CBC introduced on Wednesday a slate of arts and culture programming changes to its two main radio services, largely driven by the decision to expand CBC Radio Two as a Canadian music service and broaden the musical genres featured on air.
The announcement comes about three years after the public broadcaster began an in-depth study that examined CBC Radio’s arts programming, and polled the public and the country’s cultural stakeholders about what they wanted to see.
Music programming will largely migrate off CBC Radio One, the news and current affairs-focused main service. However, comedy, drama and other arts and entertainment programming will continue to be featured on Radio One, available to 98 per cent of Canadians.
The first wave of programming targets the evening schedule. It is the CBC’s plan to implement these changes March 19.
PDF files of the new schedule: CBC Radio One | CBC Radio Two
CBC RADIO TWO (seven days a week)
JAZZ: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
The anchor for evenings on Radio Two will be jazz, seven nights a week, from 6 to 8 p.m. Katie Malloch, who is currently the much-loved host of “Jazz Beat,” will host the weekday jazz program from Montreal. Tim Tamashiro, a jazz musician and broadcaster from Alberta, will host a weekend jazz program from Calgary.
LIVE PERFORMANCE: 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Every evening, CBC Radio Two listeners will be transported to the concert halls, music clubs and festival stages of Canada. This program will bring the best of Canada’s regional music scenes to a national stage. It will be produced through CBC stations across the country, with the weekday edition hosted nationally by Matt Galloway.
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.
CBC will expand its commitment to Canadian composers, while at the same time broadening the range of contemporary music played on CBC Radio Two. Two very talented and respected voices in the contemporary music scene will host the two programs. Broadcaster Laurie Brown returns to CBC as host, Monday through Thursday. Pat Carrabré, composer in residence with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, will host the Friday through Sunday program.
OVERNIGHTS: 1 a.m. - 6 a.m.
Overnights, hosted by Danielle Charbonneau, will feature a disc program that mirrors the broad range of music heard on Radio Two.
NEWS
CBC will create a news-run specifically designed for a music service. Radio Two will feature three-minute national newscasts in the mornings (6, 7 and 8 a.m.) and during the afternoon drive (4, 5 and 6 p.m.), seven days a week. These newscasts will be tailored to reflect the regions as the newscast cycles across the country. Arts coverage will be part of the news package.
CBC RADIO ONE
CBC Radio One will create a new, daily arts magazine program hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. This program will feature news and information about the arts, culture, music and entertainment from across Canada and around the world. It replaces Freestyle in the afternoons and The Arts Tonight at 10 p.m.
Drama will migrate from its current schedule location into mornings. 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon will be a destination for comedy/drama and other new programming initiatives.
CBC will create a one-hour version of “Dispatches,” which will evolve to incorporate some of the values of Global Village. It will air Monday and Sunday evenings. “Fuse” will move to Saturday afternoons on Radio One and Sunday afternoons on Radio Two. And there will be new opportunities for listeners to discover some of the CBC’s most popular programs, such as Vinyl Café, Writers and Company and Quirks and Quarks.
Below is an interview Tod Maffin conducted yesterday with Jane Chalmers and head of programming Jennifer McGuire.
Download/listen to MP3
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I think your mp3 is at the wrong bitrate for the flash player. It sounds like chipmunks. On speed.
Tod just added this, and took down the Flash part, so you are probably right. The MP3 version seems fine.
So, no Zombie Gzowski then? Pity.
At least Disc Drive remains untouched. My 8 cats are big Jurgen Gothe fans.
Seriously, the changes seem reasonable. I like the idea of Radio 2 as an all-around music alternative to commercial radio programming whether it’s jazz, classical, or independant music. Given that a lot of listeners originally came to Radio 2 through Brave New Waves and Nightlines, it’s good that it broadcasts a wider spectrum of music.
[...] Someone, somewhere is listening. Thank you. The new CBC Radio One sked can be found here. Read the CBC blog for all the details, and for a list of the changes for all you Radio Two fans. [...]
Dear CBC:
This sucks. Seriously. What’s going to happen to Music For A While? Danielle Charbonneau from 1-6am…will that become ‘music for vampires, insomniacs, and the late, late, late, late shift?’ And three minute newscasts? What’s the point?
I can’t believe that the day has come when I change my radio dial, and for good. I’m part of that ‘younger’ demographic you’re trying to reach, and I’m not impressed. I listen to CBC because I want to hear classical music. I listen to Music For A While every night, and I’m not a fan of jazz and contemporary music.
I can’t tell you how very disappointed I am. But I can tell you this: I’ll be moving on to CKUA and my iPod.
This just stinks.
Testing comments
Tough Break for Freestyle.
What about DNTO? Will it be affected by the new schedule? They do cover a lot of music.
Oh No! What happened to CBC Radio 3?
Like Heather above, I’m overall pretty disappointed with these changes. More arts programming is great, and I’m happy to see Freestyle go. However, I’m deeply disappointed to see that the Arts Tonight will end, as well as Northern Lights (which plays much better music than the local commercial classical station). Just because I’m part of the ‘younger’ demographic doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate good classical music. What will happen to Eleanor Wachtel? She’s one of my favourite CBC hosts!
I have a feeling that taking Radio 3 off Radio 2 might upset a lot more of of they very same younger demo they were trying to attract. While it doesn’t affect me as I tune in on Sirius, I do know a lot of people potentially, that just had their fruit basket upset, by a media outlet claiming to try and bring them more fruit… Not sure about this one.
CBC Radio 3 is gone, as is Brave New Waves (according to the news article on CBC.ca we’re expected to prop up CBC’s investment in Sirius radio to hear great Canadian bands on our national public radio — or get our hits via podcasts).
DNTO is still around, but shortened.
As a dedicated listener of CBC radio nearing the demographic being sought, this is only making me want to tune in less…
Freestyle is cancelled to be replaced by a show with Jian Ghomeshi.
Frying pan, meet fire.
While generally the new changes seem fine, the decision to take away CBC Radio 3 and Brave New Waves is appalling. As a member of this apparently coveted “young” demographic, this will turn away much of the indie cred that CBC Radio had amongst people our age. I’m certainly not shelling out money for Sirus Satellite Radio - I don’t drive enough to have one in the car, and I use my computer for my music, not a stereo, and I’d never listen to all the channels except for CBC!
