In a Limelight exclusive, seasoned ABC Journalist Quentin Dempster has issued a statement regarding his motivations for raising concerns over possible changes to ABC Classic FM broadcasting. Dempster’s comments over the past couple of weeks regarding the potential implications of inevitable ABC spending cuts have become part of an increasingly impassioned campaign by ABC staff and the public to protect well-loved staples of ABC’s output.

Dempster first voiced his worries for the station’s future in an article posted on the ABC Friends website last week stating that ABC Classic FM was at risk of being yanked from FM transmission and migrated to a digital radio station or an entirely online service – a suggestion that has angered many Classic FM listeners. The alleged proposal was flatly denied by Classic FM Station Manager Richard Buckham in an interview with Limelight published on September 29. However despite Buckham’s assertions that the rumours were “baseless and without foundation”, Dempster remains adamant that the threat to the station is real, and has called on figures higher up in the ABC to confirm Buckham’s denial.

“As a devoted Classic FM listener myself I would do nothing to unnecessarily upset its loyal audience”, Dempster said following the public...