The Eternal Breakfast Debate in a New Place

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Alnwick, as everyone surely knows, is the capital of Northumberland .....

And gave the world all those "Keep Calm When You're Watching a Carry On Film" posters, mugs, teatowels, teeshirts etc

[teamsaint]

Alnwick, as everyone surely knows, is the capital of Northumberland .....

reminds me of one of one of my favourite pieces of cricket commentary, on sky a few years ago.

A slowish afternoons play is progressing at Derby when the commentator makes a remark about how Derby are playing.

At the end of the next over, the commentator rather sheepishly adds to his comments...

" And I would like to apologise to supporters of of the home team. The team we are watching is Derbyshire. Derby is of coure simply the county town of Derbyshire".

At the change of ends a couple of overs later, the commentator again has to interrupt the flow of cricket info to say....

" I'd like to apologise to Derbyshire supporters again for the comment about the county town of Derbyshire, which of course is not Derby, but Matlock".

[Old Grumpy]

Alnwick, as everyone surely knows, is the capital of Northumberland .....

Well, I am ashamed to admit, I did not - I had always assumed the capital (if any) of Northumberland would be Morpeth, the County Town.
On what basis is Alnwick the capital - a Google search reveals this fact, but no justification (other than Alnwick being a fine town). Bamburgh, on the other hand, is featured as the ancient capital of Northumberland.

OG

[antongould]

Not sure OG, we were taught it at school. Studying the interweb it almost seems Alnwick pushed itself forward to fill a vacuum!

[Stanfordian]

This morning banality reached an all time high. CB-H read a tweet was read out saying how much a 6 month old baby was enjoying the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. Pass me the sick bag.

[vinteuil]

Not sure OG, we were taught it at school. Studying the interweb it almost seems Alnwick pushed itself forward to fill a vacuum!

... surely it's all cos the Percy lot had their gaff at Alnwick -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Northumberland

[teamsaint]

Not sure OG, we were taught it at school. Studying the interweb it almost seems Alnwick pushed itself forward to fill a vacuum!

known in the trade as the "Trowbridge" principle.

[vinteuil]

. . . it almost seems Alnwick pushed itself forward to fill a vacuum!

known in the trade as the "Trowbridge" principle.

... ah, but Trowbridge remains a vacuum.

[a Devizes boy writes... ]

[french frank]

This morning banality reached an all time high. CB-H read a tweet was read out saying how much a 6 month old baby was enjoying the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. Pass me the sick bag.

I switched on to Finlandia and switched off to Jerome Kern, with the Gold and Silver Waltz in between.

It's not that any of this is bad, but:

"We are aware that there are ways in which Radio 3 could more actively target new listeners. In particular, it could pursue a far more populist approach by abandoning its commitment to a wide range of challenging music, or by playing much shorter excerpts of orchestral pieces. However, such an approach would significantly jeopardise and damage those elements that make Radio 3 distinctive and highly valued. Such a strategy would not be welcomed by either audiences or industry."

and

"In general, the [Radio 3] repertoire is unlike that played by other providers of classical music, reflecting Radio 3’s remit to provide the audience with a wide range of high-quality and distinctive pieces. Other broadcasters, such as Classic FM, focus on more popular classical music which is likely to result in higher ratings and advertising revenue."

BBC Trust Review of Radio 3, 2011

[Flosshilde]

This morning banality reached an all time high. CB-H read a tweet was read out saying how much a 6 month old baby was enjoying the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. Pass me the sick bag.

& next month it progresses to no. 7.

In a couple of months' time they'll need to find a composer who wrote more than 9 symphonies.

[doversoul1]

We are aware that there are ways in which Radio 3 could more actively target new listeners.( ff #4509)

Let’s say for the sake of argument, that this is a good thing. However, has anything been done to ‘actively target new listeners’? In other words, has anything actually done outside Radio3 (and the Proms) to make those ‘new listeners’ aware of the existence of programmes like Breakfast or maybe Saturday Classics? Or is Radio3 just doing what it imagines new listeners would / might like if they listened?

I assume by ‘new listeners’ they mean those who are not currently habitually listening to classical music or Radio3, and not those who recently started to listen to Radio3. If it is the latter, will it not put the whole thing into a very different perspective? What do people expect from Radio3 when they decide to listen to R3? Oh…CFM without advertisement?

[Flosshilde]

Yes - it seems very haphazard. The only trailers I've heard on R4 for R3 haven't been about the morning programmes which seem to be the ones that are supposed to attract 'new listeners'. It would appear that 'new listeners' are expected to strumble upon 'Breakfast' & 'Essential Classics' by accident, & find them so appealing that they then decide to listen to other programmes & the evening concert. Really? Snowballs & hell come to mind.

[french frank]

However, has anything been done to ‘actively target new listeners’? In other words, has anything actually done outside Radio3 (and the Proms) to make those ‘new listeners’ aware of the existence of programmes like Breakfast or maybe Saturday Classics? Or is Radio3 just doing what it imagines new listeners would / might like if they listened?

They had that VERY expensive advertising campaign using the brand new technology of the 'Sound Spot' that was on most of television (except BBC Three) and certainly (audio only!) on R4 and R2, using Rob Cowan as the Voice of Radio 3. They also printed adverts for Breakfast on the Proms programmes one year - apparently there are 'many' people who go to the Proms who are unaware that R3 broadcasts all the Proms. And they advertise that fact endlessly on R3, where every listener must be aware of the fact. Listening to Breakfast you could believe it's primarily a running ad for the Proms, with built trails, artists appearing soon, works being performed soon ...

I have a feeling that the Proms/Proms in the Park have also been used to attract people to classical music so that they will start listening to Radio 3. Which seems to be a bit cock-eyed ... It's all a bit like preparing a special meal and the guests don't turn up.

Having said that, I don't think Radio 3's audience has ever been exclusively one of pointy-head swots, thirsty to be educated and stretched. Some of the changes will have been welcomed by those who listened and found it a bit stuffy and over serious. And some of those will love texting in and chatting with presenters about their grandmothers (as well as playing Bach every morning on their concert grand) ...

[Old Grumpy]

... surely it's all cos the Percy lot had their gaff at Alnwick -

And still do!

T'would seem the most likely reason.


OR it could be a simple as this:

"Alnwick is historically known as the capital of Northumberland as it lies centrally in the county".

OG

[subcontrabass]

chatting with presenters

This is not something new. Some years ago my brother and I were staying with our parents for Christmas. The morning programme was being presented by the late Cormac Rigby, who was a friend of my brother from university days. My brother had no problem in telephoning in and speaking with Cormac during the programme in order to wish him a Happy Christmas.