Radio 4 Extra

This week saw the launch of Radio 4 Extra and like most so called new stations on digital radio. It was heralded trailers promising a whole new world of listening, however any regular listener to digital radio will tell you it is all just a smoke screen. There is little new about Radio 4 Extra other than it's name. It just a rebranding of the once popular, now non existent, BBC Radio 7, with some of the programmes taken out and a sprinkling of the Archers and Desert Island disks add in. 

According to the BBC this is a drive to attract more listeners to digital radio and the leverage to do this is the Archers. This has already has caused uproar with listeners who are missing out because they listen on analogue. They feel they are missing out on something and for some of these fans of the show this is true as they simply don't have the digital coverage in there area they live.

In addition to this, many parents are up in arms at the loss of  the original stations  children's radio shows and with good reason. BBC Radio 7 was the only national radio staion, if not the only radio station in the UK, to actually broadcast younger children's programmes. Already there has been loads negative feed back about this change with comments. Surely this move is short sighted. Don't we need to encourage the young children at an early age to get into the radio listening habit, not turn them exclusively to the television? One day these people will be the adults and they won't ever have thought of turning on a radio. 

The press reaction has been mixed with some of the older reporters loving the fact that young childrens spot has been axed while others are more critical of the changes and that it is all as superficial. 

I will morn the loss of BBC Radio 7. It had it''s style and it own identity that made it different from Radio 4. It was special it wasn't Radio 4 at all but a station in it's own right. I believe that by seepage the rebranded staion will just become an station that offers Radio 4 repeats as funding cuts take force at the BBC. 

The BBC have finished yet, next on the hit list is 6 Music, another station with its own style that is going to be eaten up by Radio 2 to become a spin off station. The question will be will there be so many people listen to it when they changed its name. I'm not sure that many 6 music listeners see themselves as Radio 2 listeners at all, and they could be turned off by the whole idea. There has been a campaign to save the station since this rebranding exercise was first dreamed up and announced. I know personally that 6 Music has been slowly changing into Radio 2 and it has already lost me as a listener. I use to listened to it non stop at one point and now I would rather listen to Radio 1.