Franz Schubert vs George Formby

This is why a public service broadcaster needs a stable online archive. A year ago I blogged a really lovely Radio 4 programme about Schubert’s C major quintet and linked to the show’s RealMedia stream. I assumed at the time that the stream would be overwritten in a week or so and, sure enough, if you follow the link now you’ll hear a pretty good programme about George Formby (which will, itself, be overwritten by something else next week). Ten years into the Internet era this kind of license-fee funded vandalism can’t be explained away. I hope the Thompson-era BBC will behave more like the guardian of an important national asset and promise not to trash gigabytes of valuable, accessible content every day (which really winds me up).