Sunday Half Hour

[Guest]

As this concerns a Radio 2 programme, I suppose this should not, strictly speaking, be posted on this board, but this article might interest supporters of the BBC's religious / choral broadcasting output: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21760 It seems a great shame, especially as it presumably means a door shuts for all those talented amateur choirs who aspire to broadcast their hard work to an appreciative audience.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As this concerns a Radio 2 programme, I suppose this should not, strictly speaking, be posted on this board, but this article might interest supporters of the BBC's religious / choral broadcasting output: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21760 It seems a great shame, especially as it presumably means a door shuts for all those talented amateur choirs who aspire to broadcast their hard work to an appreciative audience.

One of the better Radio 2 programmes. Yet again, they use the dreaded iPlayer to justify the alternative programme, broadcast when most people are asleep.

[Anna]

There is something about this in the new RT on the Letters Page. From memory the response from R2 is that the audience for the programme has dwindled and radio's peak listening are from 6am-9am, so by moving it to an earlier slot it will consequently gain more listeners.
Personally I think it's been moved to get more listeners to the new Clare Balding programme who is our latest National Treasure .... but don't quote me on that!

[cloughie]

There is something about this in the new RT on the Letters Page. From memory the response from R2 is that the audience for the programme has dwindled and radio's peak listening are from 6am-9am, so by moving it to an earlier slot it will consequently gain more listeners.
Personally I think it's been moved to get more listeners to the new Clare Balding programme who is our latest National Treasure .... but don't quote me on that!

..and to think that in the evening they can now have two hours of Michael Ball instead - local papers and R Cornwall listeners have shown there are many people in Cornwall who are not iplayer equipped who are unhappy about the change from evening. This comes on top of a replacement of the local evening programmes on Radio Cornwall being replaced by a national programme and their Sunday morning listening is a 6.00 - 9.00 religious-based programme on Radio Cornwall. Now they will have to choose - R2 will lose Sunday Half Hour listeners as a result, no doubt they'll be boasting about the ratings for the new programmes and no worry about disenfranchised older listeners.

[ardcarp]

Personally I think it's been moved to get more listeners to the new Clare Balding programme who is our latest National Treasure ....

Ah, you've rumbled the government/BBC secret plan to prevent civil unrest (if not downright revolution) by the widespread use of CBNT.

[Stephen Smith]

Controller was on "feedback" yesterday being taken to task on this and for unceremnoniously (shabbily) ditching Mike Harding. Didn't listen closely I'm afraid, my impression was it was usual BBC controller style, "I'm the controller..." and I've got these very good reasons so let us not go into the process for this decision, which by now is a fait accomplis - etc. Usual teflon situation - nothing sticks to them. With regard to Mike Harding, I think it tends to prove if you aren't regularly in the corridors or meeting points (still the bar? - probably not) then you are likely to be replaced by those familiar faces. I admire Clare Balding - but perhaps she needs to be aware of the fatigue factor - if she crops up everywhere, all the time.

[Simon]

It's simply pandering to ratings figures again. Plus, the usual ageism of Britain today, with, possibly, a dose of other stuff in the mix.

A shabby, heartless and repulsive decision. It was only half an hour, after all. There are two old dears I know who absolutely loved it. But nobody (in power anyway) truly cares about such as them.