HUNDREDS of people have backed a petition to persuade BBC Radio Scotland to reverse plans to end the Janice Forsyth Show.
The petition has already attracted hundreds of signatures, including those of Scottish bands, comedians, writers and even the Deputy First Minister.
News the 18-year-old Saturday morning show will end in the summer as BBC Scotland aims to be speech-based in daytime started a twitter and Facebook backlash.
An online petition has been set up and signatories include novelist Jenny Colgan, politician Rosie Kane and comedian Susan Calman, while Edwyn Collins, The Vaselines, writers Val McDermid and Mark Millar and Nicola Sturgeon tweeted their opposition.
The Deputy First Minister wrote: "How can @BBCRadioScot even think about axing the brilliant @janiceforsyth show? They should change their minds."
Mark Buckland, who is the MD of Glasgow publisher Cargo, set up the petition. He said: "The simple objective is to make BBC Radio Scotland realise they've made a mistake and retain Janice's show. She's done a great deal on air and behind the scenes for new bands and I think it's part of a growing trend of attacks upon Scottish arts and culture in the media."
The Glasgow band The Vaselines, famous for being Kurt Cobain's favourite group, tweeted that Forsyth's was the only show that played their records.
Louise Quinn, front woman of A Band Called Quinn, also praised Forsyth. She said: "Her presence on Saturday morning radio is a ray of light in the current climate and the fact that her show isn't rigidly constricted by a playlist is great for showcasing new music which would otherwise go unheard."
A BBC spokesman said on Friday the decision was made as part of a "schedule change which will see more news and sports content on Saturday mornings, starting with the launch of Olympic programmes in July".
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