Comedy news: More than just a music station: The voice of comedy on BBC 6 Music

By Tim Clark, Editor, Such Small Portions

Jon Richardson didn’t have his dinner last night. The gig that booked him had promised something ‘on the house’ and, hoping to cash in on the complimentary buffet, he headed off with a grumbling stomach only to find himself unrewarded. His guest Tim Key however was last night relishing his entrée at a Spanish-style dinner party.

It is small anecdote as Richardson introduces the Edinbugh Fringe Award winning poet to his Sunday morning radio show and, with gastronomic thoughts occupying their mind, they quickly move onto what it would be like to live with Little Chef.

This is no comedy radio station however, it’s BBC 6 Music; a station which is regularly praised for it’s musical output but also has a healthy comedy offering, one which is as important and under-appreciated as the station itself.

For anyone who missed the news on Friday, according to an article published in The Times (whose owner Rupert Murdoch has never been a fan of the BBC) 6 Music may soon be closed down in a wide-ranging revamp of the services the corporation offers. 

Among many of the criticisms of 6Music is the fact that it only reaches 1 per cent of the UK population – and that only 20 per cent know of it’s existence. This argument however has been countered in other places (read more here…), but what is key to the argument for me is the type content that BBC 6Music delivers and specifically what it provides to the comedy world that is not found anywhere else.

As a listener, apart from the fact that the station is presented by some of the stalwarts of modern British music such as Jarvis Cocker I am always pleasantly surprised by the subtle way that 6 Music allow room for arts or comedy coverage to be given air time. 

Whether it is listening to Robin Ince talking about his record collection or the newly crowned Hackney Empire New Act winners Abandoman doing a weekly improvised rap, BBC 6 Music provides a rare glimpse into the workings of the comedy world. As Guardian writer Johnny Dee points out in his blog, as well as Phill Jupitus, Russell Brand, Dave Gorman, Stephen Merchant and Sean Hughes have all clocked up time on the station while Jon Richardson, Richard Herring and the much-loved Adam and Joe have found a natural home on 6 Music.

Such Small Portions contacted Phill Jupitus, who launched BBC 6 Music in 2002 as the breakfast show presenter and worked on the station for five years to ask how the station lends itself as a comedy platform:

“I think the appeal of 6 Music from a comedy point of view is that you get to hear comics being funny at their own pace rather than in a gig setting.” Jupitus said.

“This kind of show was pioneered by GLR in the nineties by Mark Lamarr who would get guests in and keep them in for entire shows rather than just to do their plugging for 20 minutes then fuck off.

“This way ideas have time to expand and grow naturally. Jon Richardson is a current favourite.”

Taking Richardson (who is soon set to leave the station to concentrate on his stand-up career) as an example, his show this morning alone had Tim Key, Phil Nichol, Josie Long Matt Ford and Richardson himself on air.

You have to ask yourself, where would I hear this kind of freestyle comedy output?  Comedy on many other BBC channels is set in a format that doesn't allow for a free dialogue and discussion that you find on 6 Music. 6 Music allows you a glimpse of the workings behind the comedy routines, not the finished product.

There are other stations which do similar things but they are few and far between. There is the excellent arts radio station Resonance FM of course, but what 6 Music does is provide a national platform for specialist style of radio content to be aired. And it works. 

“As time went on at 6 we dropped the more obviously comedy features on the breakfast show. It just started to feel a bit needy somehow.” Jupitus added. “I prefer that if something funny does happen, then it does so naturally. I'm not the biggest fan of forced comedy radio. Sometimes it sounds great but more often than not it sounds like it’s trying too hard.”

"Also, the fact that the listeners were a bit more quirky meant that your ideas would get more traction. The listeners to the breakfast show regularly sent in really genuinely funny emails. 6 Music listeners are a bright and enthusiastic bunch."

At an annual cost of £6million the station is relatively cheap considering what it produces. It provides the quality that the BBC is purportedly looking for in its future output. BBC 6 Music also explores areas which other BBC radio stations do not / are not able to delve into.

I am left with a suspicion that the BBC is cutting its losses operations which attract regular criticism. But before it does take the axe to any part of its service the BBC should first consider whether commercial stations would fill the gap left.

I have only covered the comedy side of 6 Music here but, in general, to say that the station ‘serves a minority audience’ is simply ignorant of the nuances of modern British culture – and the subsequent furious reaction to the rumours of the stations closure will hopefully give the BBC’s management a wake up call that it needed.

Phill Jupitus also wrote a piece in the Guardian regarding 6 Music. Read it here.