Jess Gillam's "This Classical Life"

[Barbirollians]

Has anyone listened to Jess Gillam’s new 30 minute programme ?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Has anyone listened to Jess Gillam’s new 30 minute programme ?

Yes. It's both good and terrible at the same time. She's extremely perceptive, but does a Tom Service, by talking almost incessantly over the music.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Jess Gillam's "This Classical Life"

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Ms Gillam's programme has been running for five editions now, but, as it clashes with R4's satire spot, I haven't heard it yet. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00040cg

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00046cp

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004dnr

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004n5w

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004s3y

[LezLee]

She's insufferably irritating as is the whole programme. I don't understand its purpose, there's no rational explanation for its existence. The only good thing about it is its brevity.

[LeMartinPecheur]

On a couple of brief samplings I agree with EA that it's an awful mixture. Gillam is a very good talker and a pretty engaging personality, and she gets her guests chatting freely. But it is all at the level of 'How I got to hear X', 'Why I like Y', often over the top of the music. Not my sort of programme, and not really a R3 programme. Except I guess it is now

[DracoM]

Yes. It's both good and terrible at the same time. She's extremely perceptive, but does a Tom Service, by talking almost incessantly over the music.

[DracoM]

Poor Jess - fine musician and being turned into a gabbler by 'BBC presenter rules OK' stuff.
So, so yesterday.

[french frank]

Interesting that of the five programmes now grouped together on Saturday afternoon, all but JRR are Alan Davey inventions. I detect a 'strategy' - wonder what it is.

This Classical Life
Inside Music
Sound of Dance
JRR
J to Z

[eighthobstruction]

....I guess it is to lure the young listener....with a bright and breezey show which covers a lot of ground so that many types of music that the young might not have heard are scrolled by....Stupid that the producer has allowed such questions as <<"What's your favorite colour">> and other question like that....Probably like playing Boycott Bingo, a palour game might be played concerning the number of times "Yeah" is said , sometime 3 in a row or more eg "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"....It is annoying to hear brief glimpses [sic] of something interesting, but most of the time the clips would be well know or know to Formulistax....I can see the point of it, but it will not make much in roads to reverse the decline of the youth listener for R3 type music....


....my main time for listening to R£ is early after noons 7 days a week....

[sgjames]

....I guess it is to lure the young listener....with a bright and breezey show which covers a lot of ground so that many types of music that the young might not have heard are scrolled by....Stupid that the producer has allowed such questions as <<"What's your favorite colour">> and other question like that....Probably like playing Boycott Bingo, a palour game might be played concerning the number of times "Yeah" is said , sometime 3 in a row or more eg "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"....It is annoying to hear brief glimpses [sic] of something interesting, but most of the time the clips would be well know or know to Formulistax....I can see the point of it, but it will not make much in roads to reverse the decline of the youth listener for R3 type music....


....my main time for listening to R£ is early after noons 7 days a week....

I agree that this does fall under the heading of 'trying to bring younger listeners in'. It will have little or no effect but I suspect that the R3 people probably know that. They just have to be seen to be doing something in this area rather than nothing.
I do think the 'What is your favourite colour' bit is intended ironically -a bit of a tease.

[eighthobstruction]

I agree that this does fall under the heading of 'trying to bring younger listeners in'. It will have little or no effect but I suspect that the R3 people probably know that. They just have to be seen to be doing something in this area rather than nothing.
I do think the 'What is your favourite colour' bit is intended ironically -a bit of a tease.

Ah consider me teased....

[LezLee]

I would think it highly unlikely many of the target audience would either by accident or design, be tuning in to Radio 3 on a Saturday at that time!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I would think it highly unlikely many of the target audience would either by accident or design, be tuning in to Radio 3 on a Saturday at that time!

Listening as they have breakfast, perhaps?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah consider me teased....

Yes - there was an old (pre-dating Ms Gillam) Alan Partridge sketch in which he interviews "France's Second-best Racing Driver", who sneers at the crass questions he has been asked on other chat shows.

AP: What's your favourite colour of car?
F's S-B RD: [chuckles] Yes - exactly that sort of thing.
AP: No, I meant ...

[french frank]

I would think it highly unlikely many of the target audience would either by accident or design, be tuning in to Radio 3 on a Saturday at that time!

Just what I was going to observe. What do you do to get them to listen in the first place and hear all these lovely programmes just for them? Answer: You start slipping more of these kind of programmes into the stations they are listening to. If they like them (some will, some won't) you tell them there's more of it on Radio 3.


By which time they will have grown out of the baby programmes …