A coalition of teachers and education experts is calling on the BBC to abandon its flagging Asian Network and create a station geared specifically towards young children instead…

Susan Stranks, the broadcaster and Sound Start Group campaigner, said: “The Asian Network has had an eight year trial costing in excess of £56 million.

“This two year assessment will cost £3.6 million, saving money and supporting families with young children in every sector of the community, including those learning English as a foreign language.”

A poll by Ipsos MORI found that 23 per cent of people believe a children’s radio station should be the BBC’s highest priority. By comparison, 19 per cent favoured 5 Live Extra, 17 per cent R7, 16 per cent 6 Music, 9 per cent Radio 1Xtra, and 7 per cent the Asian Network.

Hat tip: BizAsia

http://media247.co.uk/bizasia/newsarchive/2010/07/bbc_asian_netwo_51.php

More links and analysis when I’m back from hols, but in a nutshell… nobody really cares.

It looks to have been even more of a flop than the London Bhangra Flashmob, with hardly anyone involved who was not one of the organisers (in the black T-shirts). The BBC Asian Network is headquartered in Birmingham’s Mailbox shopping centre, so it is hugely symbolic that the Birmingham protest was a dismal failure.

There is not one picture or video clip from last weekend’s demos- London or Birmingham- that would convince anyone of a national demand for the Asian Network. If the organisers of these events were even sincere about saving the station, they have failed and have now consigned it to its fate.

In future, if people want to go in the press and try to chat big chat like they know what it’s all about, they really need to be sure they can deliver.

Otherwise they just look like jokers.

Billed by organiser Sunny Hundal as ‘The World’s first and biggest BHANGRA FLASHMOB‘, the invitation was sent out to 10,000 people (mostly Asian) on Facebook.

As the video shows towards the end, only a handful of people came to this ‘flashmob’, and around 10 of them were the organisers. The large crowd of (mostly non-Asian) people shown dancing in the video are all from the ‘Save 6 Music’ demo that was held in the same place at the same time.

This is  realistically the final curtain for the Asian Network as a national station.

If the biggest   ego name in Asian media cannot gather enough support to even merit a look (or a news story) from the BBC, then it is game over.

Sunny Hundal‘s reputation, already damaged by his political miscalculation in backing the Liberal Democrats at the general election, has also taken a heavy blow through failing to organise a significant demonstration. The Guardian might like to think twice about mindlessly re-printing his press-releases in the future.

As we have said repeatedly on this blog, the Asian Network cannot win back all the listeners it has lost by simply doing more of the same.

Anyone watching that video can see beyond doubt that the VAST majority of British Asians simply do not care about the station in its current form. If they do not care, then there is no reason anyone else nationally should care either.  If there was a shred of honesty among anyone on that stage, they would admit that the station needs a radical content overhaul to make it relevant to modern British Asians.

MixTogether.org’s committee and members stand ready to consult with the Asian Network on content that would win it a loyal audience among mixed couples. We proposed this to the management last year as a way of raising the audience numbers, but our idea was rejected.

Now it looks distinctly like the station is sleepwalking into irrelevance, along with Sunny Hundal.

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Update-  Twitter reactions to the demo:

Tigerstyle

“London demo to #SaveBBCAsianNetwork was weak!!! I’m SHOCKED!!! I cud count the brown people on my fingers and toes it was that WEAK!!!!”

“Maybe we shoud resign to the fact that most Asian British artists are comfortable being “non-concious” and passive. What u guys think?”

Audio Dakoos

“Calling all unsigned, introducing and rising star artists in brit asian music, these bhangra artists have had their time, now its our time.”

“We dont need to stand under the shadow of bhangra artist nemore. go out their & do your thing. Rnb, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Dnb. get it out there.”

“& lets start scrapping the word Desi.”

Bobby Friction

“lost in shoreditch…wid da pinot grigio white. music…not radio, not desi, or anything else…is future.x”

Reputable Asian Media news site Biz Asia reports that Ranvir Singh Verma- a musician- will walk backwards 120 miles between London and Birmingham.

While this is a noble effort (Mr Verma models his task on Indian holy man Lotan Baba) it is pointless in terms of saving the Asian Network.

The only thing that can save the Asian Network is for it to win back over 150,000 listeners and slash its cost base. When national spending is being slashed to try and tackle the deficit, the BBC cannot possibly justify a national license for a failing radio station that nobody listens to.

Bhangra flashmobs and walking backwards do nothing to bring back listeners to the Asian Network, or to cut the station’s costs. Only better content will attract listeners.

MixTogether submitted a popular and well-supported proposal for new content to the Asian Network last year, but our ideas were rejected out of hand. We are still prepared to work with the Asian Network to develop new content if they are really serious about winning back listeners, but it doesn’t look too promising.

Reputable Asian media news site BizAsia comments on the 2010 Q1 Rajar figures:

…the BBC Asian Network suffered yet another blow. Considering it has had immense press coverage about its proposed closure, the station saw a drop of 3,000 listeners-from 360,000 to a weekly reach standing now at 357,000.

