does anyone know? Answers on a postcard
(in the comments section) please. I can understand them cutting back on
the website, perhaps. I don’t think they needed to cut back the Asian
Network either.  Personally I don’t believe they needed to
make any cuts at all, it whiffs of politics and makes no financial
sense given the relatively small budget of these channels. Look at the
so called “stars” on the BBC and their salaries, before cutting back on
entire radio stations. The combined salary of just Jonathan Ross and
Anne Robinson equals that of the entire 6 music budget! Just sayin’!
And don’t get me started about the arse that is Jeremy 
Clarkson! Or Chris “misogynist & homophobe” Moyles for that
matter, not mentioned in the budget but rumoured to be on at least as
much as Anne Robinson, just don’t go there and start me off about how
much the sexist prick Russell Brand was on before he resigned.

But I digress.

I am no financial expert and I am not going to make suggestions for
cutbacks as I honestly don’t believe that’s why they have done it. It’s
a token gesture to appease their enemies and taken no account of those
who pay their wages, the licence payers. 

Why do these cuts signify that the BBC is in danger?

Because these cuts are a giveway to the corporate sector, especially
Rupert Murdoch and News International and they can only serve to make
the BBC weaker in a hostile marketplace. If the next government is a
Tory government, especially if then the Beeb should be doing everything
it can do to protect itself, not appeasing commercial interests.

Why should anyone care?

Well if you live in the UK, then because the BBC is a cultural treasure
and it should be protected. It should not be forced into becoming
weaker by bullying tactics of the Murdoch hegemony. Even if you are
outside the UK, I would say it is also a global treasure. If you care
about music, then especially the loss of 6 music will effect new
artists who are struggling to be heard. The commercial stations will
not play these artists because they increasingly only play existing
successful bands and are lobbied by record labels to fit their agenda.

Elsewhere on the internets, one commenter compared the destruction of
the BBC as cultural vandalism on a scale comparable to the Sack of Rome. Dramatic perhaps,
but so our story returns to where it began, like many a good story, and
nary a bad one, it is a circular tale of Empire and of treachery. It
ends where it begins, and it begins where it ends.

What can be done to save 6 Music?

The official response from 6 Music itself is this

If you have any comments about the proposed closure of 6 Music or any
part of the BBC Strategy Review then you should go to

https://consultations.external.bbc.co.uk/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_view

Here you will find the full details of the Strategy Review and how to
respond to the Trust with your views on 6 Music and the review in
general. You can also email the BBC Trust about the Strategy Review at
srconsultation@bbc.co.uk  Or write to them by post:

Strategy Review Consultation
BBC Trust 180
Great Portland Street
London
1W 5QZ

Love6Music.com
has more information about how to join the campaign including Facebook
groups and using Twitter.

Also look here for a good list what you
can do to help save 6 music.

Don’t forget to tune in and listen!

Lynn at ForFolksSake.com has asked to be
cc’d on on emails sent to the trustees, and is
publishing comments on her site. Interesting reading.

Dan Bull has performed this
little ditty for the campaign. The link goes to a free mp3
download.

The main online petition is here at petition.fm

Avaaz.org have also organised a petition, see here. They will probably send
further emails if you do this, for other causes.

The most important thing is to write to the consultation above.

Save 6 Music! The Awesome Nation of 6 Music!

Related links (external)

• BBC cuts: Still not enough for Murdochs (guardian.co.uk)
• Response: It’s ludicrous to claim Rupert Murdoch draws up our media policy (guardian.co.uk)
• The BBC is caving in to a Tory media policy dictated by Rupert Murdoch | Jonathan Freedland (guardian.co.uk)
• BBC faces cuts after Tory pressure (guardian.co.uk)
• BBC chief plays the penitent before voters switch channels to the Tories (guardian.co.uk)

Kathryn Cann

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