Drama to be eradicated from Radio 3

[Master Jacques]

'A national laughing stock' - really?
Thanks to the BBC, my musical menu today has included Night Tracks, to which I'm currently relaxing - yes I know - a cello concerto by Martinu and the Brahms piano trio that was a highlight of this year's Proms. I may not listen to Radio 3 as often as I did, but I wouldn't say I was apathetic.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to call it a laughing stock. Between the popular element (judging from Radio 4 comedy shows) who still mock it as a ridiculous pseuds' corner; the mandarin element, who mock its ambitions to outdo Classic FM for playlist inanity; and its formerly loyal listeners, who deplore its narrowed range, now drama, discussion and high-end arts features have all disappeared; that doesn't leave many to confidently support this failing channel.

Should you have to wait until Night Tracks (22:00-23.30, so only 1.5 hours at bedtime) to hear a Martinu Cello Concerto, and a Brahms Piano Trio? Neither of them are mentioned on tonight's playlist, as far as I can see, so you couldn't even plan for it. That, in itself, is laughable for any channel, let alone one which we're told is a "jewel in the BBC crown".

[LMcD]

That's precisely what The Suits rely on: the smokescreen of other national priorities allows them to play ducks and drakes with Radio 3 (and Radio 4) without causing too much outside indignation, except for a few people they can ridicule as "elitists", "luvvies" and old-school intellectuals. There's a lot wrong with our society, but this is one area where we really must do our best to hold the line. If we don't, who will?

When Radio 3, "the home of classical", has become a national laughing stock (as it has) we really have to keep pressing home this uncomfortable truth, at least on behalf of the poor saps who are still trying to make the wretched thing work, from the inside. They're the ones I feel most sorry for.

'A national laughing stock' - really?
Thanks to the BBC, my musical menu today has included Night Tracks, to which I'm currently relaxing - yes I know - a cello concerto by Martinu and the Brahms piano trio that was a highlight of this year's Proms. I may not listen to Radio 3 as often as I did, but I wouldn't say I was apathetic.

[french frank]

That's precisely what The Suits rely on: the smokescreen of other national priorities allows them to play ducks and drakes with Radio 3 (and Radio 4) without causing too much outside indignation, except for a few people they can ridicule as "elitists", "luvvies" and old-school intellectuals

This is one issue where we're on the same page. The defining characteristic of the arts is ... the art. Ars gratia artis. Not music to help you unwind or get to sleep or to fill the oppressive silence of silence. But above all, the arts must not demand anything of you, otherwise you might as well go swimming, Walk the Dog or do the daily shopping. If those in charge of Radio 3 believe a whole symphony, string quartet or full length play is too much to ask of a human being, in my view they don't have the intellectual capacity to be in the job. Once again:

"‘The Third Programme offered classical music, serious drama, literature and discussion": thus spake the BBC. I have no problem with Radio 3 seeking out minor women or Black composers. But if the bulk of the music is to be by dead white males, please, let it not be The Lark Ascending, L'Isle joyeuse, Dvořák's Slavonic Dances or the Overture from Candide (played 24 times in the last year) again.

[Master Jacques]

[/B]

That's exactly the way I feel, word for word. Regrettable through the (insert word of your choice) of Radio 3 is, there are other matters which increasingly require, and receive, my attention,

That's precisely what The Suits rely on: the smokescreen of other national priorities allows them to play ducks and drakes with Radio 3 (and Radio 4) without causing too much outside indignation, except for a few people they can ridicule as "elitists", "luvvies" and old-school intellectuals. There's a lot wrong with our society, but this is one area where we really must do our best to hold the line. If we don't, who will?

When Radio 3, "the home of classical", has become a national laughing stock (as it has) we really have to keep pressing home this uncomfortable truth, at least on behalf of the poor saps who are still trying to make the wretched thing work, from the inside. They're the ones I feel most sorry for.

[LMcD]

It's a lot of us - damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Today's afternoon schedule is an example of where I have given up on the last bits of daytime listening. I would like to hear the "Ornaments of the Baroque", but apart from the problem of not having even an approximate start time, past experience and disappointment suggests that it won't be broadcast as shown, so there is no point in sitting down to listen.
Apathy doesn't come into it, I now simply don't have the mental or physical resources to fight for/against every issue that I feel strongly about, I have to prioritise.

