BBC tries listeners' patience with Gary Barlow blitz

You may think you see enough of Gary Barlow thanks to his judging role on ITV's The X Factor. But now BBC listeners and viewers are to get a whole lot more as the corporation devotes a whole day next week to his new album. The former Take That star will appear on Ken Bruce and Steve Wright's Radio 2 shows, do an "Ask Gary" Q&A on the BBC website and YouTube, while it will also broadcast live video of a concert from the BBC Radio Theatre on R2 and via the BBC Red Button television. "This is no ordinary performance," gushes the BBC website, "throughout the day, you can listen, watch and interact with a bona fide national treasure – before seeing him perform in concert." The Times points out that Barlow has already been on Chris Evans's breakfast show and Simon Mayo's drivetime show on Radio 2 in recent weeks, plus BBC1's The One Show, Breakfast and Children In Need Rocks. The paper quotes Matt Payton, director of external affairs at commercial radio industry group RadioCentre as complaining: "The BBC overstepped the mark previously, with its promotion of acts like Coldplay and U2. We hope that the BBC Trust will be watching closely to ensure that this sort of undue prominence doesn't occur again." A BBC spokesman said the planned Barlow coverage was "entirely in keeping with our editorial guidelines". And it's not just the BBC: as well as The X Factor, Barlow has also been on ITV's Jonathan Ross Show, as well as appearing on the channel with meerkat Aleksandr Orlov in a 90-second ad for Comparethemeerkat.com. Is there such a thing as getting too much of a "national treasure"?