Radio 3 Programming - Problems & Solutions

[kernelbogey]

I visited the Radio 3 website today. At least, I think I did. What appeared under the umbrella of BBC Sounds was a frustrating mess, which somehow managed to cover my screen with lots of uninformative images while at the same time wasting acres of empty space. If the BBC wants to attract new listeners to R3, it would do well to rethink its homepage and website....

My habitual route is to click immediately on Radio Three Schedule. From there I find I can navigate, using the calendar, to what I want. Works for me....

[oddoneout]

My habitual route is to click immediately on Radio Three Schedule. From there I find I can navigate, using the calendar, to what I want. Works for me....

I bookmarked the R3 schedules page years ago; it may have tiresome and baffling errors and omissions but for the most part it has the information I need for the day's listening. I never found the R3 homepage of much use even before Sounds and management bright ideas took over and now it just reminds me of those trashy women's magazines you see at supermarket checkouts - meaningless or misleading headlines, messy layout, and either absence of content or it's buried so deep in the dross that it can't be found.

[oddoneout]

I visited the Radio 3 website today. At least, I think I did. What appeared under the umbrella of BBC Sounds was a frustrating mess, which somehow managed to cover my screen with lots of uninformative images while at the same time wasting acres of empty space. If the BBC wants to attract new listeners to R3, it would do well to rethink its homepage and website.

EDIT: Took the hyphen out of "re-think", which is apparently the thing to do. I think the hyphen adds emphasis and clarity.

It appears to be the accepted form but I seem to end up using a hyphen, possibly for the same reason as you; at least it removes confusion with the mental health charity...

[Frances_iom]

... it just reminds me of those trashy women's magazines..

but isn't this what R3 has decided is its mass market - background music + chat without any demands on the listener - even the, at one time excellent, news + current affairs programs appear to be on the same downwards trajectory.

[Serial_Apologist]

I quite agree. There's much more of a sense that CFM is leading listeners gently into areas they know nothing about, and the news features flagged up are generally useful and interesting. Although R3 wants the same kind of listeners, their website/information seems much more offputting/forbidding. "The 9 o'clock class this morning will include some essential classics. And we have a game for you to join in if you're a bit more advanced … "

But it's often been said that whatever it is R3 is trying to do along these lines, Classic FM does it better. The adverts are a necessary disadvantage that they have to put up with as well as their listeners.

Poor old Classic FM!

[french frank]

Poor old Classic FM!

Yes indeed - in the sense that, as things are , without its ads there wouldn't be a Classic FM.

[gurnemanz]

But it's often been said that whatever it is R3 is trying to do along these lines, Classic FM does it better. The adverts are a necessary disadvantage that they have to put up with as well as their listeners.

Not by me. I find even the parts of R3 output which are not to my taste preferable to CFM. Adverts are certainly one reason for my aversion to the station.

[antongould]

Not by me. I find even the parts of R3 output which are not to my taste preferable to CFM. Adverts are certainly one reason for my aversion to the station.

Totally agree just look at their playlists ……..

[Bryn]

Yes indeed - in the sense that, as things are , without its ads there wouldn't be a Classic FM.

I am reminded of my time on placement with the then TRL at Crowthorne. It was the first time I encountered internal billing, whereby, for instance, taking a book out of the library involved a charge being made to one's department budget. Indeed, all operations involving different departments within the TRL were thus accounted for (thus, of course, also involving extra costs due to the administration of same). I mention this because the ubiquity of internal BBC advertising on Radio 3 might well be considered pretty much in the same way as Classic FM's advertising from external enterprises. It's just as intrusive.

[french frank]

Not by me. I find even the parts of R3 output which are not to my taste preferable to CFM. Adverts are certainly one reason for my aversion to the station.

Yes, but I did say "Whatever it is Radio 3 is trying to do, CFM does it better,"

So it depends whether it's the vestiges of R3 that remain (the evening concert, lunchtime concert, CotW &c) that make you feel it's still worth listening to, or whether you prefer the programmes aimed at attracting the broader/younger audience. If the latter, CFM is manifestly more successful since that's the audience it attracts.