BBC axe Services to make way for new shows

I feel that this merits it's own thread, as it's the second to top story of BBC's News at 6 and it's better than hopping from thread to thread.

Anyways, the BBC are bringing in new shows and such, but to fund all of this, some services are being axed.

6 Music and Asian Network are for the chop.
Half of the websites on BBC Online will be gone by 2013.
BBC Switch will go.
BBC Blast will go.

All of above is according to the News site, and 5 so called advantages.

1. The best journalism in the world
2. Inspiring knowledge, music and culture
3. Ambitious UK drama and comedy
4. Outstanding children's content
5. Events that bring communities and the nation together

6 Music and Asian Network have Facebook groups against their closure, and their not going to bring in as many US Shows any more.

Discuss. And also, the BBC Trust has to agree, so this may not be hard fact.

Also they are proposing tighter limits on spending for sports rights and possible networking during off peak slots on BBC Local Radio.

Wrong totally wrong. Expansion should be the way forward funded by levies on Subscriptions to pay Television services, so that those who choose not to pay are not deprived of sport and entertainment by those who do. Some redistribution of wealth would occur too.

why not sack some senior management, cut costs by moving out of expensive commercial properties and go into their own (A lá Pebble Mill and BBC Manchester)

The BBC is moving out of its Manchester location because it's so expensive. It's actually cheaper to rent commercial properties, where the burden of upkeep and renovation isn't funded by the BBC.

Okay, that is the official BBC talk.

Pebble Mill cost a peppercorn £2000 a year, the mailbox costs near £3m a year. To renovate the Mill it would have cost £8/9m, clearly it was suit wearers in London making the decisions.
I expect the situation at Manchester to be the same.

Don't forget 6music and it's potential closure is already being discussed in Birdsong.
http://www.metropol247.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=101633#p101633

The idea to reduce programme pages online is ridiculous. They've just started adding pages for every BBC programme?! I do agree BBC Online is far to big though.

Shame about 6 Music, on the grounds it was axed why not axe Radio 3 aswell! Regarding Asian Network, I don't know one British Muslim that listens to it, its hardly advertised (same with 6 Music) so I understand that demise.

6 Music does something that no other commercial stations could achieve. It fills a gap in the market and surely the BBC is there for this?

BBC Switch has always baffled me. Pointless tosh that should be left to the commercial sector as the likes of Nick/C4 already create content and do it well.

This drive to make the BBC appeal to younger audiences just wont work, Radio 1 has always appealed to a wide audience, people in their 30s often want to keep in touch with young popular culture, so why is it so terrible they listen to a 'youth only' station?

I know lots of Taxi drivers like AN, if it goes perhaps WM could take it's studio at the Mailbox.

To be fair there is a bit of crap reporting on the website side of things. "Halving a website"

From the BBC's Internet Blog this is a more useful quote



So in other words, there will be a few closures but more tidying and not launching grand sites for every minor show, instead using the /programmes pages better. Which is exactly the way they were going anyway so it's basically rehashing what they were doing into something that can be gobbled up by the idiot-rags as BIG CUTS when its not.

£2000 a year for what? where did you get that figure from?

That may have been the ground rent on the site or the building but that's by no means the total amount it would have cost for the upkeep of a building and site that big! It's like renting a house instead of buying it, it might cost more to rent... but you don't have to pay for any of it's upkeep.

You've also not taken into account the money raised from selling it, they sold a very large area of land at the height of the property boom

You know them all do you? Besides it's also aimed at ALL British Asians (Indians, Bangladeshis etc) and IIRC is also on AM across the midlands??