Axe ‘commercial’ Radio 1, not 6Music, fans tell BBC

The news that the BBC is cutting back its radio network has caused uproar among fans of one of the threatened stations, 6Music. As soon as the news broke, a campaign to save the alternative music station was mobilised and immediately became the top trending topic on Twitter.

Within hours a Facebook group demanding that 6Music be spared had attracted 60,000 members, and the BBC appears to have a fight on its hands.

Notwithstanding the fact that 6Music's audience is almost entirely made up of music fans who are Facebook and Twitter users, a similar demographic to the one which helped Rage Against the Machine to the Christmas number one, the decision also raises questions about the remit of the BBC and the purpose of the cutbacks.

The corporation may have thought that, as the station attracts just 620,000 listeners a week and apparently only 20 per cent of the population have even heard of it, it could be swiftly and painlessly dispatched, thus saving the BBC £6m a year.

However, the raison d'etre for the associated cutbacks at the BBC's online operation appears to be to avoid trampling over its commercial rivals.

The paradox is that 6Music has few, if any, commercial rivals and that is one of the reason fans are so passionate about it. The station plays a mixture of old and new music, none of it mainstream. It also has a roster of presenters ranging from musicians like Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker and Fun Lovin' Criminals frontman Huey Morgan, to well respected DJs like Lauren Laverne and Marc Riley. It even plays host to Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. 

As one 6Music fan told The First Post this morning: "If the BBC is worried about commercial stations it should axe Radio 1."

The BBC is also said to want to increase "original British content" in its TV output. Fans of 6Music will claim that the station does exactly that, only on the radio, by championing up-and-coming bands and promoting new talent.

Such is the support the station is getting that presenter Richard Bacon was moved to comment on Twitter: "6 Music will not only survive but emerge stronger because everyone's about to find out just how much this radio station matters."

What is clear is that a lot more people have heard of 6Music since it emerged it was to be axed than had heard of it yesterday evening. ·