The BBC's director of audio and music, Tim Davie, said today that he is "passionate" about BBC 6 Music but it had to go because the BBC's network of nine standalone national radio stations had grown too big.Davie said take-up of digital radio had been slow and he wanted to use his budget to invest in "unique, high quality radio, not supporting a large number of services"."I do not believe that offering the current range of nine standalone digital networks is the right way to serve audiences and ensure radio remains strong in a digital world," said Davie, speaking for the first time about the decision to axe 6 Music, along with sister digital station, the Asian Network."Clearly we didn't arrive lightly at the decision to recommend the closure of 6 Music: it is distinctive, much-loved and I too am passionate about its output. But I believe the best way for us to provide that kind of programming is by looking at other ways to find it a bigger audience."Currently, only one in five adults have heard of it and less than one in 50 listens each week. Yes, we could invest heavily in marketing to try to address this, but my preference is to ensure that money is focussed on unique, high quality radio, not supporting a large number of services."The decision to cut the number of the BBC's digital-only stations and "do fewer things better" is a reversal of the policy pursued under Davie's predecessor, Jenny Abramsky, who was responsible for the corporation's drive into digital radio and launched the four digital-only stations, including BBC Radio 7 and BBC 5 Live Sports Extra, in 2002."While digital radio has seen growth, my concern is that current development remains slow," said Davie in a post on the BBC website."So we are proposing to reduce the number of stations and re-invest in our five core networks – Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Live – and extensions of these services, such as 1Xtra and 5 Live Sports Extra, while maintaining our overall investment in digital radio to use in a range of innovative ways to provide listeners with great digital content."For example, Radio 7 would be developed through closer ties with Radio 4, culminating in the re-branding of the station as Radio 4 Extra. This will offer listeners the best of Radio 7 as well as offering new possibilities, such as extending existing Radio 4 favourites, newly commissioned programmes and more second runs of popular programmes."Davie added: "I also believe it is essential that, as we re-invest the money currently spent on 6 Music, we protect some of its precious programming by redeploying it elsewhere in BBC radio and consider how we can also do justice to its legacy in areas like new music development."Davie said the Asian Network was being closed because the "increasing plurality and diversity of British Asian audiences are stretching the coherence and relevance of this service ... its audience reach is in decline and its cost per listener is high".He said the BBC would be "exploring a number of options for redeploying its investment, including replacing it with a network of part-time local services. We believe this would offer listeners a better service – Asian Networks where they're most relevant – closer to audiences and with a mixture of locally tailored and syndicated programmes."He added: "I know that there is real sadness that we are losing valued services, but this is part of a strategy to ensure BBC radio continues to be as relevant and popular as ever in the digital world."I am confident that these proposals are the right way for us to deliver our mission, but it's also right that licence fee payers get to have their say. That's why the BBC Trust exists: to ensure you get a chance to input before final decisions are made."
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