Controller, BBC Radio 3

[JasonPalmer]

We obviously need a people's socialist revolution to triple the radio 3 budget and put a classical concert on BBC one at 7pm each evening. Power to the ragged trousered philanthropists !

[AuntDaisy]

This is the Telegraph article. Interestingly commenters on Radio 3 stories on the hoover tend to be quite supportive. Annoying the that Telegraph like the Times has just massively increased their digital subscriptions. Still better value though.
“RADIO 3 has been accused of being out of tune with its listeners, but one of its sternest critics has been appointed to lead the station in a move that may bring it back into harmony with its core audience.
Sam Jackson, the former Classic FM managing editor, who once derided the BBC for “aping” his accessible classical output in an attempt to attract younger listeners, has now been hired by the broadcaster. ...

Thanks Heldenleben. Just needs the ubiquitous photo and caption

There only seems to be one image of Sam(Jack)son; might this help...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Thanks Heldenleben. Just needs the ubiquitous photo and caption

There only seems to be one image of Sam(Jack)son; might this help...

Outstanding piece of art work. But I think Daniel , or possibly Jonah will prove to be a more appropriate Biblical analogy.

[french frank]

The Spectator is the latest to have a go at R3 under the heading, 'The dumbing down of BBC Radio 3' - an article by a sometime R3 guest, opera singer and satirist Melinda Hughes (a sort of Anna Russell?). This link worked for me. As far as the outgoing controller is concerned '... there’s no escaping the fact that under his watch there has been a general dumbing-down of programming'.

I get a bit anxious about the phrase 'dumbing down' but as far as the Davey late night products are concerned the phrase fits the classic dictionary definition perectly: the aim is to broaden the audience with undemanding content. In this case it's not the content itself which is 'dumb'; it's broadcasting it on Radio 3 to cater for a new audience which isn't looking for 'demanding' listening.

In fact, the article's chief target is Essential Classics. "Each year, the BBC Proms finds a new way to diversify its output, from proms based around video games, to rap, to an ‘Ibiza-style’ dance party. Even more egregiously, two years ago Radio 3 rebranded its late-morning show as Essential Classics. Presenter Ian Skelly was dropped and the three-hour show has become nauseatingly pedestrian, indulging requests for easy listening, folk and jazz which don’t do any favours for the competent presenter Georgia Mann. The changes were described by one newspaper as a ‘catastrophe’. The programme is now so inane it makes me want to rip my digital radio from the kitchen shelf and smash it through the window."

So now you know. Mr Jackson is advised to 'stop serving the soup to us. You won’t bring in new young audiences by being patronising.'

[antongould]

The Spectator is the latest to have a go at R3 under the heading, 'The dumbing down of BBC Radio 3' - an article by a sometime R3 guest, opera singer and satirist Melinda Hughes (a sort of Anna Russell?). This link worked for me. As far as the outgoing controller is concerned '... there’s no escaping the fact that under his watch there has been a general dumbing-down of programming'.

I get a bit anxious about the phrase 'dumbing down' but as far as the Davey late night products are concerned the phrase fits the classic dictionary definition perectly: the aim is to broaden the audience with undemanding content. In this case it's not the content itself which is 'dumb'; it's broadcasting it on Radio 3 to cater for a new audience which isn't looking for 'demanding' listening.

In fact, the article's chief target is Essential Classics. "Each year, the BBC Proms finds a new way to diversify its output, from proms based around video games, to rap, to an ‘Ibiza-style’ dance party. Even more egregiously, two years ago Radio 3 rebranded its late-morning show as Essential Classics. Presenter Ian Skelly was dropped and the three-hour show has become nauseatingly pedestrian, indulging requests for easy listening, folk and jazz which don’t do any favours for the competent presenter Georgia Mann. The changes were described by one newspaper as a ‘catastrophe’. The programme is now so inane it makes me want to rip my digital radio from the kitchen shelf and smash it through the window."

So now you know. Mr Jackson is advised to 'stop serving the soup to us. You won’t bring in new young audiences by being patronising.'

Essential Classics has been running since at least 2011 …… the article didn’t impress me I’m afraid …..

[french frank]

Essential Classics has been running since at least 2011 …… the article didn’t impress me I’m afraid …..

I took that point. I think she must have meant from the context that it got a bit of a makeover ('rebranded') when Ian Skelly went. Personally, I gave the programme a miss right from the time "Essential Classics" was announced (that is, I was never 'a listener' which doesn't mean I never listened to anything). When it was even decided that the single full-length work in 3 hours was too much for its target audience to cope with, that didn't seem to signal an improvement. Now I just read the comments here

I seem to remember you weren't actually a great fan of Essential Classics at one time? You're getting used to it?

[Sir Velo]

Essential Classics has been running since at least 2011 …..

Hard to believe things have been this bad for so long isn't it?

[smittims]

I may never have listened to 'Essential Classics' except accidentally, when it did sound as described. That it succeeded Rob Cowan's 'CD Masters', an excellent programme, is a clear sign of how R3 has been dumbed-down.

Sam has a job to do in restoring standards,,and it should not cost any more than it does now, if indeed, he wants to do it. We'll soon find out.

[cloughie]

Hard to believe things have been this bad for so long isn't it?

When Rob and Sarah were the hosts it wasn’t quite as bad as at least thet played some longer full works in the 11-12 hour, and if memory serves the BaL choice in full featured on Mondays! Incidentally SK seems to have disappeared totall from the radar since leaving EC for a more important role.