BRING BACK RADIO 3! BRING BACK BRAVE NEW WAVES!
Just when you think the CBC is doing great, they make a boneheaded decision like this… arg!
Young people: if you read about this you will see that when Radio Two seeks to skew younger, they’re talking 40ish, not 20ish.
I was sad to see Brave New Waves go… UNTIL I read the CBC Arts story. It looks like it’s moving to Sirius and podcasting.
Podcasting is the perfect medium for BNW. Not all of us can stay up till 4 a.m. And if you’re not into the latest noisecore track, the skip button’s right there.
Man, I dunno about the BNW side of these changes. I’ve been with The Waves since that first awesome night that A. LaPaix stepped on the scene 23 years ago.
BNW still goes places R3 dares not venture - real sound art, interviews of substance rather than introduction of new bands, real in-depth information on the artists that both inform and are forgotten by the contemporary music scene.
If radio wants to skew late 30s / 40ish, why not keep this valuable travelogue of avant-garde / indie music right where it is? R3 is more like a farm system for indie music that has both street cred as well as the capability to be adopted by more mainstream audiences.
BNW has been the only place for indie music as a genre in and of itself. It’s been less concerned with a level of mainstream acceptance that’s attainable in our ‘brave new world’. A lot of what is popular now would have seemed totally impossible back in the mid 1980s, granted.
Still, this is the radio programming equivalent of the bohemian artist neighbourhood that gets ‘condo-ized’. By the time the new residents start showing up, most of what was attractive about the area has disappeared, become homogenized, or just plain been killed by a type of interest that is void of nuance and self-understanding.
When people used to ask me what kind of music I listened to, I used to reply with “have you ever heard of Brave New Waves on CBC radio2?”
Cutting BNW will be justified, I’m sure with the fact that “the kids” now have Radio 3. But if that’s going to be our BNW replacement, you’ve got to stop playing cookie-cutter forumla music all the time. I actually haven’t heard the Sirius station, just the stream from the website. And I’m not impressed. Brave New Waves is seriously regarded one of the best shows in the world for avant garde nuts like me.
Why does CBC hate young people?
There seems to be an expectation that anyone under 40 should be prepared to spend money on a satellite receiver, or own a computer, and pay monthly satellite and/or high-speed internet fees in order to access CBC content of interest to them.
While younger people may be early adopters of technology, they also don’t have piles of dough, and so dumping Radio 3 into the digital ghetto is a bit of a screw you to anyone who can’t afford to access it. I hope CBC at least recognize this, and step up their funding so that they can improve their free web offerings as they claim they will.
http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/01/Sometimes-Change-Is-Good
oh wait. i read the news article that someone posted. Brave New Waves will be available via podcast.
Good. Better actually. Well, no. I’ll miss that good old FM sound. And some people in cars will be inconvenienced. Whatever, they should take the bus, or install some means of playing podcasts in their car.
I too am in their younger demographic and they’re pretty much killing what I like listening to late at night on Radio One. I’ve been a big fan of Northern Lights (and its predecessor That Time of The Night) for years…it’s about the only music programming I listen to exclusively.
Plus, judging by the fact that they’re replacing it with repeats of other CBC programs at 11 and extending Radio Overnight (which broadcasts other public broadcasters’ English language services) by an hour…it sure seems to me that they did this for the almighty dollar than any need to consolidate services.
Also, does no one get that people use the sleep function on their alarm clocks and that many of us enjoy listening to music before going to sleep and then waking up to current affairs programming?
I’ve been really angry with how dreadful the CBC television service has been but contented myself that they had a great radio service and had consolidated after some difficult years. Guess I was wrong. Pig ignorant, thy name is CBC.
Is this true that Freestyle is going going gone? Good. Dumbed-down chit chat is not the mandate of a publicly funded broadcaster. We can get that anywhere.
More arts and culture is great if you keep it intelligent and relevant. Jian is fine if he stays off his “isn’t this a great nation in which we live” opening speech and cuts the segments with bone-headed regulars “from across this great nation of ours.” Those segments were patronizing and annoying.
The CBC will attract younger listeners by appealing to their smarts and keeping digital services. It should take its cues from the BBC and other public broadcasters and not from commercial radio.
Looking forward to the changes.
I’m pretty stoked about a lot of this, e.g. ditching Freestyle, keeping great shows like “GO!”, expanding Dispatches.
I like Jian Ghomeshi, but he will now have more air time than ANY OTHER HOST - two and half hours over the day and evening - i.e. Gzowski-level dominance. Yikes.
Why didn’t they cut back or reduce DNTO? ‘Coz it’s from Winnipeg?
Jowi Taylor gets screwed again (in the wake of his treatment with the Canadian guitar thing). He is a fantastic host and has built an excellent show, way ahead on web content too. Hope there’s a place for him somewhere.
As per music changes on Two, it’s a sad end to the BNW/ Nightlines style of weird music programming. “Uncle” David Wisdom loses his last toehold - I loved “Pearls of Wisdom.” You’ll be missed.
I listen a lot to podcasts, have the technology to listen to them in the car, so I’m covered for the disappearance of Radio 3 (which I really like). Maybe this big move to streaming (listen to Tod’s interview with Chalmers and McGuire) will be a good thing.
Overall, not bad ideas here.
Will more drama be added to Radio One at a later point in time? All I see now for drama is 30 minutes of Afghanada. Sunday Showcase/MondayNight Playhouse are both gone and I don’t see a 60 minute slot on Radio One for hour long dramas.
I can only hope that “Drama will migrate from its current schedule location into mornings.” will happen in the next phase of the changes. It would be sad to see what is left of CBC’s great radio drama history disappear.
If all of the content targeted at those under 35 is moving to Radio 3 then how about giving it a streaming presence alongside all of the Radio One streams? And no, I won’t be happy if it’s just one stream out of Toronto like they currently have for Radio Two. Please consider providing live streaming of Radio Two and Radio 3 for each timezone.
It would have been nice to see the new afternoon program hosted by Anna Anna Bonokoski rather than Jian. Freestyle was always dramatically improved whenever she presenting rather than producing. I believe she would be great with a music and arts oriented show.
