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BBC Trust rejects 6 Music closure but the campaign goes on
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be the first to commentThe BBC Trust has rejected the BBC's plans to close the digital radio station 6 Music. In his initial response to the BBC strategy review, BBC Trust chair Sir Michael Lyons said that the case for the closure of 6 Music had not been made. He said the trust would consider closing 6 Music only as part of a wider strategy on the future of digital radio. But the trust accepted plans to close the Asian Network, cut 25% of the online budget and close teen service Blast!
High-profile campaigns to save 6 Music and to stop all the other proposed cuts were set up after a strategic review of the BBC's services was announced last March. These included parliamentary lobbying, meetings and email actions.
The planned closures identified in the review needed the approval of the BBC Trust. The trust said: “As things stand, the case has not been made for the closure of 6 Music. It noted the 6 Music audience was 600,000 a week at the time of the review, but had since risen to one million listeners. It added that 78% of the online responses to the public consultation had focused on 6 Music.
The NUJ welcomed the announcement that BBC 6music would be saved but called on the trust to rethink the go-ahead it has given to other planned cuts. While the BBC Trust rejected the proposal to close BBC 6 Music, it failed to give a reprieve to the BBC Asian Network - which still faces closure and endorsed the proposal to cut the BBC's website budget by 25%, despite the negative effect it would have on content and jobs.
NUJ general secretary, Jeremy Dear said, “The Trust's rejection of the proposal to close BBC 6 Music vindicates the campaign of opposition which the NUJ, BECTU and other organisations and individuals have been running since the proposals were first made public. However, given the continued threat to BBC Asian Network, local radio and the BBC website, the fight goes on.
Meanwhile in its review of TV services, the trust said BBC One should be “more ambitious and distinctive". It said BBC Two needed to become “a clearer alternative to BBC One, even at the risk of reaching fewer viewers". Both BBC One and BBC Two in daytime were “not meeting audience expectations" on the delivery of public purposes, the trust said.
Details at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/july/strategy_review.shtml
BBC Annual Report, also published today, is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/
DATELINE: 5 July, 2010
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