3beebies aka Breakfast

[doversoul1]

Ofcachap

Has it not occurred to RW that, once long-time listeners cease to start their day with Radio 3, theye're increasingly unlikely to return later?

Has it not occurred to you that RW’s strategy is working well?

[mercia]

Mr Wright isn't going to worry about, or take notice of, a couple of dozen of us not listening to Radio 3 at certain times of the day, is he. That would be madness.

[french frank]

Mr Wright isn't going to worry about, or take notice of, a couple of dozen of us not listening to Radio 3 at certain times of the day, is he.

Don't forget the marketing slogan: "Customers don't complain: they just don't come back." Those who complain are the tip of a disgruntled iceberg.

But the way it works is that the 'lighter listeners' swarm in and displace the former audience. Mission accomplished even if listening figures don't go up

[mercia]

Those who complain are the tip of a disgruntled iceberg.

I'm afraid I haven't seen any evidence for the existence of this iceberg ........
........ which reminds me, I must go and buy a lettuce.

[antongould]

I must agree with my AA chum re the supposed iceberg - I listen most mornings and take today's 8.30 phone in as an example - between grandson's questions I heard a tale of listening to Strauss on a radiogram in WWII when the bombs dropped and, literally, destroyed part of a much loved record collection. Hardly I would have thought a "lighter listener" in any sense of the word!

[french frank]

I'm afraid I haven't seen any evidence for this iceberg existing........

The definition of the 'tip of an iceberg': 'A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden'. The evident part is the grousers here, in the press, on the R3 blog, on R3's facebook, on the old BBC boards &c &c.

Don't understand your point anton g . People who would just as soon be listening to a listener anecdote as to a piece of music would be defined in this context as a 'lighter listener'. The focus of Breakfast is on the presenter (see e.g. the Tweets @CBH this am), the news, the listeners ... It used to be on the music. The stated aim is to cater for the lighter listener, to quote: "We share a lot of our listeners with Radio 4. What’s very important is just to give them when they come to Radio 3, to give them a sense is there something they would actually want to develop further on Radio 4 on 5Live on a BBC local radio service, then they can go elsewhere and get that news. Our attention span is much shorter and therefore it’s entirely right that how we schedule in the day ..." and so on. Lighter listeners.

[antongould]

My point is that all of the people I have heard phoning in and therefore incurring eternal damnation are at least in the autumn of their years and seem to have a deep love for and no little knowledge of classical music - not I would have thought lighter listeners. I suspect a lot hereabouts, who by their own admission do not listen, think/assume these people have just got in from all night Pink Floyd parties!

[french frank]

My point is that all of the people I have heard phoning in and therefore incurring eternal damnation are at least in the autumn of their years and seem to have a deep love for and no little knowledge of classical music - not I would have thought lighter listeners. I suspect a lot hereabouts, who by their own admission do not listen, think/assume these people have just got in from all night Pink Floyd parties!

But we're not talking about the selected one-a-day who phone in, but the liss'ning millions at home.

I don't know why there's any argument on this particular point: the BBC has said they are aiming for 'lighter' listeners (their description: "...there’s a balance to be struck which the Trust recognised which is about the station doing what it can to appeal to new and lighter listeners"). That's why the Breakfast programme has changed its style.

[antongould]

But you suspect the hidden non tip of the iceberg is floating away from Radio 3 - what I hear each morning suggests it might not be it may even be "joining in"!

[mercia]

The definition of the 'tip of an iceberg': 'A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden'.

I'm well aware what the expression 'tip of an iceberg' means, thank you.

I don't see that the fact that a few people here, on a blog and facebook are complaining means that they are somehow representative of a much larger silent group. That seems a leap in logic to me. I think they just represent themselves.

However, if you are right, then presumably those who vocally support Mr Wright and say they like Radio 3 as it is are also representative of a larger silent group (following your logic). In fact they are the tip of their very own iceberg, and since their tip is bigger than our tip, their iceberg is that much bigger than our iceberg.

[french frank]

anton g, mercia

Let's acknowledge one point here. The 'broader audience' that Radio 3 is pursuing is larger, much larger, than the narrower audience which Radio 3 has hitherto served. The clue lies in the word 'broader'. If you introduce more 'popular' features, again, the clue lies in the word 'popular': the potential audience is huge - that's why the 'Step Into Our World' trails went out on BBC One, BBC Two, Radio2 and Radio 4. They're going 'downmarket' to attract more listeners. Sorry, 'new' listeners.

The middle of the road audience is the largest and, increasingly (and therefore?), the only one catered for by the BBC.

In shifting towards that audience, they shift away from their previous audience which demanded higher standards of expertise, more insight, more challenge. Clearly the deprived audience is smaller than the new audience. But they still complain in the hope someone will listen.

A middle of the road Radio 3 will become not worth listening to unless you have no special interest - whether this is classical music, jazz or world music. But it will appeal to the 'broader' audience. The majority.

[vinteuil]

... The 'broader audience' that Radio 3 is pursuing is larger, much larger, than the narrower audience which Radio 3 has hitherto served. The clue lies in the word 'broader'. If you introduce more 'popular' features, again, the clue lies in the word 'popular': the potential audience is huge -
.

It's the age-old quandary of those who believe in 'democracy' - how to preserve the rights of a minority...

[salymap]

True ff but very,very, sad that so much is being lost for the future 'serious' young listener, as I and many others were at 18 or so. I'm just glad I was alive in those days to enjoy the wonders of the good broadcasters and the wonderful discovery of music.

[french frank]

True ff but very,very, sad that so much is being lost for the future 'serious' young listener, as I and many others were at 18 or so.

Booger that, saly - I wore in my 40s before I found Radio 3 and began my eddication

[amcluesent]

CFM and R2.5 are examples of Hotelling's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling's_law) in action, where it's rationale for producers to make their products as similar as possible in the marketplace. This is also referred to as the principle of minimum differentiation and explains why those reliant on popular support "rush for the middle"