My only major complaint with the new schedule is the cancellation of BNW which I think the “forces that be” will come to regret VERY quickly. Youth across this nation have been united by the one radio show. I’m very serious about this. I’ve talked to people from every little hamlet in this country that have been introduced to both cutting edge music and public broadcasting via that one show. I think it’s actually far more important than it gets credit for. I’m doubtful that the challenging (and often Canadian) music that one finds on BNW will find much of a home on the broad-based “contemporary music” portion of the new schedule. We should fight to keep BNW alive!
Another idea…move BNW to TV. I’m serious! With CBC TV now 24 hours/day, it would make for a great late-night hour or two of challenging music and videos and/or something to be programmed for the after-school crowd. Sort of like a more frequent and intelligent version of Much Music’s “The Wedge.” Patti Shmidt could still do the intros. Something akin to Much’s old CityLimits is what I’m thinking. Basically something that will play all that great music on Canadian TV that Much Music is too afraid to play. The BNW franchises should really be augmented, not protracted.
-JP
So they’re ditching Brave New Waves, Global Village, and even Radio 3, but keeping “Go!”, which, I’m sorry, is the Fozzie Bear of radio shows, *and* giving us a Jian Ghomeshi OD?
Thanks for nothing.
BNW will NOT be PODCAST or be available on Sirius.
toute fini.
Eric Smith:
I *like* Fozzie Bear.
Re. BNW to TV: didn’t they sorta try that with Zed?
I grew up with BNW and much of my musical knowledge and tastes developed from the show. Our sadness has probably been anticipated. There are talented people at CBC and I’m their changes will be for the best. Still, I believe I’m entitled to shed a tear.
Your “poll” of CBC listeners must have been one of the best-kept secrets in history. I listen to R2 every day and I never heard even the remotest mention of it. However, the damage is now done: CBC has forsaken its place as keeper of the sacred flame that distinguishes civilized societies. You are diluting a classical music content that was already marginal; now we are to lose Danielle Charbonneau from any hour at which we are going to be awake and Lord knows what In Performance will consist of. The dreadful Jurgen Gothe has won. Eric Friesen? Eric, remember after Mahler Week that you called R2 “the cultural voice of Canada? How do you feel now? Isolated movements, few if any complete works, and no attempt whatsoever to educate; now not even this. Not for one moment do I imagine that it even crossed anyones’ mind, but if R2 is no longer going to be there to provide classical music for people who suddenly realize they must learn about it and listen to it, who will be? CBC R2 has done its bit for a 21st century return to the Dark Ages.
And all after some perfunctory claim to audience research. As to what you will not do, I can guarantee that if in a few years’ time you find you have not increased audience share, you will not put things back where they were. This sort of change is entropic and irreversible.
To all disappointed CBC R2 listeners: if you live hear the the US border and NY, be sure to locate WNED 94.5. That is what a classical radio station should sound like. Of course, the CBC are going to claim that R2 was never meant to be a classical music station. Whether or not it was, it sure isn’t now.
Sad. Your last program should include the Requiems of Victoria, Mozart, Brahms, Faure and Durufle. Throw in the Missa Solemnis too. (CBC R2 controllers, maybe you’d better get someone to explain to you what these are. And yes, they last longer than two minutes - Jurgen Gothe would never play them.) Then, in effect, silence. I hope you all live long enough and become wise enough - the faint hope clause - to realize what you have done and to feel a pang of sorrow.
John from Radio 3 here.
Aye… some big changes are afoot here at the Ceeb, and while there’s no denying that some people are going to be upset over the loss of the Saturday Night Show, the toast didn’t exactly land butter-side down.
As I’ve pointed out on our blog, the Saturday Night Show was a lot of work to produce. And while it hasn’t held us back from coming up with all sorts of great ideas, our resources are tight enough that we haven’t been able to consider how to develop them until now.
So, here’s what you can expect in the coming months:
In addition to our weekly podcast, we’re looking to expand our downloadable offerings to include a number of new programs, featuring more of the great Canadian talent you’ve come to love.
We’re also about to rebuild our website, which will allow us to better deliver virtually all of the interviews and special features currently only available on satellite. Also, we’ll be giving considerably more power to our users, allowing them to create multiple playlists, and to share them with friends and other communities.
I’m literally pants-wettingly excited to get started on this stuff, so don’t fret.
[...] Here’s one that’s succinct and to the point. If you don’t get the references, no worries, the pull quote is priceless: Eric S. Smith Says: January 18th, 2007 at 5:03 pm [...]
Good news to lose Freestyle. What sets CBC apart - even when playing pop music - is smart commentary or a refreshing perspective. Hardly a feature of Freestyle and the inanity was truly dreadful at times. Those under 30 aren’t stupid.
I am sorry to lose Northern Lights as I turn out the lights. Why offer rehashed current affairs shows in that time slot?
I don’t listen to Brave New Waves but I support the idea behind it, and it’s a shame to lose it.
I’m glad Saturday Night Blues hasn’t been touched.
As for Radio 2 including more genres of music - one thing to keep in mind is the variety of commercial-free music on satellite TV (I think cable TV as well, but I don’t live in a city, so I’m not certain). Bell ExpressVu carries Galaxie music channels, which, interestingly, are programmed by the CBC. Galaxie offers a range of genres - jazz, folk, world, blues, pop, rock, oldies, classical, etc. (What’s missing is a truly decent alternative/independent music channel) - which mercifully fills the huge void left by commercial radio.
Why is CBC R2 only broadening its focus now, when many of us have these other alternatives? It only makes sense if these R2 programs have some depth beyond spinning discs and a bit of patter between. If not, I’ll just stick with Galaxie, or listen to CKUA on the Internet.
By the way, an earlier post mentioned WNED 94.5, saying it’s what a classical radio station should sound like. Thanks for the tip, and I also found it on the Internet. Speaking of which, many U.S. public radio stations are available on the Internet (you know, for occasions when CBC is in Freestyle mode and you need an alternative).
I’m disappointed to see this on the new Radio One schedule: Local Afternoon Program (3 pm start in selected markets)
I’m looking forward to the new program hosted by Jian, but I’m disappointed that it will be shortened so I can hear local traffic reports available elsewhere, and chit-chatty restaurant reviews.
