BBC Trust halts plans to close digital radio station in a report that also criticises BBC1 for dearth of 'creative risk'
Four months after declaring it attracted too few listeners to justify its existence, the BBC yesterday scrapped its proposal to close the digital radio station 6 Music, following a vociferous public campaign.
The reprieve, announced by the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, in its interim response to the closure plans put forward in March, prompted jubilant scenes at the station's London base, where one senior insider described the atmosphere as: "A mix of celebration, amazing belief in people power – and relief".
The trust said: "The case has not been made for the closure of 6 Music," but there was no such good news for Asian Network, another digital radio station that caters to a small but under-represented audience, which will close as planned.
In an unexpected move, the Trust also subjected BBC1, the corporation's flagship channel, to pointed criticism, saying its evening schedule should be more "ambitious and distinctive" and telling executives to take more "creative risks" in primetime.
"The biggest single issue for audiences is that there is no programming which is 'fresh and new' to meet their expectations," the Trust said.
The number of "unique programme titles" between 7pm and 9pm had fallen by around half since 2005, it added.
The trust also found daytime programming on terrestrial channels too derivative. "Some viewers believe parts of our schedules on each channel lack quality and have become too weighted towards long-running factual entertainment strands with similar formats and covering similar subject areas, characterised as 'collectible hunting' and property.
That could spell the end for lifestyle shows including Cash in the Attic and Bargain Hunt, which make up a large part of the BBC's daytime schedule.
The comments were included in a review of the licences the trust grants to BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4, published today after a separate public consultation, which forced the BBC on to the defensive.
Jay Hunt, the controller of BBC1, said The One Show, broadcast on weekdays at 7pm, had inevitably reduced the number of original shows on the channel in the early evening, "but its magazine format has also introduced a much wider range of subjects to viewers pre-watershed from natural history to current affairs, from consumer journalism to science.
"As the trust acknowledges, we have worked hard on BBC1 to bring viewers the very best bold and ambitious drama and factual programming at 9pm, and a real range of exciting and diverse shows between 7pm and 9pm".
Liam Keelan, controller of BBC Daytime, said the channel was already placing more emphasis on current affairs, consumer programmes and homegrown drama. "Daytime demonstrates value to audiences and value for money as we are producing programmes on budgets [£80m pa] which in television terms are quite modest".
The trust said BBC2 was performing well, but that it should be more distinctive from BBC1 by focusing on comedy, drama and documentaries – even at the risk of losing viewers.
BBC4 meanwhile was attacked for failing to adequately differentiate itself from BBC2. The trust said it would change BBC4's licence in the autumn in an attempt to make it more original and hinted that it should increase its audience.
The channel is watched by only 9% of the population.
The trust lavished praise on 6 Music, meanwhile, describing the station, which had 1.02m listeners in the first three months of this year, as "a highly distinctive" service that enjoyed "significant public support" and represented "value for money".
It was put forward for closure by executives at the corporation in March as part of a strategic review designed to save up to £600m, which was to be reinvested in programmes.
In its interim response to the review, the trust instructed BBC executives to conduct a wider study into digital radio. It said they were free to revisit the closure of 6 Music once that had been carried out. BBC director-general Mark Thompson suggested that such a move was now highly unlikely, however.
He told the Guardian: "The current management proposal for closure is off the table. We've all been struck by the passion of the listenership of 6 Music".
The trust said nearly four in five of the 50,000 online responses during its public consultation were about 6 Music. It received 250 letters and a further 25,000 emails referring to the station and "the great majority" opposed the closure.
News that 6 Music had been granted a reprieve was greeted enthusiastically by its celebrity supporters. DJ Lauren Laverne said on her Twitter feed: "6 Music has been saved. Hooooorrrayyyyy!".
Jarvis Cocker, the former singer of Pulp who hosted a show on 6 Music, said he was very happy. "The BBC should be proud of 6 Music – it provides something that can't be found anywhere else on the radio".
The BBC today also published its annual report for the year to 31 March. It revealed the combined pay of the corporation's 10 top executives totalled £4.7m in the 12 months, up from £4.6m the previous year, despite steps to reduce it.
BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, said that the increase reflected a pay rise that had been agreed in August 2008.
