Yesterday I was dismayed to learn that CBC 2 was changing quite dramatically. I knew something was afoot, but I wasn’t sure what. I guess there has been a lot of discussion in the south about this, but it hadn’t reached my ears. Anyway, as of today there is a whole slew of new programming, aimed I assume at attracting a younger/broader audience. What I suspect CBC has done instead is ticked off a very loyal listenership.
For me the changes mean that I am no longer able to rely on CBC to provide me with classical music during my ‘drive time’. Those timeslots have now been taken up with with a much broader variety of music. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy variety, but on my own terms. I turned to CBC 2 because it offered me something I couldn’t get from other stations; something that feeds me and centers me and helps me with my transition from home to work and vice versa. Now that’s been replaced with something that feels an awful lot like typical commercial radio.
However it’s not all bad. I love the four new internet radio channels. There, I can get my fill of classical, and if I want something else I can also choose jazz, Canadian composers and Canadian songwriters. The quality is really high too. But I can’t listen in my car to what I can hear on my computer. Ultimately, I feel like I’ve lost a good friend.
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September 2, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Lucca
I feel the same way. I even liked listening to Jurgen Goth with his quirky comments. In fact, the classical music was pretty much the only radio I ever tuned in to. The rest I get in podcasts. I’m grieving.
September 2, 2008 at 2:51 pm
fawnahareo
*sigh* What’s the point of a Radio One and a Radio Two now? Radio Two was my gentle-waking-up-in-the-morning alarm clock setting. No wonder it sounded strange this morning.
September 3, 2008 at 7:57 pm
petercook
Hi Janet. Yup, lots of people upset and in mourning. No question.
We’ll miss some (not all) of the shows in our house.
And we’re enjoying some (not all . . . not yet) of the new shows.
Glad you like the “channels”. They’re streams of course but upper management were afraid of using too geeky a word. I’m actually hoping we can make them sound even better but I’m very pleased to have pushed them this far.
I think between the new streams, Concerts On Demand, and the Canada Live podcast we have a pretty incredible offering.
September 4, 2008 at 1:45 pm
taibhsearachd
Peter, is there any chance that CBC will re-think some of the changes to CBC 2? I can’t help but feel sorry for Tom Allen. It must be tough for him to do the show with so much negative feedback from the public.
October 9, 2008 at 5:58 pm
petercook
Hi Janet
I’m sure there will be tweaks to the shows. But there will be no turning back to the old shows or old format. This has been in the works for years. I personally don’t think they’ve executed very well. Despite those years of strategizing and getting the huge ship turned around, they chose the hosts and teams very late. They had very little prep time and most of the programmers and 2 of the 3 hosts are brand new. It was a bit silly to throw them in the deep end like this.
The truth is we have very few resources and huge ambitions. Right now, I think it shows. They’ll get it together eventually but it’s going to take a while for the audience to come around.
October 20, 2008 at 2:34 pm
taibhsearachd
But that’s the thing that upsets me so much Peter…this attitude that ‘people will come around’. Why do they have to come around? What was wrong with continuing to provide them with a service that so many clearly loved?