Post by Ras Berry on Nov 18, 2011 19:40:27 GMT
Dear Friends
Apologies for the impersonal nature of this email but I thought you may be interested in the information below which was posted on the On the Wire site last week - www.otwradio.blogspot.com - We have already had a lot of messages of support and copies of emails sent to the BBC Trust - a sample from our friend Nick Shimmin in Sydney is reproduced below. On behalf of the On the Wire team we would be most appreciative if you could take a few minutes to let your feelings be known and also forward this message to others who may be interested
best
Steve
The Future of On the Wire
Everyone has heard about the cuts that are about to be made by the BBC
in the "Drive for Quality" initiative. What is not so well known is how these cuts will impact the specialist shows hosted local radio. Effectively there will be no "local radio" after seven o'clock in the evening. Shows will be shared between groups of stations. In the North West this group will be the Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside stations. At this stage it is understood that BBC Radio Lancashire will only be responsible for shared programming on a Sunday afternoon. The high probability is that any output in this slot will be in an "easy listening" format. Therefore,sometime between now and April 2013, by which time all the agreed changes will be implemented, On the Wire will disappear from the airwaves after over twenty eight years of continuous broadcasting.
The proposals are subject to public consultation by the BBC Trust - so you can have your say and, hopefully,make a difference. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust and look for the "consultation" button or write to Lord Patten, Chairman, BBC Trust, 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ. You could also write to your MP and local paper.
Failing all this being successful, we will be aiming for On the Wire to continue one way or another, preferably still within the BBC where the programme was identified as a unique BBC product by the BBC Board back in November 1991 when the show was last under threat.
Thanks for your support
The On the Wire team of Steve Barker, Jim Ingham and Michael Fenton
Dear Chairman
It is with immense dismay that I hear the proposed cutbacks to BBC local
radio threaten one of the jewels in the BBC crown among specialist radio
programming. For nearly three decades, BBC Radio Lancashire's ON THE WIRE
program has been at the vanguard of promoting innovative and important music
from around the world, becoming a program of great significance to a huge
number of listeners and artists. ON THE WIRE is the kind of program all
public broadcasters should be proud to produce, and it is to be hoped that
the BBC will be wise enough not to allow another unique BBC tradition to
fall victim to a philistine economic rationalism. The listeners of ON THE
WIRE implore you to intervene to secure the program's future for further
generations of music lovers.
Thank you.
Apologies for the impersonal nature of this email but I thought you may be interested in the information below which was posted on the On the Wire site last week - www.otwradio.blogspot.com - We have already had a lot of messages of support and copies of emails sent to the BBC Trust - a sample from our friend Nick Shimmin in Sydney is reproduced below. On behalf of the On the Wire team we would be most appreciative if you could take a few minutes to let your feelings be known and also forward this message to others who may be interested
best
Steve
The Future of On the Wire
Everyone has heard about the cuts that are about to be made by the BBC
in the "Drive for Quality" initiative. What is not so well known is how these cuts will impact the specialist shows hosted local radio. Effectively there will be no "local radio" after seven o'clock in the evening. Shows will be shared between groups of stations. In the North West this group will be the Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside stations. At this stage it is understood that BBC Radio Lancashire will only be responsible for shared programming on a Sunday afternoon. The high probability is that any output in this slot will be in an "easy listening" format. Therefore,sometime between now and April 2013, by which time all the agreed changes will be implemented, On the Wire will disappear from the airwaves after over twenty eight years of continuous broadcasting.
The proposals are subject to public consultation by the BBC Trust - so you can have your say and, hopefully,make a difference. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust and look for the "consultation" button or write to Lord Patten, Chairman, BBC Trust, 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ. You could also write to your MP and local paper.
Failing all this being successful, we will be aiming for On the Wire to continue one way or another, preferably still within the BBC where the programme was identified as a unique BBC product by the BBC Board back in November 1991 when the show was last under threat.
Thanks for your support
The On the Wire team of Steve Barker, Jim Ingham and Michael Fenton
Dear Chairman
It is with immense dismay that I hear the proposed cutbacks to BBC local
radio threaten one of the jewels in the BBC crown among specialist radio
programming. For nearly three decades, BBC Radio Lancashire's ON THE WIRE
program has been at the vanguard of promoting innovative and important music
from around the world, becoming a program of great significance to a huge
number of listeners and artists. ON THE WIRE is the kind of program all
public broadcasters should be proud to produce, and it is to be hoped that
the BBC will be wise enough not to allow another unique BBC tradition to
fall victim to a philistine economic rationalism. The listeners of ON THE
WIRE implore you to intervene to secure the program's future for further
generations of music lovers.
Thank you.
