Digital station now attracts more listeners than its analogue stablemate and deserves a wider audience, says Tom Watson

The BBC’s digital music station 6 Music, home to presenters including Lauren Laverne, Guy Garvey and Jarvis Cocker, should be rewarded for its burgeoning popularity by being gifted Radio 3’s FM frequency, according to Labour MP Tom Watson.

Watson, a self-confessed 6 Music fan who namechecked rock band Drenge in a resignation letter to Ed Miliband said the station, which was almost shut down four years ago, was a “huge success story” and should be introduced to a wider audience.

Even thought it is only available on digital platforms, including digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio, 6 Music overtook Radio 3 in the last official listening figures, with 1.89 million listeners a week in the second quarter of this year, against 1.88 million.

Watson said: “It does strike me if the Radio 3 audience continues to diminish and 6 Music continues to grow its audience, the BBC should seriously consider it, they must put it on their agenda.

“6 Music is a huge success story for the BBC. They tried to close it down and its audience doubled, they now have more listeners digitally than Radio 3 has got on both digital and the FM network.

“On those terms 6 Music should be knocking at the door for that FM slot and they would have an even bigger audience [on FM]. There are a lot of discriminating music listeners out there, they have built a very powerful brand and a strong offer. They only way they are going to expand is getting an FM slot and I think it’s worth the BBC considering.”

Watson, speaking after an appearance at the Radio Festival in Salford on Monday, said: “I’m a 6 Music fan, I readily admit I’ve got a particular position on it. I’m not saying close Radio 3, but I’m saying it’s becoming a niche station and niche stations can be provided for digitally and over the net.”

A BBC spokesman said: “We are very proud of both stations and think they are working brilliantly for listeners as they are, so we see no reason to change their broadcast arrangements.”

6 Music long ago eclipsed Radio 3 in terms of total radio listening, with 16.2 million hours a week against Radio 3’s 10.5 million.

More than half of the population (57%) listens to digital radio at least once a week, via DAB radio, online or digital TV.

But the lion’s share of listening remains on analogue platforms such as FM, with 36.8% of all listening via digital platforms in the second quarter of this year.

It means an FM berth would almost certainly lead to a further boost in 6 Music’s audience, which has trebled in the last five years, from just 595,000 in the second quarter of 2009.

The BBC said it would close it a year later, only for the decision to be reversed by the BBC Trust following an unprecedented campaign by listeners. Its proposed axing, and subsequent U-turn, has been described as the best marketing campaign the station could ever have had.

Radio 3’s audience has remained broadly flat, hovering around the 2 million mark over the last decade or so despite some ups and downs. Arts Council chief executive Alan Davey has just been announced its new controller, succeeding Roger Wright.

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