I am really upset with the new programming, especially the jazz show that is replacing the best program on the radio - Daniells Charbonneau’s. CBC’s attempt to appeal to the “younger demographic” certainly doesn’t work for me. I listen to Danielle every night while cooking and eating dinner because I love classical music and what talk there is pertains to the music.
I used to have CBC 2 on all day, but have gradually stopped listening to many of the shows, especially Tom Allen, whom I used to wake up to, because of the inane chatter about all kinds of things such as hockey and what family members did the other day, etc. Who cares?!! I want to hear the music, information about the piece or composer, and the MUSIC. That’s it. All that “friendly” blither is so annoying and would be more appropriate on CBC 1.
It seems CBC is catering to the lowest common denominator. If the polls showed that what most of the Canadian public wanted was celebrity talk and rap music, would that be what the CBC gives us? Why not show a little leadership! CBC TV is also on this path with fewer and fewer programs with real information or cultural interest and more violence and really stupid rubbish.
The best programs will all be on in the middle of the night soon, when I’m asleep, so I’ll just have to play cd’s and use other sources of good music if the CBC no longer provides this.
Sue Drake-Johnson
Why is it that those who like the good shows are insomniacs and those who get a good night’s sleep are interested in blather and raucous music?
Rod Annett
I’m very disappointed to see that Jian Ghomeshi will be hosting the new afternoon program. He is a very regional personality with a poor knowledge of Canadian culture and seemingly not much interest in it either. This has shown itself again and again in the shows he’s hosted, both from a content standpoint and in some of the remarks he’s made about different parts of the country. I don’t primarily blame Ghomeshi for this situation, though. He grew up in Toronto, went to school in Toronto, and has live and worked almost exclusively in Toronto. He has little to no national perspective, and he’s shown no significant cultural ties to anywhere in Canada other than Toronto, so he’s not being anything other than who he is when he hosts these shows. The real question is, how can CBC hire someone like this to host a “national” program? This is clearly not Peter Gzowski’s CBC anymore.
To everyone disappointed about the cancellation of Brave New Waves, let your opinions be heard! This is public radio, and BNW needs your voice.
Jane Chalmers is the vice president of CBC Radio.
Jennifer McGuire is the executive director of programming at CBC Radio.
I know that not everyone who listens to BNW is Canadian, but those of us who are are part owners, and if our employees have made a mistake, it behooves us to gently let them know, and direct them with how we want our company to be run. At least that’s how I’d like to think the CBC is organized
Brave New Waves is the only thing I’ve ever found that, no matter how much you know about modern music, or certain genres, would always expand your musical experience. Not all is up anyone’s alley, but you always find out about bands that makes you drop everything to search out, and try to buy their album, even if it’s just a CD-R sold out of their apartment (like DSD for example).
I’m going to miss Danielle Charbonneau, whose choice of music seems to me perfect for after-supper listening. And I’ve always preferred classical music to jazz. However, over the years I’ve noticed that jazz has been slowly growing on me - mostly thanks to exposure by first NPR and then the CBC! I’ve enjoyed Katie Malloch’s current show on the occasions I’ve heard it, so I’m willing to give the new schedule a try. But I’ll still miss Danielle - I’ll never be awake for her new show.
I’m a low-frequency FM listener, so I can’t comment on the program losses on the network formerly known as CBC Stereo. However, I have listened to BNW on occasion and I agree it will be a loss.
Re. the Radio One changes:
Loss of Freestyle (two thumbs up) to be replaced by a Jian Ghomeshi-hosted Arts Magazine?! Puh-lease! And then we have to listen to him again at 10pm?! Have you no mercy? Which of the Brass does he have compromising pictures of?
I do like the varied choice of repeat shows at 11pm. At least we won’t lose Eleanor entirely at night. And I’m sorry young’uns, but I won’t miss Andrea and Northern Lights one bit. Same with Sound Advice. Sorry, Rick, you belong on R2. Full price.
The previous merging of Dispatches and Global Village was an interesting experiment, but not permanent. Dispatches can stand on its own as could Global Village. Why drop the latter? How badly could Jowi and the producers have blown the travel budget during the first few years of GV? It’s been a cruel and unnecessary demise.
DNTO down to two hours; that’s about right. Four was way too much and three was more than enough as well.
A big thanks for not messing with the Sunday daytime lineup. With the addition if C’est la Vie and Dispatches (depending on the GV content), I may be listening all day.
I’d give it an 8.5/10 if it weren’t for Jian G. He alone drops it to a 7 at best.
I have written to the CBC (both Jennifer and Jane) about the removal of BNW from the airwaves (and possible cancellation). I will have absolutely no reason to listen to CBC radio anymore if there is no BNW. I can’t believe that they claim to be wanting to attract a younger audience, and then they go pull this. Brilliant.
I echo the sentiments of the earlier post about David Wisdom getting dumped completely from the schedule. That is completely shameful. David’s given CBC some of the best music programming consistantly for a long, long, long time, and for them to treat him like this is disgusting.
More Jian? Oh god, no. Please, no. All this talk of exclusive podcasting is a red herring, as far as I’m concerned. CBC Radio barely has enough resources to maintain actually broadcasting, and they think they’re going to be able to create pod-only shows as well? Right. Sure. They just say that so we won’t get upset when the show is cancelled, and afterward announce “no plans” to produce podcasts due to a “lack of funding”.
And while R3 have their own network, I thought as a public broadcaster, CBC could not produce exclusive content for satellite radio. I was under the impression that anything on Sirius also had to appear on conventional radio, because not all of us taxpayers should have to buy satellite radio. Have the rules changed?
I’m simply unimpressed with all the changes, and the process behind those changes, at CBC. A management person summed up the situation by saying too many listeners are over 65, and not enough are over 35. Well, I fall exactly in the middle of those demographics; do these changes speak for me? Saturday night on CBC was always a cool place to be; apparently not any more. Yes I listen on my computer now and again, but for several decades I have considered tuning in to your programming to be an worthwhile thing to do. Apparently I don’t feel that way any more! Hearing jazz and BNW as I went to bed was a big thing for me; not anymore. Obviously due to changing demographics (?) I now want to hear jazz at dinnertime. And I like good music of all kinds; I don’t need governments legislating the percentage of Canadian content. Also, the experts and number crunchers say I don’t want to hear The World At Six, or any newscast longer than 2-3 minutes. And so on… Catering your programming to people who don’t actually tune in is a process perhaps fraught with peril, I think. And stereotyping or pigeon-holing the listeners you do have is kinda insulting and limiting. A CBC official said in effect that audience ratings don’t matter, demographics are more important. Since I have many alternatives to listening to the CBC, those words might come back to haunt her.
