|
A protest group credited in halting the closure of BBC 6Music are holding a festival to thank their supporters Save 6 attracted 180,000 Facebook members and organised protests outside Broadcasting House in London earlier this year. Dubbed 6 Fest, the event will feature "a diverse range of bands familiar to 6music fans, top flight compares and 6music DJs doing what they do best - playing the most excellent tunes". BBC Director General, Mark Thompson proposed axing the popular digital station but was slapped down by the Beeb Trust who said the "case had not been made". Today it was revealed that 6Music has increased its audience for the second quarter running. Its average weekly audience has doubled since last year to a record 1.194 million for the three months to the end of June, according to Rajar figures published today. The BBC's other digital stations did not fare as well - Radio 5 Live Sports Extra was down 19.1% year on year and 20.1% quarter on quarter to 547,000 listeners a week, despite the football World Cup in June. 1Xtra's audience fell 5.4% from a year ago and 9.5% on the previous quarter to a weekly average of 600,000 listeners.
"A celebration"
6 Fest co-organiser Georgina Rodgers told our friends at CMU: "This is very much a grass roots event being put together collaboratively by listeners, artists and DJs to celebrate the station that we love. It will mirror the spirit of the station - diverse, interesting, high quality artists enjoyed by inquisitive, discerning listeners". The other co-organiser, Laura Payne added: "The campaign was started on Facebook, but as like-minded, passionate fans became friends, face-to-face meetings became the best way to co-ordinate the protest against the BBC's proposals. We wanted to build on this team spirit by putting on a party for the dedicated people who fought hard to save 6music, and for the 6music DJs who are delighted to be able to continue doing what they love". It all takes place at 229 in London on 2 Oct. Tickets are on sale now from www.6fest.org, with proceeds donated to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. Additional reporting by CMU Network
|