Overview of BBC Asian Network
This time last year: 405,000
As it stands now: 357,000
Difference: – 48,000

MixTogether has said this repeatedly over the last year, but it bears saying yet again: the reason the Asian Network is losing listeners is because of its content.

Our argument has been completely vindicated this week at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. The Asian Network won two awards, but these were NOT for its music or lifestyle content. BizAsia again has the details:

Nihal’s self-titled weekday discussion show won the Gold Award for ‘Best Speech Programme’… The Sony Radio Academy described the show as “consistently engaging with its audience so powerfully that you have to stop everything and listen.” Nihal was described as “an exceptional presenter who is sensitive and challenging in equal part and, above all, informed. Quite simply, brilliant.”

…A short report produced by BBC Birmingham for the BBC Asian Network called ‘Passport To Murder’ walked away with the Bronze Award at the event too… in the ‘Best News Special’ category… the BBC Asian Network’s production was appreciated. “This programme exposed, through strong case studies and some truly shocking stories, the unsolved cases of missing or dead British Asians, giving a voice to families of silent victims.”

Nihal’s show frequently confronts issues like forced marriage and mixed race relationships, along with other Asian social problems.

When will the Asian Network get it?

Nobody really cares about their Bollywood or Bhangra output, or their rip-offs of successful underground black music styles. These are already provided by more successful stations anyway.

What people want to hear from a BBC Asian station is content that challenges Asian social problems. Nihal understands this, which is why he is being moved up the ranks into Radio1 and winning lots of awards.

Other Asian Network presenters and high-profile Asian media figures prefer to ignore the elephant in the room and pretend that more ‘Bhangra Beatzzz’ will magically make everything OK. Prime examples are the planned blowout summer of Mela broadcasts by the Asian Network and the incredibly frivolous ‘Bhangra Flashmob’ planned for Liverpool Street station on May 22nd. Neither of these ideas does anything to deliver higher quality content to the Asian Network: there’s no point changing the lightbulbs if the lights aren’t on.

MixTogether remains ready to work with the Asian Network to develop content. That is, until their commercial rivals work out where the real prizes are to be found in Asian broadcasting…

With the station’s audience in terminal decline, Asian Network management have decided to spend what could be their last big slice of license fee cash on a blowout summer of live Mela broadcasts.

Mark Strippel, Head of Music and Events, BBC Asian Network, says: “BBC Asian Network places real importance in connecting with the roots of the British-Asian audience. I’m thrilled that this year we’re able to announce a stronger and bigger Mela campaign than ever before, with 13 local partnerships and activity in 10 locations across the UK, including Manchester, Bradford, London, Leicester, Cardiff and Glasgow. We’ll be bringing a multiplatform broadcast treatment to each of the events, including live broadcasts from the heart of each community.”

This announcement comes less than a year after the Asian Network was criticised by the BBC Trust for being the BBC’s most expensive radio station per listener hour. The Director General of the BBC has proposed converting the network into 5 local stations in the biggest Asian areas, to reflect the its declining audience.

Splashing out on their biggest ever summer programme is a desperate and futile attempt to win back listeners. At best it will result in a temporary spike, if the Network even manages to retain its national license.  The fundamental problem, as MixTogether has been trying to explain to the BBC for well over a year, is that the Asian Network‘s content is not sufficiently appealing. Throwing money at the problem will simply create a temporary spike in interest, as was visible in early ’08 when the expensive Fallon ‘Drum’ campaign was launched (see below).

Asian Network Listener Numbers

Our offer to help the Asian Network come up with content that will appeal to mixed couples still stands.

However after the next set of Rajar figures on Thursday, the writing may well be on the wall for the station, and its staff.

Survivors of forced marriage go on UK tour – Independent

“Each summer hundreds of girls and boys, largely from South Asian communities, travel with their families to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where they are forced into marriages… Those working to stop the practice say the period just before the summer holiday is always their busiest time of the year. They hope that prompting survivors to tell their own stories will encourage children at risk to come forward and local authorities to take those fears seriously when they do.”

We wish Karma Nirvana the very best of luck with this vital work, and commend them for boldly communicating their message in this way. Yet it is sad to see them launching another drive to hammer this message home. The same ‘news’ about children being at risk of forced marriage was brought up before last year’s summer holidays.

What exactly was it about this very serious message that was not communicated properly to schools last year? Why are Karma Nirvana having to devote precious time and energy to repeating the same message?

It does not take a genius to work out that there is a direct correlation between the relative concentration of an Asian community and the incidence of forced marriage and honour based violence in that area. The areas considered most at risk are the areas with the highest concentrations of Asian families: Derby, Nottingham, Huddersfield, Leicester, Oldham, Hounslow, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Bradford and Leeds (as reported by the Independent)*.

Yet apparently the Police, local councils and teachers in those areas are not sufficiently aware of the problems underneath their noses. Instead it requires a group of volunteers to tell under-16s that they are at risk of kidnap, druggings, beatings, rape and possibly murder, in the HOPE that they will access local authority assistance, and the HOPE that the local authority will respond appropriately. Here’s hoping.

