Breakfast programme - Dog’s breakfast or eclectic mix.

[Stanfordian]

This morning the first time in along time I listened to ‘Breakfast’ programme. It was presented by CB-H not the advertised Petroc Trelawny. I was rather surprised by the numerous short item music content, the wide spectrum of works chosen and the amount of talking mainly trails and competitions. All in all the programme could have been designed for people with short attention spans or for people that have little time for concentration during a busy morning schedule. In my view the ‘Breakfast’ programme has turned into dog’s breakfast, however, I can imagine some listeners considering it to be an eclectic mix. I just can’t listen to this middle of the road style of presentation anymore as Classic FM do it so much better and more professionally.

This is what I heard in order of switching on:
1) Competition
2) Claire de Lune
3) The Girl from Ipanema
4) Trail for Katie Durham’s documentary The Girl from Ipanema
5) Trail for tonight’s Prom
6) News report
7) Section from Beethoven piano concerto
8) Trail for something or other
9) Competition entry for Garden Playlist including a borthday record request
10) Josef Strauss Dragonfly Waltz
11) Trail for Garden Playlist
12) Song from John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
13) Spanish baroque song - Jordi Savall
14) Trial for Håkan Hardenberger Proms appearance
15) News report
16) Email suggesting a work with an Olympic Theme - playing Gottschalk - Fantasy On The Brazilian National Anthem
17) Trail for Håkan Hardenberger Prom
18) Russian unaccompanied choral work
19) Competition for Proms tickets
20) Listener request for Garden Playlist - work by Peter Maxwell Davis

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Could it be that it's actually getting worse?

[antongould]

I don't think it's getting worse - it's going through the Proms Season and the numerous trailers that, perhaps understandably, entails.

As to Stan's biannual claim that Classic FM does it better - I will not repeat the statistical analysis between the two I have done before but a quick look at this morning's shows

R3 19 pieces in 150 minutes
CFM 28 pieces in 180 minutes - shorter pieces


As to presentation I suspect CBH, for all her wobbles is much, much more knowledgeable than Nicholas Owen ... ???

Then there are the adverts ..............

[gurnemanz]

BBC Breakfast is too canine for me but I can listen to it, unlike Classic FM.

[Flay]

too canine for me...

Gustatory or gonadal?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As to presentation I suspect CBH, for all her wobbles is much, much more knowledgeable than Nicholas Owen ... ???

There's no doubt about that, but the presentation is no better.

Then there are the adverts ..............

"Dip into the BBC Proms…" Arrrrrggh!!!

[antongould]

There's no doubt about that, but the presentation is no better.




"Dip into the BBC Proms…" Arrrrrggh!!!

As to adverts I think you know what I meant .... anyway in the sake of research I have just popped over to the Dark Side ....

I entered at 07:26 to the strains of the Nutcracker ....
This seemed to be part of a Breakfast Cereal/Serial Quiz which reaches an unbelievable climax tomorrow ... and I was implored to get in touch ....
07:31 very Sun like news followed by weather and traffic - with advert for the AA closely followed by an advert for Manchester City .... !!!!!
Then a short Mozart piece followed by a plea to send in Helpful Pets stories ... then a droplet of Purcell followed by a veritable barrage of advertising
a CFM concert
Viking Cruises
Currys/PC World
CFM Dating Agency .....

and at 07:41 I was gone .... CBH has never sounded so good .....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

and at 07:41 I was gone .... CBH has never sounded so good .....

I know, but it's like preferring Darth Vader to Voldemort.

[Old Grumpy]

As to adverts I think you know what I meant .... anyway in the sake of research I have just popped over to the Dark Side ....

I entered at 07:26 to the strains of the Nutcracker ....
This seemed to be part of a Breakfast Cereal/Serial Quiz which reaches an unbelievable climax tomorrow ... and I was implored to get in touch ....
07:31 very Sun like news followed by weather and traffic - with advert for the AA closely followed by an advert for Manchester City .... !!!!!
Then a short Mozart piece followed by a plea to send in Helpful Pets stories ... then a droplet of Purcell followed by a veritable barrage of advertising
a CFM concert
Viking Cruises
Currys/PC World
CFM Dating Agency .....

and at 07:41 I was gone .... CBH has never sounded so good .....

[Stanfordian]

As to adverts I think you know what I meant .... anyway in the sake of research I have just popped over to the Dark Side ....

I entered at 07:26 to the strains of the Nutcracker ....
This seemed to be part of a Breakfast Cereal/Serial Quiz which reaches an unbelievable climax tomorrow ... and I was implored to get in touch ....
07:31 very Sun like news followed by weather and traffic - with advert for the AA closely followed by an advert for Manchester City .... !!!!!
Then a short Mozart piece followed by a plea to send in Helpful Pets stories ... then a droplet of Purcell followed by a veritable barrage of advertising
a CFM concert
Viking Cruises
Currys/PC World
CFM Dating Agency .....

and at 07:41 I was gone .... CBH has never sounded so good .....

Proms season or not I would find it impossible to have to defend R3 Breakfast show. Let's face it both Breakfast programmes are dire for serious music lovers. It has been a while since I listened to R3 Breakfast it and it seems to have got worse.

[antongould]

Proms season or not I would find it impossible to have to defend R3 Breakfast show. Let's face it both Breakfast programmes are dire for serious music lovers. It has been a while since I listened to R3 Breakfast it and it seems to have got worse.

My view, and I doubt if I qualify as a serious music lover, is that it is not dire and has improved noticeably under the guiding hand of the present Lord Stockton - but each to his/her own .....

[french frank]

I entered at 07:26 to the strains of the Nutcracker ....
This seemed to be part of a Breakfast Cereal/Serial Quiz which reaches an unbelievable climax tomorrow ... and I was implored to get in touch ....
07:31 very Sun like news followed by weather and traffic - with advert for the AA closely followed by an advert for Manchester City .... !!!!!
Then a short Mozart piece followed by a plea to send in Helpful Pets stories ... then a droplet of Purcell followed by a veritable barrage of advertising
a CFM concert
Viking Cruises
Currys/PC World
CFM Dating Agency .....

You make your point, Lord Gould. But at the same time you also reveal the ways in which R3 had been coming to resemble CFM: Nutcracker, quiz, get in touch [short news every 15 mins], short Mozart piece, send in your stories about, adverts, adverts, adverts about Radio 3/BBC programmes. Just no 'commercials' …

But some of the differences aren't enough to persuade that breakfast-time radio is a necessity of life, life-enhancing or even tempting enough to break the Breakfastless habit of the past 8 years for.

[Richard Tarleton]

My view, and I doubt if I qualify as a serious music lover, is that it is not dire and has improved noticeably under the guiding hand of the present Lord Stockton - but each to his/her own .....

For those of us who only drop into [] these Breakfast threads occasionally to enjoy a spot of schadenfreude - who is Lord Stockton?

[antongould]

For those of us who only drop into [] these Breakfast threads occasionally to enjoy a spot of schadenfreude - who is Lord Stockton?

Apologies, the newish Leader of R3 a great friend of ff ......

[Alain Maréchal]

Apologies, the newish Leader of R3 a great friend of ff ......

That does not clarify. Lord Stockton, according to Wikipedia, is the grandson of Prime Minster Harold Macmillan. What is the connection?