Dear Mr Imrie,

I know it is disappointing when a much loved programme comes to an end, and I always knew that taking Folkwaves off air would be a controversial decision among its core fans.

However, we beleive it's time to reach out to a wider variety of people in the early evening and create a new schedule for 2011.

Unfortuately, we don't have any spare broadcasting capacity to move Folkwaves elsewhere in the schedule.

On your point about internet reach, BBC Radio Derby, Nottingham and Leicester are part of BBC News and exist to serve local audiences, not to produce programmes that appeal to people all over the world.
My email to Stuart Thomas got the following reply.
Bob

While it is nice that people outside the East Midlands can hear our programmes via the iPlayer, I don't see it as a badge of honour if people are tuning in from all over the world - instead it makes me question if the programme is truely serving local audiences. The part of the licence fee that funds the BBC in the East Midlands is there to serve audiences in the East Midlands, and I take the responsibility of spending that money very seriously. I beleive it's important that as many people as possible should be served by the BBC in the East Midlands as possible.

Best regards


Stuart Thomas