Building an essential library ?

[french frank]

it denied all those art forms a truly mass audience.

That is the point the Beeb misses. They get a piddling little appreciative audience on R3 - and at least the same number of disgruntled R3 listeners (or non-listeners).

[gurnemanz]

What BBC radio lacks is a station that performed the function of the old Radio 2. There were a number of good programmes in the light classical field such as 'Your Hundred Best Tunes', 'Friday Night is Music Night', 'Marching and Waltzing' and many more which proved a useful stepping stone to Radio 3 for those whose interest was sparked by catching a piece they liked on one of these programmes. This is how I made the transition to Radio 3 in the 1970s.

It is pointless Radio 3 trying to perform a link to itself when the audience needs to be brought gently in from other BBC output. Radio 2 was the perfect vehicle back in the 1960s and 70s for linking listeners to both Radios 3 and 4 with the endless variety of music, comedy shows and light drama to the more serious fayre on R3 and 4.

Not my experince. As a teenager late 60s I eventually gave up pop stations, mainly pirates, and was getting into classical music. I remember finding programmes such programmes as Your Hundred Best Tunes and Friday Night is Music Night unbearably bland, cosy and middle-aged, and they were the last thing I wanted. That's when I went to R3 and have been there ever since. I can't remember tuning to R2 as a student, some comedy maybe, and the only other BBC channel I mainly listened to was R4.

[french frank]

Not my experince. As a teenager late 60s I eventually gave up pop stations, mainly pirates, and was getting into classical music. I remember finding programmes such programmes as Your Hundred Best Tunes and Friday Night is Music Night unbearably bland, cosy and middle-aged, and they were the last thing I wanted.

Never having listened to R2 (didn't listen to radio at all), I first started listening to R4 when I was given a radio as a present. But I was mildly surprised to hear that an erstwhile member of the BBC messageboards, an eco-warrior living in the wilds of Wales, moved from pop to classical by way of Your Hundred Best Tunes.

[Serial_Apologist]

Not my experince. As a teenager late 60s I eventually gave up pop stations, mainly pirates, and was getting into classical music. I remember finding programmes such programmes as Your Hundred Best Tunes and Friday Night is Music Night unbearably bland, cosy and middle-aged, and they were the last thing I wanted. That's when I went to R3 and have been there ever since. I can't remember tuning to R2 as a student, some comedy maybe, and the only other BBC channel I mainly listened to was R4.

And needless almost to say, that "no person's land" between the light music and classical worlds no longer exists to provide a jumping point for potential classical listeners.

[smittims]

As someone who remembers the BBC Light Programme and the 'Festival of Light Music' which survived onto Radio 2 I think, I agree wholeheartedly with the views above.

Apart from commercial radio, the BBc has several channels of nothing but pop, so Radio 2 ought to be doing something different.

[french frank]

the BBc has several channels of nothing but pop, so Radio 2 ought to be doing something different.

Not so many years ago, Radio 2 was supposed to be a broad 'bit of everything': jazz, but not specialist jazz (R3), lighter classical rather than specialist (R3), classic pop/popular, including Great American Songbook, rather than contemporary pop (R1), music theatre rather than opera (R3). Then 'specialist' pop cropped up (1Xtra, 6 Music, Asian Network). So how did R3 become the station that dabbled in a bit of everything (as if classical, jazz, world, speech and drama, arts features/documentaries weren't a wide enough remit)?

What about an 'Essential Radio 3'?

[hmvman]

Not so many years ago, Radio 2 was supposed to be a broad 'bit of everything': jazz, but not specialist jazz (R3), lighter classical rather than specialist (R3), classic pop/popular, including Great American Songbook, rather than contemporary pop (R1), music theatre rather than opera (R3). Then 'specialist' pop cropped up (1Xtra, 6 Music, Asian Network). So how did R3 become the station that dabbled in a bit of everything (as if classical, jazz, world, speech and drama, arts features/documentaries weren't a wide enough remit)?

And light organ music, dance bands and big bands disappeared altogether from BBC radio. However, I'm not suggesting that these should be included in R3's remit too!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Not so many years ago, Radio 2 was supposed to be a broad 'bit of everything': jazz, but not specialist jazz (R3), lighter classical rather than specialist (R3), classic pop/popular, including Great American Songbook, rather than contemporary pop (R1), music theatre rather than opera (R3). Then 'specialist' pop cropped up (1Xtra, 6 Music, Asian Network). So how did R3 become the station that dabbled in a bit of everything (as if classical, jazz, world, speech and drama, arts features/documentaries weren't a wide enough remit)?

What about an 'Essential Radio 3'?

I think it happened as a consequence of a strategy review a couple of decades ago and since then has been driven by marketing. About the only remnant (with apologies to her! )of the old R2 schedule is Elaine Paige on Sundays. Mind you let’s not get too misty eyed - a large part of the nineties R2 schedule was tired with presenters way past their retirement age. R2 currently is the UKs most successful station - thirty years ago there was serious talk about its survival. However the somewhat mono cultural music strategy its adopted has had knock on consequences for R3 just as its huge marketing power and spend on presenters has had big consequences for local radio. The latter is in serious trouble with , I think , potentially serious consequences for the BBC. Unfortunately the money is now so thinly spread core elements are now being axed.