That's exactly the way I feel, word for word. Regrettable through the (insert word of your choice) of Radio 3 is, there are other matters which increasingly require, and receive, my attention,

[french frank]

The pro-forma response to my complaint, for your amusement. [...] in "sharpening the focus of Radio 3 as a classical music network" - and we know exactly what they mean by that. Playlist gobbets, fewer symphonies and more Ella Fitzgerald.

You forgot Bobby Vinton. For your equal amusement my "planned attack" on the Director-General and the Controller of Radio 3 is currently a joint letter suggesting they sit down together and hold a dialogue regarding certain indisputable facts about Radio 3, the BBC, the arts and public service. Yes, I know both of them have relatively recently come to the BBC from the commercial sector but should they, perhaps, acknowledge how inadequately that prepares them for senior management in a public service broadcaster?

Of course "sharpening the focus" means "aping Classic FM" - itself an accusation voiced by the Controller of Radio 3 when he was Managing Editor of Classic FM - by concentrating on light and familiar classical music. But can the upper echelons of the BBC even grasp intellectually what the evidence points to? They certainly understand the commercial issues.

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny or three hours of Essential Classics?

[Master Jacques]

Thank you Master Jacques for sharing with us this "response". I can't help feeling we've seen this message before, or something very similar. One wishes Usha Peri well, in hope that "she" really exists.

I would say "my pleasure", if it were that. The thing is so full of mendacious slants that I've been forced (against my usual habit) to send it back to them: 200 hours on Radio 4 amounts to less than four per week. They've reduced drama and book readings from the 800 hours or so of two decades ago. They've sacked the Drama Repertory Company, a major source of work for actors. There are no ambitious, serious or challenging plays left on Radio 4 in its 4 hours per week - it's all demotic comedy, minority socio-drama or quasi-documentary - and as for Radio 3's "focus" ... well, enough said.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you Master Jacques for sharing with us this "response". I can't help feeling we've seen this message before, or something very similar. One wishes Usha Peri well, in hope that "she" really exists.

[Master Jacques]

The pro-forma response to my complaint, for your amusement. Given the near-disappearance of drama from Radio 4 (75 of those 200 hours are The Archers) this special pleading is more than usually misleading. The "wealth of audio drama" on Radio 4 these days is risibly broke.

No sign of compromise, though, in "sharpening the focus of Radio 3 as a classical music network" - and we know exactly what they mean by that. Playlist gobbets, fewer symphonies and more Ella Fitzgerald.

Reference CAS-8005703-X5J9X6

Dear xxxx,

Thanks for contacting us with your concerns regarding changes to the schedule on Radio 3.

We’ve shared these with senior managers at Radio 3.

Given the significant financial pressures, we have to make tough decisions in every area of the BBC. As a result, we are sharpening the focus of Radio 3 as a classical music network, investing its stretched budgets in music content, both speech and performance.

The BBC will continue to be the biggest original audio drama commissioner in the UK and we are committed to the genre and to working with new and exciting writers as well as bringing a huge range of drama to new and existing audiences. We are looking at ways to increase the number of longer plays to maintain the range of creative opportunities within our audio drama offer, and we have recently increased production budgets for the genre by 10%.

From April ’25 on Sunday evenings on Radio 3 there will be a new multi-part music series, The Modernists (working title), as well as music from our New Generation Artists and the EBU.

The BBC broadcasts more than 200 hours of drama on Radio 4 each year, reaching almost 5 million listeners each week. We carefully considered our overall audience offer, including the wealth of the audio drama on Radio 4, as part of our decision.

If you’d like to understand how your complaint is handled at the BBC, you might find it helpful to watch this short film https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints. It explains the BBC’s process for responding to complaints, what to do if you aren’t happy with your response and how we share the feedback we receive.

Kind regards,

Usha Peri.



BBC Complaints Team
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

[french frank]

It's a lot of us - damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Today's afternoon schedule is an example of where I have given up on the last bits of daytime listening.

