The Chief has pronounced:
"The Radio 3 audience has dipped a little this last quarter, a quarter which saw a non-stop Schubert celebration for eight days in March – but this is not a reason. Radio 3 audience figures do fluctuate around the 2m mark, and we had a strong end to last year, but the amount of time that our listeners listen to us is up year on year –– audience figures are only one measure of our success."
'dipped a little this last quarter' - 15.8% year on year, 9.3% on the previous quarter
'which saw a non-stop Schubert celebration for eight days in March – but this is not a reason' - so a totally irrelevant aside?
'we had a strong end to last year' - not outstandingly strong
'the amount of time that our listeners listen to us is up year on year' - this may have been what Russ was referring to above: when the audience drops the hours per listener tend to go up because the stronger listeners hang on longer. When the audience is up (as last year) the hours per listener go down.
'audience figures are only one measure of our success' - or lack of, and quite a potent one when people turn off completely.
Elsewhere:
"Elsewhere this week the station picked up three Sony awards (gold, silver and bronze for a news feature Child of Ardoyne, a drama Use It or Lose It and Best Music Programme for In Tune, our drivetime programme) – a list which displays the range and distinctiveness of our programming. "
'a list which displays the range and distinctiveness of our programming' - mmmm, two of the three were for Between the Ears programmes, both made by Falling Tree. But, yes, there was a bronze in the Best Music Programme category for In Tune.
"The Radio 3 audience has dipped a little this last quarter, a quarter which saw a non-stop Schubert celebration for eight days in March – but this is not a reason. Radio 3 audience figures do fluctuate around the 2m mark, and we had a strong end to last year, but the amount of time that our listeners listen to us is up year on year –– audience figures are only one measure of our success."
'dipped a little this last quarter' - 15.8% year on year, 9.3% on the previous quarter
'which saw a non-stop Schubert celebration for eight days in March – but this is not a reason' - so a totally irrelevant aside?
'we had a strong end to last year' - not outstandingly strong
'the amount of time that our listeners listen to us is up year on year' - this may have been what Russ was referring to above: when the audience drops the hours per listener tend to go up because the stronger listeners hang on longer. When the audience is up (as last year) the hours per listener go down.
'audience figures are only one measure of our success' - or lack of, and quite a potent one when people turn off completely.
Elsewhere:
"Elsewhere this week the station picked up three Sony awards (gold, silver and bronze for a news feature Child of Ardoyne, a drama Use It or Lose It and Best Music Programme for In Tune, our drivetime programme) – a list which displays the range and distinctiveness of our programming. "
'a list which displays the range and distinctiveness of our programming' - mmmm, two of the three were for Between the Ears programmes, both made by Falling Tree. But, yes, there was a bronze in the Best Music Programme category for In Tune.
.
Comment