So - is anybody from CBC programming actually reading this or listening?
Hi Heather — I know that CBC brass do read the comments here, but it wouldn’t hurt you to also post your comments into http://www.cbc.ca/contact/index.jsp . CBC Audience Relations takes that information and compiles it into weekly reports that we can read… I know the execs are a lot more used to that as the form by which they learn how the audience is reacting.
I can only echo those comments preceding about the loss of Danielle Charbonneau’s ‘Music for a While’ from CBC 2. And for my wife and I, that’s what it is - a great loss! What kind of programming brainstorm brought this about? We both love to hear Katie Malloch and ‘Jazz Beat’ ; but for heaven’s sake - every night of the week? In Prime Time yet? Danielle has always been a gentle and very welcome antidote to the stresses of the work day and the commute while we prepare and eat dinner. Oh, well - we do have a lot of classical (and jazz) CDs that we now can listen to in the evenings. And here on the West Coast we do have a very good Classical Music station out of Seattle that we can tune in to whenever we are so inclined. Canadian content? Ha! At least Classical Music has no xenophobic bounds.
And you’re also hitting the Delete Button on ‘David Wisdom’? The one show we never missed on Sunday evenings? What will eventually take over? An hour or two of Rap Music? Or Eric Friessen doing ‘in depth interviews’ with fourteen year-old piano tuners? I can’t believe it! The final stake in my heart, CBC.
The Corporation can now exhibit a new motto: ‘Morituri te salutimus!’
I really am stunned by all of this. While it never hurts to tweak the radio structure, leaving the under 35s to sat radio and podcasts is a bit dodgy. Not every young person in Canada has or can afford satellite radio, and podcasts are okay, but very limiting, thanks to those copyright annoyances. I’m one of the demographic that CBC R2 is about to alienate. Brave New Waves has been my musical compass since I was 12 years old, I’m 28 now, so that’s a long time and a lot of changes in life. It’s not just a show about music, it teaches us that there’s different and creative ways to look at and react to things (musical and non-musical). That has been my mantra for over half my life.
Another R2 diamond in the rough which surprisingly got no mention here is Two New Hours. That’s a very brilliant show which looks at the contemporary side of classical music, and yet that’s going too? Sometimes I really wonder if CBC management really understands the void that Brave New Waves or Two New Hours or Pearls of Wisdom will leave come March. These are not just radio shows, they are important aspects of our lives. They reflect life in ways that sat radio has yet to accomplish if ever. Maybe I’m over-exaggerating, but this is coming from my gut here.
BNW and its ilk will not go quietly, and I’m sure we’ll make that certain to the Mothercorp brass.
Guess there’s no chance that the dreadful, abhorred Promo Girl would be axed too?
Honestly. The decline of CBC Radio 1 began in earnest when they brought that crackly-voiced ditz on to invade our listening every hour–and in some cases, on the half hour. I completely have STOPPED listening to Radio 1 because of her, and some of the other insipid changes of the past several years; the dumbing down of the nation’s public broadcaster has finally gotten to me.
I migrated back to Radio 2, where I used to spend 99 percent of my listening time, and even that isn’t all that it was. I agree with the poster about Tom Allen’s show; less chatter, more music please. It’s early in the morning, we don’t need to be babbled at while we ease into our days.
The evening programming, other than Music for A While, i didn’t bother with much, and I switched the radio off when it got weird late at night with Wisdom et.al. Happily, I received an iHome clock radio for Christmas, so now I can listen to whatever music I want through the radio by dropping my Nano into the slot. No annoying announcers, promo people, inferior newscasts…
Maybe I’m a curmudgeon, if not in age than in spirit. But I was listening to CBC as a teenager, and it grieves me to see what the once mighty radio broadcaster has been reduced to.
sadly, sunny
[...] It was the plan originally, but things have changed. Upcoming changes to the CBC Radio schedule mean that Sunday Showcase will soon be no more. (The idea is to place radio drama/comedy more upfront on the schedule, ideally Monday to Saturday’s in the eleven-thirty slot, with more emphasis on programming created in the regions.) [...]
Your slow and steady pulling of the plug on Brave New Waves is a shame and an embarrassment. At least you’re frank about calling it “rebranding”. Suffice it to say, you’re moving backward in radio history, further into homogeneity, and reflective of commercial radio as a whole: Dull, uninspired, and predictable.
Are more changes ” upcoming?” Is Choral Concert safe? The opera broadcasts? How about Weekender?
To those of you who liked the idea of Brave New Waves being available by podcast:
(1) The CBC news story has been changed and there is no longer any mention of Brave New Waves being available by satellite radio or podcast:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2007/01/17/cbc-radio-changes.html
(2) Why would you think it has become feasible to podcast the show when it has been impossible up to now? Do you think copyright law has changed? Note that the CBC Radio Three podcast only consists of music from Canadian artists who must have given permission for their music to be in the podcast. It’s very unlikely a show like Brave New Waves will ever be (legally) podcast-able because sorting out the copyright issues would just be a nightmare.
Sadly, it really seems like this is the end of BNW.
I’m further trying to understand how someone as regional as Ghomeshi could possibly be hired to host a national cultural program, but what I’m realising is that this is not an isolated case. George Stroumboulopoulos, host of the high profile television show The Hour, was born in Toronto, raised in Toronto, went to school in Toronto, spent only part of one year in Kelowna and then headed back to Toronto where he’s been there ever since. Sook-Yin Lee did grow up in Vancouver and now works out of Winnipeg, but she worked for MuchMusic for a number of years, a channel that is based on Toronto’s Queen Street West pop culture scene, and she still talks and acts like a MuchMusic VJ. Whatever resocialization process they use on their VJs is, there seem to be a number of them who seem to have had a lot of trouble recovering their normal selves after they stopped working for MM. What all this means is that now the hosts of three of CBC’s major pop culture programs will be monocultural, and all will be from the same subculture, the Toronto subculture, and maybe more narrowly the Queen Street West subculture. Two of them are so extremely regional that they have literally spent essentially their whole lives inside that one subculture, and the other worked there for many years in a job that required her to talk and act in a certain way, and now she’s still talking and acting like she’s spent her whole life in that subculture.
