The CBC should reconsider the closure of the CBC Radio Orchestra, according to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

The 32-page report is worded gently, as the Committee acknowledges that the CBC has journalistic, creative, and programming independence. In other words, the government can’t tell the CBC what to do, only “suggest” it.

The report contains 9 recommendation/conclusions:”The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage…”

• reaffirms its recommendation that the Government of Canada commit to stable, multi-year funding for CBC/Radio-Canada, indexed to the cost of living. Funding should be for a period of not less than seven years and be established by means of a proposed memorandum of understanding.
• recognizes that under the Broadcasting Act, 1991, CBC/Radio-Canada enjoys journalistic, creative, and programming independence.
• is encouraged that CBC/Radio-Canada has reaffirmed its commitment that classical music will continue to have a central place in CBC Radio 2 programming.
• is encouraged that CBC/Radio-Canada has reaffirmed the development of other genres of music in order to reflect the diversity of Canada.
• concludes that CBC/Radio Canada should explore creative ways to acquire a third over-the-air CBC/Radio-Canada network to allow greater opportunities to better focus the broadcast of all genres of Canadian music, including classical, jazz, folk, world, and roots music.
• is convinced that CBC/Radio-Canada’s stated commitment to the continuation of classical music as a central part of CBC radio programming is intricately linked with the continuation of the CBC Radio Orchestra as a vehicle for emerging Canadian talent.
• recognizes with appreciation the long and illustrious history of the CBC Radio Orchestra and its role in the promotion of Canadian classical music and the development of Canadian composers, musicians and conductors. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage further recognizes the specific contribution of the CBC Radio Orchestra to the cultural life of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia where it has been based.
• notes the particular role of a radio orchestra and, while not directing any specific outcome or action, concludes that the board of directors of CBC/Radio-Canada and CBC/Radio-Canada management should review the decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra.
• is convinced that meaningful consultation with Canadians, musicians, music organizations, and communities representing various musical genres would improve CBC’s decision making with regard to changes in radio programming.
• concludes that the cancellation of the young composers and young performers competitions has negatively impacted the ability of young emerging Canadian classical musicians and composers from showcasing their music to the public.

	6 Comments »	See also: Changes to CBC Radio Two, Parliament
	Email this	Posted at 11:29 am (19 Jun 2008)

CBC Radio announced today the hosts for a number of programs slated to air this fall as part of the revitalized CBC Radio 2 schedule.

Tom Allen, Peter Togni and Jurgen Gothe will be returning to the network, to be joined by Julie Nesrallah, Molly Johnson and Rich Terfry.

• Monday to Friday from 6 to 10 a.m., Tom Allen will host CBC Radio 2’s new morning show, which will serve as the gateway to the new Radio 2 schedule and will feature a wide range of music.
• At 10 a.m., mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah will take the helm of the network’s new daytime classical show, airing until 3 p.m.
• Then at 3 p.m., Rich Terfry, better known as Buck 65, will host Radio 2’s new drive-time songwriter show until 6 p.m.
• On the weekends, Molly Johnson will host the new morning show airing Saturdays from 6 to 10 a.m. and Sundays from 6 to 8 a.m.
• Completing the weekend schedule, Peter Togni will be Choral Concert’s new host beginning in September, and Jurgen Gothe will host a new weekly show on Sundays from 5 to 6 p.m.

	21 Comments »	See also: CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Personalities
	Email this	Posted at 3:58 pm (10 Jun 2008)

CBC Radio has announced two new music shows for CBC Radio Two.

Debuting May 31, from 5 to 6 p.m., is a new show from Calgary called In Tune. Hosted by classically trained musician Katherine Duncan, the program will focus on trends in classical music. Currently, Duncan is the Calgary host of Canada Live, and before that hosted Symphony Hall for 10 years.

Tom Power, a newcomer to CBC, will host Deep Roots. Based in Newfoundland, Power will offer listeners music in the roots/folk genres with a special emphasis on Canadian musicians. Deep Roots replaces I Hear Music in the 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. timeslot.Robert Harris, who had hosted I Hear Music since September 2000, will now produce documentaries for Radio 2. “Inside the Music is the likely spot for Robert’s new work,” explained CBC Radio’s director of programming, Chris Boyce. “But given his enormous talent, we have no doubt that Robert will be heard throughout the Radio 2 schedule.”

	10 Comments »	See also: CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Deep Roots, In Tune
	Email this	Posted at 11:39 am (16 May 2008)

Robert Cooper, executive producer of opera and choral music will leave the CBC at the end of the summer. The program Choral Concert will continue. No replacement for Cooper has been named.

	3 Comments »	See also: Asides, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Executives
	Email this	Posted at 10:19 am (13 May 2008)

The House of Commons standing committee on Canadian heritage will be holding hearings on proposed changes to CBC Radio 2.

Beginning Labour Day, Radio 2 will offer what the CBC describes as “a broader, richer spectrum of music,” with less classical and more diverse music.

CBC also has decided to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra, the last radio orchestra in existence in North America, to free up the funding for projects.

Committee member and NDP heritage critic Bill Siksay brought forward the motion to hold hearings.

“I’m concerned that the commitment to classical music in Canada is a key part of the Canadian culture. CBC Radio 2 has been a key player in classical music,” Siksay told CBC News.

More at CBCnews.ca

	8 Comments »	See also: Changes to CBC Radio Two, Parliament
	Email this	Posted at 9:26 pm (10 May 2008)

What’s on Winnipeg recently published an excellent article about CBC Radio’s new director of programming, Chris Boyce.

