Strategy v Tactics

Four related posts about the BBC strategy review

A retreat is a tactic, not a strategy. When the BBC launched 1Xtra and the Asian Network, diversity was big in the BBC's thinking. At the turn of the millennium, how was a BBC falling short of its own internal diversity targets ever to keep touch with the fastest growing populations in the country ? Were young British blacks and Asians being alienated from the pop service of Radio 1, and turning to MTV Base, Zee TV, local pirates, grime on Myspace, etc, never to come back to the BBC ? Greg Dyke and Jenny Abramsky were behind the response - 1Xtra came straight onto DAB in August 2002. The Asian Network (previously a loose federation of afternoon and evening programmes shared by some BBC local radio stations) followed in October that year.

1xtra is still going to be there, but some, like Pierre Perrone argue that the black music it championed has come in to the mainstream. I suspect the BBC has simply decided this one's easier to do more cheaply. It is possible to drive digital music stations from iPods.

The Asian Network has had a bumpier ride, with three changes of direction in its content. This must look like product failure to a marketing man like Tim Davie, and, in sending Asian content back to local stations (where audiences are also on the wane), the argument will be that there is at least something for the various "communities". This is a sad retreat, not a strategy. But please read my post about "Marketing v Product Choice".

Another tactic masquerading as a strategy in the BBC's document is the argument that listeners to "pop" music between the ages of 30 and 50 should be served by commercial radio, so bye-bye, 6Music. This is very poor and blunt audience segmenting, and a hostage to fortune for the BBC's future in radio. Music is increasingly about your tastes, not your age. 6Music is not "pop"; it has inherited the Peel mantle of supporting new music - both in an eclectic and wide playlist, and in live performances. There are no incentives for commercial radio to match it, yet it fosters an important part of the UK's culture and earning potential. Bands get credibility and sell tickets when they get on 6Music. The better ones go on to international success, make money, and give the UK an impact around the world way beyond its population size. It's an argument the BBC used to make when defending Radio 1 - without John Peel, Frankie Goes to Hollywood would never have smashed international sales records. (Maybe Deloittes should have included it here).

For around £6m of the £600m being "re-invested", the 6Music decision has alienated a loyal audience, many of whom will be the household licence-payer; a range of cultural icons; and, I suspect, some of the BBC Trust, who only weeks ago gave the station a clean bill of health for meeting its "public purposes". (By the way, there is discrepancy about running costs - The Trust paper puts it at £6m; last year's BBC accounts put it at £9m).

The only record I can find Mark Thompson being passionate about in web utterings is "The Great Gig In The Sky" by Pink Floyd; the only national station that seems to have played it in the past three years is 6Music.