I remember when the CBC was very diligent about hiring well rounded people who had spent significant amounts of time in various parts of Canada and therefore had acquired an appreciation for just how big, diverse, and culturally varied Canada is. I think I had just assumed that the CBC would always do this and strive to fairly represent the country with the people they hired, but obviously that is no longer the case, and that realization is very shocking to me indeed. I think the hiring of Ghomeshi is not just a strange anomaly but instead represents a continuing collapse of the cultural programming on CBC from being nationally representative into being culturally regional Toronto programming which is broadcast nationally and paid for by tax payers from coast to coast to coast.
I’m sure I will sound like a reactionary, but here it goes (and in duplicate with copy to the CBC brass as suggested via Audience Relations):
I fear the CBC is again making the mistake it made a few years back when it attempted to retool the Toronto morning show to appeal to a younger, hipper demographic. Young & diverse does not equal empty shallowness. While not as young as I used to be, when I was a bit younger, what I liked about the CBC was that it made me think and introduced me to music & ideas that I wouldn’t hear on other stations.
CBC now plans to drop the Arts Tonight?? This show, along with Ideas, are frequently voted as ‘best’ in the focus groups I talk with…i.e., my friends, who are other 30 somethings who have decided thinking is a good thing. Arts Tonight is one of the smartest shows on the air. Jian Gomeshi is fine (and his show is more promising than that empty chat on Freestyle, which garners the lowest score in my focus groups). But Eleanor Wachtel’s interviews are amazing — in a understated sort of way. What a loss. At least you didn’t axe ‘Writers and Company’.
Northern Lights is an oasis that offers a sometimes eclectic mix that matches evening moods. The music is primarily instrumental which is perfect for the late evening. At the end of the day, it is about decompression, not winding up. And Brave New Waves does the same, granted with an edge, but a smart & challenging edge. Perfect for the late hours. What is ‘contemporary’ music? Doesn’t sound very challenging to me. As I see others mention on CBC blog, these changes hint at economizing through repeats that are just going to further clutter the airwaves.
BTW — the hourly breaks with those silly promos (and now news bits added to CBC2?) are irritating. Just more chatter and white noise? At least, CBC hasn’t (yet?) introduced the commercial plugs that NPR has resorted to.
(Sorry for the rant, but as someone who teaches the ‘young demographic’ in the classroom, I do find it offensive that young people are assumed to be shallow and able only hold a thought for 3 minutes, etc. etc. How about raising the bar, rather than lowering it? Again, it reminds me of how CBC-Toronto thought they understood a young & ‘diverse’ audience in 2002(?) by putting Metro Morning on a youthful diet of hyped up fluff. It was a joke — and offensive. And if CBC continues to go this route, it seems it has let the logic of commercial media win — sans commercials…thus far).
The same cutting and labeling job was already done on the french station and the results are not happy.
its easy to put labels - jazz or contempory - but what about the musics that cannot be labeled ? and art is better without labels.
I don’t think I’ll heard noise music on comtempory program.
The podcast don’t do the job. It’s, of course, a simple way to stop giving royalties to young independant artists, but….
I agree with foobar: It’s the end of Brave New Wave, and of the acces, for several canadians, to new music….
I find the (official) comments about moving the music off of Radio One to be highly amusing. After all, I remember reading about the creation of Freestyle (a show that never really appealed to me) a year and a half ago, after the strike, as being part of a mandate to get *more* music into Radio One.
Well, I guess that experiment failed miserably.
Thankfully, my favorite shows on Radio One seem to be surviving, and I plan to give the new shows a try.
I just wish they would consider bringing back my old favorite: The Mystery Project.
OK, here’s my solution.
Classical on Radio Two.
Jazz, contemporary and world music on Radio One.
Leaven both with intelligent discussion and frequent, detailed newscasts. Educate your audience.
Move Jurgen Gothe to R1. Move Cross-Country Checkup to R2. Make Tom Allen play complete works, not isolated movements.
Become the cultural and intellectual voice of Canada. Please.
I think the CBC is incredibly shortsighted in pulling the plug on Brave New Waves, just as it was when it cut the TV show ZED. As a public broadcaster, it has an opportunity and a responsibility to provide content that isn’t always generic or solely determined by ratings a commercial broadcaster aspires to. I don’t think the proposed changes, with the complete lack of any programming that could be called “progressive”, can possibly enhance the CBC’s ratings among the “under 65″. Missed opportunity, this.
“Bert Jenkins Says: Become the cultural and intellectual voice of Canada. Please.”
How? By playing music that 2% of the Canadian population wants to listen to?
The public broadcaster has the responsibility to provide unique content.
It also has the responsibility to provide content that its paying audience wants to watch and listen to. A national service of classical music serving a tiny but vocal elite hardly fills that mandate.
“a tiny but vocal elite” listens to CBC FM? Check the BBM ratings: not too bad!
Hey Tod,
General reactions (in part to the reactions)
Obviously there is no pleasing everyone and we’ve run the gamut from crotchety old timers to doods who find the proposed changes completely l4^^0rz.
Personally?
Freestyle? Good riddance.
Jian? Perhaps too much of an ‘ok’ thing.
Late night blather? Bad idea…Northern Lights a perfect match….not another damned do over of previous programming.
It is strange to be too young (a shade under 30) to be considered in the “younger” demographic that CBC is apparently attempting to woo with these changes. What they seem to have forgotten - as many commenters have mentioned before me - is that people turn on the CBC for something interesting, different and unique. Brave New Waves offered that. CBC3 on Saturday nights does as well. The people who listen to these programs are probably not 65+, but I would assume would fill a very large range in the demographic between 15 and 65. By appealing to the younger (ie not just the 35-65 age bracket) audience through unique, contemporary programming you build CBC listeners for life. Cancelling these programs only will serve to alienate the listeners that have already been won over.
