BBC’s Clever Culling Techniques

March 3, 2010 – 6:11 pm by Kirsty

As the BBC announces it’s to hack away at its multi-service broadcast offering, I’m left wondering whether the Beeb is hoping to drum-up protest from sympathetic fans in a bid to secure its future.

6 Music is probably the most controversial station to be axed. Although it has a relatively small audience of 700,000, its fan base is made up of dedicated music lovers who tune in for a unique sound that can’t be heard anywhere else on the UK’s airwaves. These are the same fans who Mark Thomson may well be hoping will set up a Facebook/social media protest to save the station’s future…

Taking into account that Thomson is pretty much cornered –  as he knows that whether the next election sees Labour or The Tory party in power, the BBC’s likely to have its license fee cut – I suspect Thomson is trying to make a rather clever PR statement.

We’ve seen it all before with Cadbury’s Whisper…  a company threatens to pull a brand and then sits back and watches as fans start huge Facebook/Twitter/blog campaigns to save it.

I’m sure the rebellious statements about the planned 2011 closure of 6 Music issued today by Jarvis Cocker and comedian Phil Jupitas will be music to Thomson’s ears.

Tags: 6 music, BBC, Mark Thomson, pr