Controller, BBC Radio 3

[Old Grumpy]

You could have pitched her (a term that's new to me) about it:

Pitches of any kind are anathema to me !

[smittims]

What, even A=413?

[Old Grumpy]

What, even A=413?

Good point...

I had forgotten about that kind of pitch!

[oddoneout]

Pitches of any kind are anathema to me !

Useful for roofs.

[french frank]

Useful for roofs.

And tents.

[Old Grumpy]

And tents.

OK, OK...

The pitches I was thinking of all involve balls of one kind or another.

[oddoneout]

OK, OK...

The pitches I was thinking of all involve balls of one kind or another.

Oh I think we'd guessed that but even for the non-sporting an open goal can be tempting...

[Old Grumpy]

Oh I think we'd guessed that but even for the non-sporting an open goal can be tempting...

Absolutely!

[Serial_Apologist]

OK, OK...

The pitches I was thinking of all involve balls of one kind or another.

Or people!

[BBMmk2]

More dumbing down of Radio 3 and the Proms, from the looks a5 the guy’s credentials.

[smittims]

Hs Sam made any official announcement yet as to what he's going to do to us?

[oddoneout]

More dumbing down of Radio 3 and the Proms, from the looks a5 the guy’s credentials.

At this stage I haven't assumed that because of his career to date that will be the case. It would be useful/interesting to know why he applied for and accepted the post as that would give a better indication of direction of travel - assuming the answers are genuinely his thoughts and not what he thinks it politic to say to avoid causing ructions. I don't think he takes up the post until April so it's early days yet; he might choose not to set out his stall or do a sales pitch beforehand of course.

[french frank]

At this stage I haven't assumed that because of his career to date that will be the case. It would be useful/interesting to know why he applied for and accepted the post as that would give a better indication of direction of travel - assuming the answers are genuinely his thoughts and not what he thinks it politic to say to avoid causing ructions. I don't think he takes up the post until April so it's early days yet; he might choose not to set out his stall or do a sales pitch beforehand of course.

We have to face the fact that money isn't available to provide a top quality arts/cultural station 24 hours a day. The BBC can justify giving more to Radio 2 (they have to pay top salaries to get the best presenters) and to Radio 4 (news gathering is extremely expensive). But no one can think why on earth a station that focuses on classical music and the arts would need as much money as they do - presenters are paid peanuts, the BBC library has already got all the old recordings it needs and you don't have to pay anything to composers who have been dead for 200 years … Obvious. Even Radio 1 needs more money than Radio 3.

It's the combination of cutting back on R3's funding together with trying to get more listeners which has been the absolute killer.

[Old Grumpy]

We have to face the fact that money isn't available to provide a top quality arts/cultural station 24 hours a day. The BBC can justify giving more to Radio 2 (they have to pay top salaries to get the best presenters) and to Radio 4 (news gathering is extremely expensive). But no one can think why on earth a station that focuses on classical music and the arts would need as much money as they do - presenters are paid peanuts, the BBC library has already got all the old recordings it needs and you don't have to pay anything to composers who have been dead for 200 years … Obvious. Even Radio 1 needs more money than Radio 3.

It's the combination of cutting back on R3's funding together with trying to get more listeners which has been the absolute killer.

News is ripe for pruning. There are far too many interviews by news anchors of correspondents in (sometimes) exotic locations in the UK and beyond. IMHO these generally add very little (if anything) to what the news presenter has already told us. This is one of the reasons I have more or less given up on Radio and TV news broadcasts.

[cloughie]

We have to face the fact that money isn't available to provide a top quality arts/cultural station 24 hours a day. The BBC can justify giving more to Radio 2 (they have to pay top salaries to get the best presenters) and to Radio 4 (news gathering is extremely expensive). But no one can think why on earth a station that focuses on classical music and the arts would need as much money as they do - presenters are paid peanuts, the BBC library has already got all the old recordings it needs and you don't have to pay anything to composers who have been dead for 200 years … Obvious. Even Radio 1 needs more money than Radio 3.

It's the combination of cutting back on R3's funding together with trying to get more listeners which has been the absolute killer.

I suppose it is a matter of opinion but they seem to pay inflated salaries to mediocre presenters.