While many people do listen to podcasts - and I am all for building up the online content - and satellite radio is becoming more popular, removing these programs from terrestrial radio results in denying those without the ability to afford highspeed internet access or sirius radio receivers will become this programming. As a publicly funded cultural service, one which I am very proud of, CBC’s move in this respect seems to be antithetical to the very principle that is the basis for public broadcasting in this country.
Can we deal with this “elite” question?
I understand 10% of the Canadian population listens to CBC Radio. Yes, that’s small. Elite? Then who listens to all the other radio stations? I can’t believe that Q107 or CHUM-FM listeners don’t comprise some or other of an “elite” - I know some very well educated people who like rock music (or country, or whatever) and who are well provided for in the rest of the radio world.
The CBC does not need to compete here. There is a fine and long tradition in European public broadcasting in providing sophisticated radio content. CBC would do well to follow this tradition, not only for their present but for their future listeners.
Andy Barrie mentioned this morning on R1 that the US is the only western nation not to fund public broadcasting. This is no way to go; our model should be European, not American. Public broadcasting should fill the gap in the air waves. And that may give the impression that it is catering to an “elite”.
Amen, Bert. Amen.
No, Bert, no. We all pay for the CBC, so it has to satisfy us ALL. Actually, I think the NPR/PBS route is the way to go. The CBC would thrive under memberships, pledge drives and sponsorships. Or it would go away and get replaced by something people want more…
In my opinion BNW provided the blueprint for quality eclectic musical programming. Even the reruns are ahead of their time and will/would continue to be for years to come. BNW has taught me more about music and enriched and expanded my musical landscape more than any other program (on CBC or anywhere else for that matter), so much so that it even inspired me to become a volunteer radio programmer on CJSW in Calgary. The staggering variety and the consistently high standard of quality of the music heard on BNW is unmatched on any other music program I know of. Patti Schmidt’s commentary was always incredibly well researched, intelligent, informative, and interesting in contrast to the inflated egos, vapid gum-flapping and surmising of most other cbc popular music radio personalities. Her delivery was sharp, witty, efficient and oh so easy on the ears (what a great voice!)
For me, BNW was at the top of the ‘outside music’ food chain. It was the ultimate gatekeeper/filter and guide to the best in groundbreaking, new, truly original music from all over the world. I would wager that it was the best program of its’ type anywhere in the world. It provided a service to its’ listeners that is unique and irreplaceable. As a 23-year-old institution I’m sure that the BNW team headed by Schmidt amassed a wealth of contacts, experience, credibility and a reputation for excellence within the worldwide underground music community that will now be lost.
BNW should have been given a better time slot, not cancelled. The program exemplified what the CBC should be doing: delivering cutting edge world-class art and culture that isn’t readily available to people across Canada, using the public airwaves (not via a commercial user-fee-based satellite radio service).
The way the program is being killed is demeaning, shameful and insulting to it’s dedicated fan base. In the shadow of Schmidt’s BNW the dreck of the current 12-1am fill-in is painful to listen to and should not be called Brave New Waves. If Patti were dead I expect she would be rolling in her grave.
I cannot think of a more valuable music program provided by the CBC than Brave New Waves. What a huge loss.
Amen, KP, amen!
I second that, KP.
I am a brave new waves addict and hope that if the dreaded change (fm to sirrus) occurs that the cbc will inform us and keep the bnw website at least for a link to the new download site….
I am moved, encouraged and in many ways humbled by the passion and enthusiasm brought to these postings. For example, despite being an R2 enthusiast I had never heard of Brave New Waves (probably because it begins some two hours after I am usually in bed and asleep). But surely here is the lesson for CBC programming managers, that elements of CBC Radio programming have a level of support irreducible to questions of demographics and percentage of population. I have been taken to task for suggesting that CBC must appeal to an “elite” but isn’t that exactly what we are seeing here? CBC Radio listeners are not catered to by commercial radio, nor will they ever be. CBC Radio at its best will be there for all to discover when they are ready to discover it. You will never discover who your listeners are until you put out on your network programming inspired by the best and brightest in the world and leavened by the traditions to which music and thought are heir.
Please: lead, don’t follow.
Cancelling Brave New Waves is the Canadian equivalent of cancelling John Peel. As a lifelong listener, I really can’t support CBC radio anymore, which is a shame since there aren’t any other tolerable radio options either. The message from management to programmers is clear, though — success will not go unpunished.
BNW was one of the only reasons I listened to CBc anymore. Ever since they got rid of Radiosonic and Nightlines the whole network has jumped the shark. Bollocks!
Northern Lights going?
That’s disappointing too. It was a really nice program, following on the heels, if i remember, of “That time of the night” with Marjory Doyle. I wish they’d keep it.
A small request of moderator Tod Maffin.
Are any of the movers and shakers in CBC Radio listening?
Or will the changes just go ahead anyhow, regardless of how we feel about them?
Hi Bert — the changes are going to happen, that’s for sure, but I know the brass are monitoring reaction here and calls/emails/letters to Audience Relations once everything launches to see how people feel about the new programming.
Keep e-mailing, folks: weekend daytime changes are probably coming next. If you enjoy Choral Concert, the opera broadcasts, Weekender, start making noise now!
Oh my god.
I can’t believe you actually canceled Brave New Waves. This show is more than 20 years old and it kept Canadian music alive.
This is the worst thing I have ever seen coming from CBC…
I’ve been a Radio 3 listener for a few years now and I’ve always felt that when that show hits its stride it’s as good as radio can be. And who doesn’t have fond memories of discovering Brave New Waves for the first time, and then waking up to classical music and the hourly news. That’s how I was introduced to CBC Radio.
These shows simply ooze credibility and play an important role in introducing new listeners to public radio. It’s inexplicable that someone would suggest replacing these shows with, what, anonymous jazz music? And I like jazz, but come on! I think dead air would be a more appropriate replacement.
It’s clear now that the presence of these shows on CBC was nothing but an accident rather than part of a strategy to shed the “stuffy” perception of public radio and indoctrinate new listeners. Leave it to the CBC to completely misunderstand its assets.
I don’t have a satellite receiver and do not plan on getting one.
5 reasons to listen to CBC:
1. Brave New Waves
2. Northern Lights
3. Ideas
4. Radio 3
5. Between the Covers
Congratulations folks, you chopped four of those in one fell swoop.