[antongould]

I took that point. I think she must have meant from the context that it got a bit of a makeover ('rebranded') when Ian Skelly went. Personally, I gave the programme a miss right from the time "Essential Classics" was announced (that is, I was never 'a listener' which doesn't mean I never listened to anything). When it was even decided that the single full-length work in 3 hours was too much for its target audience to cope with, that didn't seem to signal an improvement. Now I just read the comments here

I seem to remember you weren't actually a great fan of Essential Classics at one time? You're getting used to it?

Terrible thing to say I was more of a fan when Skellers was presenting - now I prefer Breakfast which I listen to early next morning on my walk ......

Back to the article ...... it suggested that your yoof were all streamers as if us ancients weren't ..... not true I would say ..... the choice of music available to even me at a keystone is frightening .... I wonder if it been available back in the day how it would have impacted morning listening figures on R3 .......
A change I have, I think, noticed is that about a dozen years ago the complaint about Breakfast was not only playing bleeding chunks but the same bleeding chunks by the same composers. I feel the latter does not apply so much anymore.

I am becoming a very big fan of #OurKate

I can no longer be saved .....

[oddoneout]

Terrible thing to say I was more of a fan when Skellers was presenting - now I prefer Breakfast which I listen to early next morning on my walk ......

Back to the article ...... it suggested that your yoof were all streamers as if us ancients weren't ..... not true I would say ..... the choice of music available to even me at a keystone is frightening .... I wonder if it been available back in the day how it would have impacted morning listening figures on R3 .......
A change I have, I think, noticed is that about a dozen years ago the complaint about Breakfast was not only playing bleeding chunks but the same bleeding chunks by the same composers. I feel the latter does not apply so much anymore.

I am becoming a very big fan of #OurKate

I can no longer be saved .....

I'll join you in hell...
Apart from it being nice to have a change occasionally I appreciate that KM doesn't drop off the end of her comments into something approaching a mumble, which Petroc has a tendency to do; that's fine for ordinary "in person" conversation, but for a broadcast in my case it means I miss a fair bit of what he says. The other thing I noticed this week is that KM seems more inclined to leave a decent interval between the end of the music and resuming speaking. Petroc's Breakfast sometimes feels a bit rushed, everything hot on the heels of what's gone before.
It will be interesting to see how the change of controller works out. How much control does or can such a person exert these days, when the priority seems to be dancing to the political paymaster's tune.

[Barbirollians]

I never listen to either programme except by chance - the other day I was turning away from something dull on Radio 4 and heard the Radio 3 presenter announce Dvorak's Serenade for Strings - not a movement of it9 this is promising I unwisely thought - a whole work) - of course it was just a movement at which point there was the comment of a listener from Norfolk on some extraordinarily inane quiz like question - so inane I have already forgotten it and I turned it off .

[french frank]

Back to the article ...... it suggested that your yoof were all streamers as if us ancients weren't .....

I don't think that's a correct conclusion. 'Us ancients', streamers or not, aren't a problem for the Beeb: 'we' listen to the radio as well as streaming. The 'yoof' (your word) are abandoning radio, and that's the problem for the traditional networks which the BBC is trying to solve by putting on 'pop' (broad sense) singers &c as DJs, playing their kind of music, even on Radio 3.

A change I have, I think, noticed is that about a dozen years ago the complaint about Breakfast was not only playing bleeding chunks but the same bleeding chunks by the same composers. I feel the latter does not apply so much anymore.

I am becoming a very big fan of #OurKate

A change they have succeeded with is getting (older) R3 listeners hooked on presenters. All/most of the shortcomings are forgiven if you like the presenter. I don't believe that, even in the days of Patricia Hughes (who? before my time), Tom Crowe, Cormac Rigby and the rest of them, listeners considered them central to the programmes. RW even started naming programmes after the presenter - Rob Cowan, Iain Burnside, Andy Kershaw: this was later dropped but the presenters remained the lure. But wasn't the article right - that these presenters are no sort of lure for a younger generation, no matter what the content? The obvious next trick is to introduce presenters who (hopefully) will appeal to younger people but who know little about classical music. Mentioning no names.

[oddoneout]

I never listen to either programme except by chance - the other day I was turning away from something dull on Radio 4 and heard the Radio 3 presenter announce Dvorak's Serenade for Strings - not a movement of it9 this is promising I unwisely thought - a whole work) - of course it was just a movement at which point there was the comment of a listener from Norfolk on some extraordinarily inane quiz like question - so inane I have already forgotten it and I turned it off .

Unfortunately you could now hit the single movement rot (and worse, see recent posts in relevant thread) in the Afternoon Concert slot, and I did hear recently some listener input quoted as well.
It is worth remembering that the morning schedule used to be much worse. Whether changes were the result of being aware of listener reaction or just a change of tack along the lines of "oh we'll try this now/we've been told to go in this direction" I don't know but for this listener they have been welcome. The end selection playlist challenge can be interesting, some of the listener input adds facts not just opinion, and the presenter bias/censorship doesn't seem to be a factor now; the longer interval between having the starter and the end result has made for better selection - if only because it gives time to find the more obscure suggestions presumably. There is much more differentiation between Breakfast and EC now, and there can be quite extended periods of music rather than talk in the latter. Whether it is R3 is a different argument, but I for one am glad that changes have been made that improve matters rather than make them worse - not a given these days!

[DracoM]

Which is why I listen mostly in day time to

https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/ohjelmat/57-llL6Y4bl

Finnish classical music station, full of surprises amongst usual favourites etc, WHOLE works 24/7.
Don't speak Finnish, but there is a translation available for everything online.