BBC 6Music, the BBC Asian Network and much of Auntie’s website could be shuttered, according to a new report. The BBC has yet to issue an official statement, but the threat of closure of the digital music station has sparked uproar online already, with calls to save BBC 6Music trending on Twitter.
The Times report, published this morning, states that BBC director-general Mark Thompson will reveal plans to kill the two digital stations and half of the BBC website next month in a bid to save money. Spending on broadcast rights for sports coverage will also be capped at 8.5 percent of the licence fee.
Within minutes, a backlash in support of BBC 6Music broke out on Twitter, and at the time of writing, the #savebbc6music hashtag is the top trend on the microblogging service in the UK, with “BBC 6Music” at number five, and “BBC Asian Network” at number nine.
Fans of BBC 6Music are already calling for solutions to save the station, pointing out that “BBC 6Music could be entirely funded (£6m a year) for less than Chris Moyles salary (£6.3m).” The Facebook group Save BBC 6Music has also swelled to 59,656 members.
Should the BBC axe BBC 6Music? Does George Lamb deserve to go or is the Beeb killing off the only source of original new music on the airwaves? Jot your two cents down in the comment below.
Update: contrary to the quote above, Chris Moyles actually receives a salary of far less than £6.3m, it was £630,000 prior to a pay cut in November 2009. Still, hardly chicken feed.
