The BBC is unique in many ways. Its funding, mandate, relationship with the UK government and its array of channels are all unlike any other media organisation in the world. Sure, there are publicly owned broadcasters elsewhere but none has the array of opportunities or constraints of the BBC.

As a result, the Beeb is almost constantly the focus of political and often heated debate. The most common themes relate to the BBC's role within a free market, and specifically focus on the argument that it is wrong to have a mandatory tax' on media consumption. Opponents also claim that the Corporation creates unfair competition for the commercial sector, competition that is particularly unwelcome during a period when advertising revenues have been -at best- a little flacid.

In these times of cost-cutting and prudence, the future of the BBC has once again been in the news. Mark Thompson, the Beeb's big cheese, announced recently that he proposed cutting operating costs substantially. The most contentious element of these planned cuts was to close two digital radio stations, BBC 6 Music and BBC Asian Network. Thompson, previously known for his clear strategic thinking, made a schoolboy error as he attempted to justify his proposal. He claimed that BBC 6 Music was an expensive channel to run, given its small audience.

In fairness, it is easy to see why he mistakenly used crude quasi-commercial terms to measure the cost of this esoteric music station. To be fair, he is keen to placate a baying mob of media moguls, so using language he thinks they will appreciate is understandable. The fact is, the BBC should not measure the quality or merits of its services with such clumsy criteria.

As the chart below clearly illustrates, if the cost-per-listener or cost-per-listener-hour were genuinely pertinent calculations, he would close one or more of the provincial or local language channels.

But of course, using quantitative financial measurements in isolation is an entirely inappropriate approach for the BBC. Accounting for uniqueness and audience satisfaction is also necessary to get a handle on the true value of any given service. This requires an intelligent mix of 'qual and quant' analysis but it's far from rocket science...

Notably, as far back as the 1930s, the BBC was a pioneer in qualitative research, being one of the first media owners to employ an audience appreciation index (AI) to assess the enjoyment the public derived from programming. This measurement needs to be considered when assessing the 'value' of an oddity such as BBC 6 Music. I suspect the threatened station would score highly.

Next, there is the question of 'uniqueness', which can be measured in a number of ways. Even a junior media planner knows that some channels with a small reach have an audience which is disproportionately valuable. Such audiences either have unique or unusual demographics or they comprise people who cannot be reached (or 'served' in the case of the BBC) substantially via other media channels. In media buying terms, this is usually refered to as 'unique cover'.

A further, more sophisticated analysis might also assess the uniqueness of the content itself. I wonder how many other radio stations play The Troggs, Phillip Glass and Massive Attack within the same show? If we assess the BBC radio portfolio using a combination of all these measurements, including cost-per-hour and cost-per-listener-hour, I suspect 1Xtra or perhaps even Radio1 would be in danger of being shut down.  

Sure, the BBC should be run efficiently and diligently. Yes, Thompson is quite right to seek ways of cutting costs. And certainly, the proportion of revenues spent on the production of content is a central to any drive for efficiency. (Expenditure on on-air promotions alone for BBC1 and BBC2 currently excedes the cost of running BBC 6 Music) However, whether you support or oppose the plan, closing down 6Music and the Asian Network seems to be directly at odds with the central mandate for the BBC. (In short, providing services that cannot be delivered by the commercial sector)

The matter of promotion also needs to be considered. It's unequivocal that the threatened stations have been badly promoted from both within the BBC portfolio and externally. Amusingly, the controversy about the proposed closures has actually helped to raise awareness of the services and consequently audiences for BBC 6 Music have grown by 50% year on year.

So, if Thompson is still keen to defend his hatchet plan, I would argue he needs to send a quick email to the hundreds of very talented folks in the BBC research department. I'm confident that they could devise a more robust formula for measuring the quality and value of each channel.

Declaration: I am a one of the growing number of loyal and happy listeners of BBC 6 Music and I do not support the plans to close this exceptional station! I urge you to listen to the station and in particular, the wonderful Lauren Laverne Show.