It is a disgrace that the only group prepared to tour well-known problem areas is Karma Nirvana. This is a deep-rooted social problem that requires focus and resources to eradicate. One charity cannot do it alone.

EVERYONE knows what forced marriage and honour based violence are, and where they mainly occur.  The Government knows where the problems are; so does the Opposition.

Without a shadow of a doubt, so does the whole of the tiny Asian Media clique that controls the newspapers, radio stations and blogs with the power to speak to and influence those communities.

There used to be a concern that misplaced cultural sensitivity was leading the ‘white establishment’ to overlook the plight of young Asian women and men. Today the problem is a misplaced cultural loyalty among the ‘Asian establishment’  that is preventing those who could help the most from pitching in.

The supposedly ‘Asian tinged’ Pickled Politics blog run by Sunny Hundal has stopped reporting on cases like those of Geeta Aulakh and Aliza Mirza, and no longer runs news items like the Karma Nirvana tour. It regularly carries news items about the BNP, but is yet to compare the BNP threat to the problems that Karma Nirvana are trying to highlight. It is clear where the more immediate danger to young Asians actually lies: BNP members are not kidnapping ‘hundreds of girls and boys’ and forcing them into marriage.

Similarly the BBC Asian Network is not doing enough to help. They insist that their phone-ins are sufficient as a way to air difficult issues. If that was true, we would have seen a drop in the number of forced marriages by now. Instead the number of reported forced marriages and honour crimes has rocketed in the last 3 years.

It is not true to say that the BBC Asian Network is doing anything like enough to help, and the Police statistics prove it.

How much more help would it be if someone like Bobby Friction gave a bit of public support to campaigners against forced marriage. It should be no more controversial than supporting, say, an anti-racist or anti-bullying charity, so what is the problem? Why is the whole Asian Network- from Managers to DJs- incapable of admitting that they could do more? If they are serious about tackling the issues that dominate their phone-ins, why don’t they ask the volunteers and campaigners who actually fight honour crimes what they should do? Instead they arrogantly assume that they are doing enough- THEY AREN’T.

Karma Nirvana deserve admiration, respect and donations as they prepare to tour the country.  Whether those in the Asian Media who should be helping them deserve the privileged positions they occupy is another question.

*Those areas map almost exactly onto the 5 proposed service areas for the new BBC Asian Network.

Compiled by the Official Charts Company (who also compile the UK Top 40 for Radio 1), the Asian Download Chart tracks sales of specifically Asian and Asian-influenced music across 25+ digital retailers.

Although slightly overshadowed by the recent announcements on the fate of the Asian Network, the launch of the chart is a real coup for Mark Strippel, Head of Music at the Asian Network. I know that he has campaigned for many years for chart recognition of Asian music sales.

Phil Matcham of the Official Charts Company has kindly confirmed to MixTogether & Friends the criteria for entry into the Asian Download Chart: the song must be newly released (within the last 8 months) and be by an Asian artist or have a distinct Asian influence. The record label must be registered with PPL, and on the radar of the Official Charts Company.

This formal recognition structure for Asian music presents an opportunity to forced marriage and honour campaigners.

If an established Asian artist or group of artists would agree to record a song campaigning against forced marriage and honour based violence, then with enough sales the song is guaranteed airplay on the Asian Network.

In the past this would not have been guaranteed.

With the right song and the right campaign, a record could top the Asian Download Chart and break into the UK Top 40, as Jay Sean has done this week.

This is an opportunity that the honour campaigning community will not miss.

In it, he talks about the importance of music to the Asian Network, but goes on to say:

Of course, music is only one of the public service content areas that the Asian Network produces – high quality news, current affairs and language programmes are the others. On the day of the AMAs Nihal brought his afternoon show from an East London School hearing from Asian pupils about the challenges of growing up in households where English is at best a second language.

He goes on to outline the 5 proposed areas that the reduced Network will reach: Birmingham, Leicester, London, Manchester and North Yorkshire. 85% of the Asian audience live in these areas, so the loss of a national network will not affect the vast majority.

His views on the public service aspect of the Asian Network echo the views expressed by this blog last week.

My only disagreement with his analysis concerns the role of the Asian Network in driving digital takeup. Although it’s easy to argue that the audience hasn’t taken to digital, the Asian Network has to face the fact that its core offerings have also proved a turn-off to Asian listeners.

The Asian Network has not changed with time to reflect the changing lifestyles of its younger audience. It remains wedded to a slightly chauvinistic expression of desi culture, even on the ‘coolest’ shows.

Desi music is undoubtedly ‘cool’. It may even seem revolutionary to those who have agitated for its promotion since the beginning. However the real revolution in young Asian people’s lives has been the shift away from the traditional lifestyles of many first generation parents.

It is revolutionary for some young Asians to chose a partner of a different race. It is revolutionary for some young Asians even to seek further education or to refuse an arranged marriage. If the Asian Network wants more listeners to help justify its continued existence, it needs to start reflecting these life choices and supporting those who make them.