Former Staff Director at the ABC, Quentin Dempster, has voiced his concern over alleged plans by the ABC to reassign the frequencies of its FM radio transmitters, pushing Classic FM off the airwaves. This would result in Classic FM becoming either a digital radio station or making it an entirely online service.

In a candid statement posted earlier this week on the Friends of the ABC website, Dempster, who now presents Stateline NSW on ABC Television, criticised the ABC’s management, accusing them of making decisions without adequate consideration as to the impact on its audience. “Mark Scott (ABC Managing Director) has described ABC Classic FM’s audience as ‘niche’ but in reality it’s greater than that for News Radio” says Dempster of the potential move. “Big concerns in Classic FM about the future of the network,” he added. “As usual audiences are not being consulted about ABC arts and music coverage through the digital revolution.”

Dempster also voiced concerns about possible government influence over the alleged changes to ABC’s arts programming saying, “All this is happening under the hammer of the Abbott Government’s still unspecified ‘final’ payment to be extracted from the ABC before Christmas 2014.”

It’s not the first time the outspoken broadcaster...