I can’t believe that in my late twenties I’m being treated like a teenager whose preferences are seen as whimsical and unimportant. What the hell is happening to the CBC? It started when you cancelled counterSpin (and yet refuse to axe The Hour). When all the younger listeners you ignore and assume to addle-headed dolts are in their 50s, they won’t be listening to the stuff you’re leaving on the air. They’ll be listening to the stuff you’re cutting. And they won’t be listening to the CBC.
Well done. You’ve alienated a huge amount of listeners and probably given a bit more validation to conspiracy theories that the CBC is being intentionally gutted as a public body. Happy?
I’ve learned so much from these postings. My own field is classical music and no, I’m not a musician, I’m a process engineer. But loud and clear are the voices of the disenchanted, from BNW in the one hemisphere to the Josquin-to-Healey-Willan nuts (like me) on the other. By some managerial miracle CBC have alienated all of us at one stroke, surely fodder for Harvard Business Reviews into the forseeable future.
The Vice-President of CBC Radio is Jane Chalmers. The Executive Director of Programming, CBC Radio, is Jennifer McGuire. Write to them at CBC, PO Box 500, Stn A, Toronto M5W 1E6. Yes - letters, those funny old-fashioned things that need stamps. Sort out in your own mind whether you are going to do it now or wait until the changes are implemented. But whatever you do, write - do not just complain, write. Or be part of the collective wreck of Numenor.
Classical music fans in southern Ontario, remember WNED out of Buffalo at 94.5. And write to CFMX pointing out to them that CBC has reneged or is about to, and wouldn’t this be a magnificent moment to pick up the flag and wave it? I cannot guarantee what reception you will get from CFMX but after the defection of CJRT in 1999 they’re the only other Canadian act in town.
Anybody got a better idea?
It’s sometimes less about the “show” than the “people.” I understand a lot of work goes into producing each program, that it’s a team effort and all, but check the comments: most of us rate the listening experience by the host. Why not build around the talent? Use what works best as a launching pad for new programs, not some marketing exec’s chart on age demographics. Invite the obviously talented ones to a working lunch and ask…what show would YOU suggest?
My votes: Yes to Tom Allen - I like hearing regular guy chat and enthusiasm in the middle of a classical music show. No to Jurgen Gothe but who’s going to wake him up to tell him? Yes to Anna Maria Tremonti, and can anybody really recognize our country in the shipwreck that is Sounds Like Canada? It seems fashionable to rag on Jian Gameshi — I suspect he’s overexposed in Ontario — but he aced it this summer with his stint.
A possibly related late afternoon weekday tip: check out the Radio Canada FM station. I allow I don’t understand the commentary, but it’s no matter because the music is great. From gamelan to Coltrane, the kind of surprisingly delightful playlists I would expect from a great public broadcaster.
Finally, any restructuring that cuts out David Wisdom and reduces Eleanor Wachtel’s air time is flawed.
The cancellation of Brave New Waves upsets me greatly. I’ve been listening since 1992, and it woke me up from my commercial radio doldrums. When Winnipeg FINALLY got college radio, I was in heaven, as I would often hear tracks break on BNW before hearing ‘em on CJUM and CKUW, and vice-versa. It was like, some sort of musical synergy that delighted me to no end.
I don’t know what to say…other than I’m no longer going to have a program that plays music that messes with the conventions of every known genre, sometimes going WAY off the map, often with amazing results. Where am I gonna find a program that satisfies me in such a way? No one else does that! BNW is absolutely irreplaceable.
Now I have a Sirius satellite unit, which I won early last year. I activated it during the summer for a road trip to Minneapolis. Listening to it on the way there was a rather telling activity, as I found myself tuning in to the Backspin and Rawdog stations far more than CBC Radio 3. Why? Between the podcast, the Saturday Night Show and the mixed bag Sunday broadcast, I wasn’t hearing anything new, that’s why. It’s great that New Music Canada is around to give artists exposure, but it’s a shallow pool of talent to draw from. That being said, I still enjoyed listening to the Radio 3 podcast and the Saturday Night Show and the R3 30, as the SNS wasn’t held to playing just New Music Canada-safe tunes, and the R3 30’s Craig Norris is a funny mofo.
Remember the concern over whether AIDS Wolf should be played on the Radio 3 podcast? Talk about a non-issue. They were played without any problems on BNW, because they fit right in. I’m troubled with the fact that a group like AIDS Wolf and other “way out there” acts will have one less outlet to showcase their music in an already narrow playing field.
You’re killing an institution.
I don’t think the brass have changed enough on R.1. I agree with those who can’t believe BNW was axed, even though I am an older listener (read 50s). I was hoping for a new fresher Saturday afternoon format to replace DNTO. It could still focus on current trends in “pop” culture but the way it is now is tired. Hooray for Jian! He was great this summer when he filled in for Sheila.
I’ve alway condered CBC Radio one of our national treasures. I’ve been listening to both radio services for my entire life but find with each passing year there’s less I can bear. More and more I’m changing to other stations or turning to my CD collection, especially on weekends. And yet so much of the programming is good and I love the wide variety of music and information presented.
But I don’t understand the need to drop Music for a While and Northern Lights which are so well suited to their time slots.
Please put something better than Go! on Saturday mornings or DNTO on the afternoons. These two programmes in particular are just not up to the same standard as the rest of the offering.
Nobody has mentioned the changes to Radio 2 News. I have always relied on CBC for radio news. To reduce bulletins down to 3 or 4 minutes is just plain stupid. All radio stations should reflect the world in which they operate and Radio 2 news services have alweays done that. No longer, it seems. As to the program changes themselves it seems that the only good thing to come out of this will be an all-night music programme. If we can’t have “Music for a While” this is some consolation. Let’s hope it’s mainly classical. It’s very, very hard to combine classical music with”light” music. I already find it hard to listen to Weekender ; Disc Drive and Studio Sparks because of this. It seems this will only get worse.
Oh well, I shall have to increase my listening time off the web. CBC Radio Two is largely becoming irrelevant. How sad
I’m listening to a old BNW profile on Daniel Johnston as I type this. Those of you unfamiliar with Johnston’s oeuvre, go to Wikipedia. I guarantee I won’t hear anything like this on Radio 2 after March 19th, and we’re all poorer for that fact.