The Future of 'On the Wire'

Everyone has heard about the cuts that are about to be made by the BBC in the "Drive for Quality" initiative. What is not so well known is how these cuts will impact the specialist shows hosted by local radio. Effectively there will be no "local radio" after seven o'clock in the evening. Shows will be shared between groups of stations. In the North West this group will be the Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside stations. At this stage it is understood that BBC Radio Lancashire will only be responsible for shared programming on a Sunday afternoon. The high probability is that any output in this slot will be in an "easy listening" format. Therefore. sometime between now and April 2013, by which time all the agreed changes will be implemented, On the Wire will disappear from the airwaves after over twenty eight years of continuous broadcasting.
The proposals are subject to public consultation by the BBC Trust - so you can have your say and, hopefully, make a difference. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust and look for the "consultation" button or write to Lord Patten, Chairman, BBC Trust, 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ. You could also write to your MP and local paper.
Failing all this being successful, we will be aiming for On the Wire to continue one way or another, preferably still within the BBC where the programme was identified as a unique BBC product by the BBC Board back in November 1991 when the show was last under threat.
Thanks for your support.
Via
@SaveOnTheWire

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A certain Steve Barker was the one that introduced Lee Scratch Perry to @onusherwood. History was made!