In it, Chris talks about the challenges he’s facing in the new job, particularly the hurdle of the format change of Radio 2.

Chris Boyce started out with Definitely Not the Opera, the Saturday afternoon pop culture show on CBC Radio One. He then had an idea to create The Content Factory [disclosure: I work in the Content Factory group], a group of writers and producers who generate cross-format content for all of the CBC. This caught the attention of CBC headquarters, and Chris was then given the job of manager of program development for the CBC.

	8 Comments »	See also: CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Executives
	Email this	Posted at 1:38 am (01 May 2008)

Broadcaster.com featured an interview with Richard Stursberg, Vice-President of English Services at the CBC, this week. Really nothing all that new — basically the same arguments and explanations as we’ve heard, but, for the record, a brief summary of the interview is after the jump, below.

[Read more →]

	Add Comment »	See also: CBC Policies, Changes to CBC Radio Two, Executives
	Email this	Posted at 1:01 am (01 May 2008)

You’ve gotta hand it to him. Znaimer knows where to place his advertising…

Hat tip to Pat Martel. Photo: Peter Rukavina (used under Creative Commons licence)

	1 Comment »	See also: Changes to CBC Radio Two, Fun Stuff
	Email this	Posted at 1:04 pm (30 Apr 2008)

There has been lots of talk recently about the forthcoming changes to CBC Radio 2, the dismantling of the CBC Radio Orchestra, and more.

So last week, I sat down (via phone) with Chris Boyce, CBC Radio’s director of programming, and Mark Steinmetz, director of music, to get some more details and address some of the concerns raised.

The interview text is below and the audio of the interview is coming soon.

Please note: There are some crappy edits in the audio — all were from my end (coughing, taking a phone call, and editing out my mangling of questions and stumbling over words <grin>). At no time has Chris, Mark, or anyone at the CBC asked for anything to be taken out.

Maffin: There’s been lots of chat these days on the blog, and in the media, and inside the CBC around the changes to CBC Radio Two, specifically the reduction of classical music being played, the addition of a streaming classical music station online and closing the closing the CBC Radio orchestra. It’s been very contentious, and I’ve got a couple people with me from the CBC who will hopefully shed some light and maybe explain some of this. One is Mark Steinmetz. Hi Mark.

[Read more →]

	21 Comments »	See also: CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two
	Email this	Posted at 4:16 pm (28 Apr 2008)

They call it “Raise a Ruckus for Radio Two” and organizers say protests have been planned for 13 cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John’s.

The protests will demand a rethinking or reversal of planned changes to CBC Radio Two, which have included a reduction in the amount of classical music programming to make way for music of a variety of genres.

The CBC says the changes are necessary to reflect Canadians’ changing music tastes, and that the CBC’s mandate is to give airtime to underplayed Canadian artists.

	36 Comments »	See also: Changes to CBC Radio Two
	Email this	Posted at 1:12 pm (10 Apr 2008)

Somebody at the CBC apparently has leaked the CBC’s “talking points” around changes to Radio Two to 31-year-old Saskatchewan resident Peter McGillivray. He posted it in a Facebook group formed to protest the changes.

Among the points:

Claim: Live performance broadcasts of classical music have been significantly cut back.
Fact: Last fall Radio 2 introduced a new, weekly four-hour classical performance show called Sunday Afternoon in Concert - New nightly program The Signal (10pm - 1pm) regularly airs contemporary classical performances from across the country.

Claim: Degradation of Good Music
Fact: Let’s not confuse quality of music with style of music: CBC is committed to introducing Canadians to quality Canadian Music. it’s a key value that drives all decision-making; We’re broadening the genres we play in order to better meet our mandate of representing all regions and the broad range of music performed by Canadians.

Claim: Focus on commercially lucrative music
Fact: - In fact, we’re doing the exact opposite: Commercial radio only plays .8% of the Canadian music produced in any given year; We’re going to go deeper exposing a lot more recorded Canadian talent that deserves to be heard; As a public broadcaster Radio2 doesn’t, has never and has no plans to run advertising on air.

Claim: CBC’s abandoning mandate by moving away from Classical Music.
Fact: Untrue. CBC’s mandate is to reflect the regions, the people and the music of this country: By broadening the range of music we play we will do a much better job of meeting our mandate.

Claim: Competing with private radio for pop music crowd
Fact: Not true: Private radio plays select few, in focused genre, in regular rotation; Radio 2 morning and drive programs wil play more emerging Candian talent in genres ranging fro blues to jazz to folk to roots and more; in between, five hours per day, we will continue to feature classical music.

	35 Comments »	See also: CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two
	Email this	Posted at 11:30 am (01 Apr 2008)

You can’t say he’s can’t spot a marketing opportunity when he sees one.

Citytv founder Moses Znaimer has taken advantage of public displeasure over the coming changes for CBC Radio Two and issued a news release promoting his two Toronto classical radio stations.

Titled “Attention CBC Radio 2 classical music listeners!,” the release begins: “Keep calm and carry on - there is an all-classical alternative [and CBC can no longer] claim there is no other source for classical music in English Canada.”

Among the new initiatives he plans to roll out: “The Classical Corps,” a roving team of mobile young reporters who will cover cultural events. Oh, and a classical-music game show just for fun

Media in Canada described the move as a “take-that blow to CBC that smacks of a wannabe duelist slapping an enemy with a glove.” Znaimer bought the stations last year and relaunched them in September

	15 Comments »	See also: Changes to CBC Radio Two
	Email this	Posted at 1:56 pm (31 Mar 2008)