BBC Radio 1 will not play Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead in Chart Show
Instead, a clip of the song that has climbed the charts after a social media campaign in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher's death will be aired as part of a news item during The Official Chart Show
Radio 1 will not play the whole of Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead, the song at the centre of an anti-Margaret Thatcher social media campaign, in full this Sunday.
Instead of the whole track, a Newsbeat report will air during The Official Chart Show including a clip of the single and an explanation about why the song is in the charts.
The BBC has been wrestling with the decision of whether or not to air the 1939 Wizard of Oz tune, which is expected to make number three in the charts this weekend following the death of former Prime Minister Maragaret Thatcher, since Wednesday.
Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper said that the decision had been “a difficult compromise.”
"The decision I have made is I am not going to play it in full but that I will play a clip of it in a news environment,” he said.
"When I say a news environment, that is a newsreader telling you about the fact that this record has reached a certain place in the chart and here is a clip of that track.
"It is a compromise and it is a difficult compromise to come to. You have very difficult and emotional arguments on both sides of the fence.
"Let's not forget you also have a family that is grieving for a loved one who is yet to be buried."
His comments were followed by an official announcement from the BBC, which called the campaign to get Ding Dong! to number one in the charts “distasteful.”
"The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned," said the statement.
“On Sunday, the Radio 1 Chart Show will contain a news item explaining why the song is in the charts during which a short clip will be played as it has been in some of our news programmes."
BBC director-general Tony Hall and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg are among the individuals who’ve called the campaign “tasteless” this week, though they haven’t sought to ban the song outright.
In a poll on RadioTimes.com, 89% of respondents – or 8,124 people – said that they thought Radio 1 should play the song in full this weekend.
