Counting time

Who saved 6Music ?  I think it was a generation brought up on the Matthew Bannister/Trevor Dann version of Radio 1, from the mid-90s on. They enjoyed the blood-sport of destroying dinosaur DJs, and liked the idea of new British music by new British artists. Say they were at school then, they probably watched Byker Grove in the afternoons on BBC1; either Live & Kicking on BBC1 or CD:UK on ITV on Saturday mornings; the move of Top of the Pops from Thursday to Friday in 1997, meant a clash with Corrie, and so perhaps they sneaked out of single-telly households for a cheeky bottle of cider then. The audience for Top of the Pops sank through scheduling.

In their twenties, in the middle of the UK housing boom, came 6Music, giving them continued lifestyle support and CD suggestions.

When closure was proposed, this was the generation of Facebook and Twitter. No need for envelopes to mount a campaign. No need even to get out of bed; tweet from your mobile - 140 characters clarifies your thinking. The Trustees had to listen, and saved 6Music.

Is there a constituency that will save BBC3 ?  The presenters' union is at it, and some comedy writers. The online petition is up to around 150,000. It ought to be doing better - BBC3's weekly reach is 15.6m, admittedly measured by three minutes consecutive viewing, but, nonetheless, 27% of the population. That compares with 6Music's reach of around 700,000 when it was first threatened.

Perhaps the truth is that the BBC really lost "yoof" in the Thompson custody period. Children's telly gone to channels with embarassing names for the pre-pubescent, replaced with quizzes for Granny. Top of the Pops gone; Saturday mornings given over to posh cooking. Live music represented by Jools Holland, turning 50. Radio 1 fronted by good-time Chris Moyles, talking, talking and talking.

It may have to be the Trust alone this time - and they might just do it. Something for everyone is the bedrock of the licence fee and the Trust's view of service licences. Otherwise, let's pack it all in and go for subscription; you'll end up with the National-Trust-TV we seem to be heading for anyway - all Farrow and Ball, antiques, midwives and niceness; no skateboard parks, loud music or rude words. You're welcome.