First service

[Old Grumpy]

As a point of perhaps interesting fact I would estimate First Service to be a considerably more expensive production than Record Review . It had a prerecorded interview and recording with Lang Lang in the Steinway piano shop (plugged as they always seem to be ) , prerecord interview with Sheku K-M , and a live performance from Hilary H and Andreas H . That is more expensive to do than a clip show and a couple of studio guests.

Is the programme actually called First Service? On BBC Sounds it is listed as Saturday Morning.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Is the programme actually called First Service? On BBC Sounds it is listed as Saturday Morning.

No but it should be ‘cos Saturday Morning is a seriously boring title and First Service is rather witty. Hats off to Alison I say.’

[south west ear]

yes but it’s only speed reading - a journalists / lawyers skill . A kindle page (usually more than a paperback page ) every thirty secs maybe 45 secs if it’s more complex. So that’s only an hour a day. But I also read all the broadsheets and the Mail - another journalist habit.
So I don’t retain anything like as if reading at a literary pace. Still Harold Bloom could read 300 pages an hour and retain most of it. I reckon to get to professorial level in the humanities you need to get to at least 100 pages an hour and be able to retain. That is a real gift . As it is I have to make a note of what I’ve read as once or twice I’ve started a book again and it all started to feel familiar.
On the R3 front when it gets irritating it’s over to Through The Night or Qobuz..

Still marking graduate school essays in the small hours, I have realised how much your last sentence is the solution for those of us loth to abandon R3 entirely - just listen to the previous night's Through the Night instead. The concert of works by the Danish String Quartet is giving me all the channel worked so hard to deny me during the day - complete works (with the exception of a single movement from Adès The Four Quarters), in a sequence chosen by the musicians themselves - one breathes again, the world hasn't gone mad, there is still intelligent life on the planet. (as there very much was in The New Music Show too). I will dutifully try to test tomorrow's offerings, but it is clear that next Saturday my live listening will begin at 22h30, probably followed by RR on the iplayer if I am again working late.

[Sir Velo]

No but it should be ‘cos Saturday Morning is a seriously boring title and First Service is rather witty. Hats off to Alison I say.’

"P*** Poor Service" might be more appropriate.

[french frank]

Saturday Morning is a seriously boring title and First Service is rather witty. Hats off to Alison I say.’

Followed next week by Second service, and so on for 23 years.

[Alison]

Im predicting Record Review returns to original slot Autumn 2025.

[AuntDaisy]

Im predicting Record Review returns to original slot Autumn 2025.

Any predictions for "Record Review Extra"?

[french frank]

Im predicting Record Review returns to original slot Autumn 2025.

Post-Easter and post-Proms are the usual times for 'refreshing the schedules'. Why not be a bit more ambitious and suggest autumn 2024? Or could the BBC not humble itself for once and do what listeners are clamouring for?

[Ein Heldenleben]

Followed next week by Second service, and so on for 23 years.

Well the tennis analogy fails after the second service - except in our family rules where a third serve is permitted if a total hash has been made of the first two.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Im predicting Record Review returns to original slot Autumn 2025.

Could be as soon as the next but one Rajar figures . The changes have met more or less total disdain from the press - many of whom are not very well known but intelligent journalists who turn out to be enthusiastic BBC and specifically Radio 3 supporters. The Twitter and Facebook evidence is fairly negative - though people are much more prone to complain rather than praise. It will be difficult to spin a loss in Sat morning figures unless the gain in pm figures is spectacular. I don’t see how they can be because so many people are out in the afternoon.

[french frank]

... except in our family rules where a third serve is permitted if a total hash has been made of the first two.

And so on for 23 years, then!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Ebook and print book markets , and understanding how they interact is an art rather than a science ! Publishers sometimes , or often , discount ebooks to push the book up the rankings, and get them greater visibility. Not sure how effective this is for a very niche title like the Tippett, which really succeeded on rave reviews, I think. Oliver Soden is a talented and very readable author. He also understands sales and promotions, and, to boot, is great to work with. He published a different title with us.

The Tippett book is out in PB, plenty of copies around at about £7. I haven’t read it, but he writes beautifully, so I would definitely go for it .

It did do well, but my guess would be that total print sales might be in the region of 3k copies. Doubt it would be much more, but would love to be wrong.
actually, I just looked up the sales, it has sold about 2500 print copies on Nielsen, but maybe 3000 is about right including some non Nielsen sales.
I can’t see the data for ebooks.

apologies for the thread diversion but since I was the only person to be even moderately enthusiastic about the first hour of First Service (its great new title) May I be permitted to thank Teamsaint for this very interesting post ? more interesting than the show to be honest.

I don’t understand much about publishing but if 3,000 sales is a “surprise success “ ( from your first post ) what does failure look like ? How can the author possibly make a living on the royalties (10-20% ) of those sales. His hourly rate for writing a 600 page biographical must be tiny. Well he’s got an extra sale now as I’ve just bought a copy.
My only experience of publishing was whenever from someone from BBC Enterprises then BBC Worldwide (who run the BBC’s publishing arm) walked into a finance meeting. They used to put (big) money into TV production. Every one went very quiet and respectful, When some one told me the projected sales of a coffee table BBC One series tie in I understood why they were so respectful. Incredibly at one stage they used to plug the books straight after the show.

Publishing like everything these days is all about marketing and plugging,

Back on thread by a tortuous route it was noticeable on First Service how all the guests bar one had something to sell. Essentially the PR people and agents only offer their famous clients for interview when there’s some product to flog, It’s the Graham Nortonisation of our culture. In Tune is a particularly egregious example. We’ve all become hucksters or marketing targets,

[Pulcinella]

I prefer Jackson in G.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Still marking graduate school essays in the small hours, I have realised how much your last sentence is the solution for those of us loth to abandon R3 entirely - just listen to the previous night's Through the Night instead. The concert of works by the Danish String Quartet is giving me all the channel worked so hard to deny me during the day - complete works (with the exception of a single movement from Adès The Four Quarters), in a sequence chosen by the musicians themselves - one breathes again, the world hasn't gone mad, there is still intelligent life on the planet. (as there very much was in The New Music Show too). I will dutifully try to test tomorrow's offerings, but it is clear that next Saturday my live listening will begin at 22h30, probably followed by RR on the iplayer if I am again working late.

A lot of people on the forum do precisely that which was why the “lost two hours “ on Saturday morning annoys so many people. I would usually put that Sat edition on after Music Matters (on the old schedule) and it would then run out halfway through Music Planet whereas in an ideal world I needed it to run out just before Opera on Three. If , as seems likely, it will now go on when First Service (its outstanding new title ) gets too irritating - maybe after the first celebrity interview - it should comfortably last till Record Review.

Universities really get their pound of flesh don’t they these days ? Trouble is you can’t speed read essays - can you ?

[DracoM]

Totally, totally agree. BBC trying to strangle / kill off R3?