Planet Rock owner Malcolm Bluemel wants to hire outgoing BBC 6 Music DJ Bruce Dickinson - and hopes his loss-making digital station will break even by the end of this year.

He has held talks with the Iron Maiden frontman, who will present his last 6 Music show in April after eight years on the BBC digital station. 6 Music is set to close at the end of 2011 under controversial proposals put forward by BBC director general Mark Thompson.

Bluemel, who rescued Planet Rock after its former owner GCap Media said it was going to close the station, said he was "disappointed" at the prospect of 6 Music's demise.

Bluemel said he had "tentative conversations" with Dickinson and hoped to speak to him again this week. "Bruce is interested in doing a show for Planet Rock and I am interested in having him. Whether we can put a deal together remains to be seen," he added.

Planet Rock, which was named digital station of the year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards in 2008, has recently overhauled its playlist to include what Bluemel described as "latter-day classic rock acts" such as Foo Fighters, Green Day and Muse.

"Rock is evolving and we should evolve a bit with it," said Bluemel. "Otherwise you end up playing to a lot of dead people. You can't keep playing the same records but we have got a massive playlist and we will always be playing Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and AC/DC."