So, 6Music is on the way out. Ignoring for a second the fact that it was the Rupert Murdoch mouthpiece The Times which issued the ‘revelations‘, the facts do seem to be that their source is within the Beeb, and therefore quite likely to be based in fact.

For myself, 6Music’s downfall has been coming for a while now. Precisely, it’s been imminent ever since controller Lesley Douglas replaced Gideon Coe – to many the only candidate to take on Peel’s legacy – with George Lamb, a man whose broadcasting talents make Chris Moyles sound and look like Lord Reith’s wet dream. Ostensibly to widen the station’s appeal, Douglas’ move was akin to the Beeb replacing Peel with DLT in 1977… no, strike that, to, say, Harrison Ford – or some other male star with sex appeal for the ‘ladies’. As ever, the music became an afterthought, and the fact that Douglas has landed on her feet at Universal speaks volumes.

From then on the dumbing down of 6Music has left the station with fewer and fewer credible presenters – music aficionados like Jarvis Cocker and Guy Garvey have proved a success, but bringing in non-music ‘celebrities’ less so. Adam and Joe’s show has been an exception, whereas Russell Howard managed to prove that music and comedy don’t mix (Half Man Half Biscuit not withstanding). If you want comedy try BBC7? For celebrities playing their favourite records, opt for Desert Island Discs, which has descended towards being an aural version of Heat magazine anyway.

And with the likes of Richard Bacon and Liz Kershaw on board, the station’s shift away from alternative sounds towards a facsimile of Radio 2 has been under way for some time – Craig Charles’ soul show and a ‘Classic albums’ slot featuring the likes of Dark Side of the Moon leading to a station with at best an at-times bizarre musical mix, at worst a rudderless ship with an identity crisis. Take their playlist, which includes such established sounds as Goldfrapp and Arctic Monkeys, as well as force-fed major label hopes like Ellie Goulding. Phill Jupitus – whose breakfast show was one of the station’s better moments – tells a story about a listener rebellion over airplay for a U2 single. Sadly, that battle seems to have been in vain.

The problem is of course, cash. The BBC has to make cuts, and what with Moyles being on £6 million – the amount it takes to keep 6Music running, coincidentally – and the £18 million pissed away on Jonathan Ross, there’s not much left in the pot. They can justify these figures if the listener numbers add up, but with digital radio mired in its infancy, not yet.

(It’s worth mentioning Lesley Douglas’ name once again to ensure she gets full credit for sabotaging the station – ironically she was to resign over the Jonathan Ross / Russell Brand situation – which at least meant that she couldn’t continue her work at Radio 2.)

However, sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate. I started work for a company in 2000, and that date is of great significance, as Vitaminic were an internet music business. Essentially doing what iTunes do today, they were rather too far ahead of their time – selling music online when few people even knew what an mp3 was and fewer still connecting to the internet over anything better than a phone bill-bloating dial-up modem.
If loss-leading cash had been available to allow the company to ride the crest of the slump for, say, 5 years, until the rest of the world caught up with the early adopters, then, well, I might be typing this from a penthouse in somewhere a bit warmer than central Scotland.

And that (no, not splashing cash on Caribbean beach houses… although…) is essentially what the Beeb have been doing – or, allowed to do. Letting the world catch up, waiting for a time when DAB is everywhere, and the 6Music figures will be elevated to something a bit more respectable; more justifiable to their ‘stakeholders’.

Of course, these levels of cash aren’t available to the private sector. The BBC is usually in a privileged position, look at the money spent on its website – which is also subject to cutbacks and which may also be impacted along with 6Music and BBC Asian Network. Remember Xfm – its early sound after its launch (in London) was eclectic, and ‘niche’ to say the least. I’m sure I heard Tortoise on the breakfast show. Not long afterwards, a revamp, a dumbing down and wall-to-wall Kasier Chiefs and Oasis saved the station – though even this lowest common denominator programming couldn’t rescue the Scottish version).

So what next for 6Music? I’ve slated it here, of course, for… well, for not being my ideal station, which it was, albeit temporarily, after its launch. However, it’s the best we’ve got – as Jim Gellatly says, “twirl the dial in the car and it’s pish” – and if the Beeb can be persuaded to ride it out until that time on the horizon when DAB comes into everyone’s homes, and cars, and mobile phones, and the audience becomes enough to justify its existence, 6Music could once again be the station for the rest of us.

Complain to the Beeb:

Facebook group (run by Jon and Tracey Morter, of ‘RATM for Xmas no. 1’ fame) Save BBC 6MusicFacebook group

Save 6 music page