DJs slam 'dumb' BBC radio

The BBC is facing fresh charges of dumbing down from top DJs and celebrities over changes to its London radio station.

Former lead singer of The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, and DJs Paul Oakenfold and Jon Carter (husband of Radio 1 breakfast show host Sara Cox) are backing a campaign calling for the return of Radio London's popular late-night music shows.

The BBC has received more than 500 letters complaining about the decision to replace five programmes - including Solid Steel, presented by DJs Coldcut (aka Matt Black and Jonathan More) and the Ross Allen show - with interviews and phone-ins on the Sadie Nine show.

Fans of specialist music have been angered by the decision, claiming the Sadie Nine slot, which has featured guests including Max Clifford, Mr Motivator and Shane Ritchie, goes against the BBC's remit to cater for audiences not served by the commercial sector.

A website set up by the campaign, Londumb Live, argues that the corporation is refusing to respond to the demands of Radio London's core audience.

A spokesman said: "The BBC's responses to complaints about the station fail to argue the case on real issues - leaving Londoners frustrated by the corporation's seeming indifference to its remit."

The website states that the BBC is simply "providing poor-quality imitations of programming widely available on the radio via LBC, 5 Live, Radio 4 and Talksport".

DJ Jonathan More condemned the BBC move, which he said was symptomatic of today's lack of diversity on the airwaves.

"I feel very strongly that there should be more diversity," he said. "It's the BBC's job to help promote this. It's harder and harder for this business to sign new talent. Broadcastingis crucial to this." He added: "I'm very concerned about the general reduction in quality on the radio.

"This is a vibrant country and this diversity is not reflected on the radio."

The Association of Independent Music, which promotes small bands and acts, has now weighed into the row, writing to the BBC and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to complain.

Chief executive Alison Wenham said the BBC was neglecting its public-service duty. "The BBC is not here to compete with commercial radio stations," she argued.

"It's about time the music industry made a statement about the need for people to listen to a wider tapestry of music."

The Londumb Live spokesman said: "London is the most culturally diverse city in the world. Radio London offers exposure for breaking British music and helps feed British exports. The independent music industry is concerned about the fact that a public service broadcaster is not interested in this important part of the city's cultural life."

He claimed the listening figures had suffered - dropping from 430,000 listeners to as low as 250,000 - since the station was rebranded from GLR to BBC London three years ago. This suggested Londoners had rejected the BBC's changes, he said.

But a spokeswoman for BBC London said: "We're getting a very good response to the changes we've made," adding that the station's figures "rarely" fell below 300,000.

She claimed the capital's music scene was extremely well served by the commercial sector and said: "We've still got lots of music on BBC London - we've got Rampage, Miss P and Smoking Jo to name just a few - so it's not right that we're neglecting music in London." Controversy over the station has raged since 2000, when the BBC set out to transform GLR from the "scruffy student" of the BBC's radio portfolio to a more consumerfriendly entity with more talk shows and phone-ins.

A huge protest campaign was mounted at the time, spearheaded by the former Creation Records boss Alan McGee, but failed to reverse the BBC's plans.

Mr McGee even offered to buy the station for an estimated £20 million in a bid to keep it broadcasting more "left-field" music, but under station chief David Robey the BBC forged ahead with its plans.