You have my sympathy, believe me. It's only my personal dogged, plodding character (which I acknowledge for what it is) that makes me loth to give up on anything which seems still to be unresolved in some way. I'm told that if I don't listen to R3 I 'can't criticise it', but merely reading through a standard R3 playlist makes me want to vomit - it's like being served 25 courses in quick succession, consisting of raspberry ice cream, kimchi, mushrooms à la grecque, trifle, a banana, a piece of Canadian cheddar, porridge, Christmas pudding ... I fully accept that other people have stronger stomachs.

Another Pepsi, vicar?

[Serial_Apologist]

It's a lot of us - damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Today's afternoon schedule is an example of where I have given up on the last bits of daytime listening. I would like to hear the "Ornaments of the Baroque", but apart from the problem of not having even an approximate start time, past experience and disappointment suggests that it won't be broadcast as shown, so there is no point in sitting down to listen.
Apathy doesn't come into it, I now simply don't have the mental or physical resources to fight for/against every issue that I feel strongly about, I have to prioritise.

The general problem I think consists in that problems proliferate exponentially, especially in the social, political and economic spheres of influence if not nipped in the bud, and that that exponentiality feeds back as uncontrollable at the individual level, so he or she then withdraws into subjective states and supposed answers. Gregory Bateson summed up this dilemma rather nicely in a speech he gave at the Roundhouse back in 1967:

"Dr Laing noted that the obvious can be very difficult for people to see. This is because people are self-corrective systems. They are self-corrective against disturbance, and if the obvious is not of a kind that they can easily assimilate without internal disturbance, their self-corrective mechanisms work to side-track it, to hide it, even to the extent of shutting the eyes if necessary, or shutting off various parts of the process of perception. Disturbing information can be framed like a pearl, so that it doesn't make a nuisance of itself. This too - the premise regarding what would cause disturbance - is something which is learned and then becomes perpetuated or conserved" (Bateson, G, Conscious Purpose Versus nature, in Cooper. D. The Dialectics of Liberation, 1968, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1968, P. 37).

The problem is not that solutions can't be postponed until or if they can be coped with, but that they occur unnecessarily, for systemic reasons endemic to particular political systems with inbuilt power imbalance structures: ours being exemplified in its individualising or downscaling problems those at the top solve more collectively than we might think (given the illusion they're all supposed to be competing for our support, vote etc) which they get away with by promising before not then delivering.

[oddoneout]

That's me!

It's a lot of us - damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Today's afternoon schedule is an example of where I have given up on the last bits of daytime listening. I would like to hear the "Ornaments of the Baroque", but apart from the problem of not having even an approximate start time, past experience and disappointment suggests that it won't be broadcast as shown, so there is no point in sitting down to listen.
Apathy doesn't come into it, I now simply don't have the mental or physical resources to fight for/against every issue that I feel strongly about, I have to prioritise.

[LMcD]

It's an insoluble problem. If you/one/someone/a person keeps listening they are effectively endorsing the whole R3 strategy by maintaining reach. If they stop listening completely they are supporting the argument that R3 funding should be further cut as its reach decreases and the service should be further popularised. The choice is to cling on to the bits that still please you or take a stand against the wider changes. When it's apathy v action (as it often is), apathy wins

That's me!

[french frank]

I can't see myself abandoning R3 altogether, but increasingly tune in to yle Klassinen during the day.

It's an insoluble problem. If you/one/someone/a person keeps listening they are effectively endorsing the whole R3 strategy by maintaining reach. If they stop listening completely they are supporting the argument that R3 funding should be further cut as its reach decreases and the service should be further popularised. The choice is to cling on to the bits that still please you or take a stand against the wider changes. When it's apathy v action (as it often is), apathy wins

[LMcD]

Not surprising if those who want something more than what is currently being touted as R3 are leaving. I for one don't feel there is any point now in complaining about what has happened and continues to happen as I don't believe management is interested in what the "old"(in both senses) audience wants or thinks. I have taken my listening elsewhere, having discovered that there are online options I can access, (although not with the same sound quality as the radio) unlike my experience with Sounds.

I can't see myself abandoning R3 altogether, but increasingly tune in to yle Klassinen during the day.