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Rival slams 'mediocre' BBC Asian Network
Tuesday, March 2 2010, 13:15 GMT
By Andrew Laughlin,
Sunrise Radio founder Avtar Lit has described the output of BBC Asian Network as "mediocre" and said that the digital station missed a "wonderful opportunity" to embrace British Asians.
BBC director general Mark Thompson confirmed today that Asian Network and BBC 6 Music are facing the axe as part of a major overhaul of the corporation.
After the plans were leaked last Friday, a campaign started on Facebook to save Asian Network, which has already attracted over 7,000 members.
However, Lit told The Guardian that the station has been given a "bloody nose" by its commercial rivals and the Asian community "wouldn't give a toss" if it went off air.
"They had a wonderful opportunity to connect with the Asian community and it has been rejected," said Lit.
"The BBC was never really serious about providing a service for the Asian community. It's a token service, they have ignored them for decades."
He added: "The difficulty is I don't think anyone knows what they are doing there. They are all politically correct and not running it like a business. They are not living in the real world, they are not living in the Asian community.
"They think because it's the BBC, people will have an automatic allegiance to it. They have come up against commercial radio and got a bloody nose out of it. I don't think the Asian community would give a toss [if it closed down]. Some MPs might make a lot of noise about it."
Launched on analogue in 1988, Asian Network went digital in 2002 and now has an annual budget of £12.1 million. The station achieved an average weekly reach of 360,000 listeners in the final quarter of 2009, down from 379,000 in the same period in 2008 and 535,000 five years ago.
As Sunrise Radio costs around £3.5m a year to run, Lit said that he was "absolutely amazed" to hear the size of Asian Network's budget considering its "mediocre" programmes and presenters.
"How do you spend £12m on a radio station when the entire commercial radio industry's budget [for Asian stations] including community stations up and down the country doesn't even touch £9m? I would be more than happy to programme the Asian Network for £3m a year," he said.
"They went head-to-head with commercial broadcasters. If they had done more speech programming they might have fared better. There has been a lack of understanding in senior management."
Despite being a "constant critic" of Asian Network, Asians in Media editor Sunny Hundal claimed that it is vital for the station to remain in operation as it provides a platform for Asian music.
"Axing Asian Network would kill off vital media space for a lot of British Asian content and culture that does not get represented on commercial alternatives," said Hundal.
"It is within the BBC's remit to represent and give a platform to minority interests that need a mainstream platform to develop and grow."
Tuesday, March 2 2010, 13:15 GMT
By Andrew Laughlin,
Sunrise Radio founder Avtar Lit has described the output of BBC Asian Network as "mediocre" and said that the digital station missed a "wonderful opportunity" to embrace British Asians.
BBC director general Mark Thompson confirmed today that Asian Network and BBC 6 Music are facing the axe as part of a major overhaul of the corporation.
After the plans were leaked last Friday, a campaign started on Facebook to save Asian Network, which has already attracted over 7,000 members.
However, Lit told The Guardian that the station has been given a "bloody nose" by its commercial rivals and the Asian community "wouldn't give a toss" if it went off air.
"They had a wonderful opportunity to connect with the Asian community and it has been rejected," said Lit.
"The BBC was never really serious about providing a service for the Asian community. It's a token service, they have ignored them for decades."
He added: "The difficulty is I don't think anyone knows what they are doing there. They are all politically correct and not running it like a business. They are not living in the real world, they are not living in the Asian community.
"They think because it's the BBC, people will have an automatic allegiance to it. They have come up against commercial radio and got a bloody nose out of it. I don't think the Asian community would give a toss [if it closed down]. Some MPs might make a lot of noise about it."
Launched on analogue in 1988, Asian Network went digital in 2002 and now has an annual budget of £12.1 million. The station achieved an average weekly reach of 360,000 listeners in the final quarter of 2009, down from 379,000 in the same period in 2008 and 535,000 five years ago.
As Sunrise Radio costs around £3.5m a year to run, Lit said that he was "absolutely amazed" to hear the size of Asian Network's budget considering its "mediocre" programmes and presenters.
"How do you spend £12m on a radio station when the entire commercial radio industry's budget [for Asian stations] including community stations up and down the country doesn't even touch £9m? I would be more than happy to programme the Asian Network for £3m a year," he said.
"They went head-to-head with commercial broadcasters. If they had done more speech programming they might have fared better. There has been a lack of understanding in senior management."
Despite being a "constant critic" of Asian Network, Asians in Media editor Sunny Hundal claimed that it is vital for the station to remain in operation as it provides a platform for Asian music.
"Axing Asian Network would kill off vital media space for a lot of British Asian content and culture that does not get represented on commercial alternatives," said Hundal.
"It is within the BBC's remit to represent and give a platform to minority interests that need a mainstream platform to develop and grow."