End in sight for Classical Collection?

[french frank]

Word is that Classical Collection's contract is coming to an end and R3 has put its 'morning strand' out to tender for 2011/12 (a new schedule after the Proms?). Even more interesting is that the new slot is apparently to be 9am to noon.

Will there be an earlier start to Breakfast (back to 6am)? Or will Breakfast be shorter?

I'm afraid applications for proposals closed last Tuesday so we're too late but do we have any suggestions as to a format for what looks like another 3-hour block?

Will it be a dire mix of chat, guests and interactivity - or an opportunity for some longer pieces and informed introductions?

[Norfolk Born]

6 to 9 a.m. eh? Not copying CFM then....

[french frank]

6 to 9 a.m. eh? Not copying CFM then....

I'm not saying Breakfast is going to be 6am to 9am. I'm saying it will apparently be stopping at 9am instead of 10. They would need to do some shifting about the previous evening to start B'fast at 6am.

My suggestion has always been that Breakfast was too long - and that 90 minutes was plenty to get the few R3 outworkers out of the house in the mornings.

But - good point - CFM changed its brekkie show from 8am-12pm to 6am-9am some months back. R3 hot on its trail?

[DracoM]

Maybe instructive to look at the current CFM morning schedules since we know from personal experience that R3 pretends indifference but actually watches its rival - interesting that it sees CFM as a rival?- very closely.

They change to John Suchet at 9.00 a.m. for four hours. Seems a more sensible time to break than the very silly R3 10 a.m.. Longer pieces do appear on the CFM show, but it is a similar but more populist mix of mainly shorts, extracts of obviouisly 'famous tunes' than Classical Collection but a very long country mile from CDM.

Stephen Johnson's Sunday p.m. slot apart, R3 seemes to have almost totally lost sight of the educational /informational remit in terms of elucidation, analysis, still more forgotten the huge sound archive / back history in the recording business, and going with your thread, FF, about Do3 and the proximity of repeats to original tx, anything older than 3 yrs seems 'archival' to modern R3 programme makers.

A more pragmatic view of who R3 thinks is its 9 - 12 demographic and its activity profile might be instructive. All this busy music for rushing about busy people getting kids off to school / getting to work in rush hour etc etc....? Erm, I don't think so according to R3's own figures. I would very much like to know the take-up of e.g. Through the Night, because it seems to me that that kind of straight mix of minimal intro + pieces, sometimes very long pieces, would interest me and I suspect others.

The whole chat+trails+interaction guff is a waste of time and technoology. and if working at home, and I am busy with work that requires concentration, chat-based, trail-dogged and driven trivia is the very first thing I switch off.

But I don't know why we are even thinking about this: eheu! But my guess is that it will simply be more of the same - or worse. The only plus might conceivably be that it might mean less of gushing Sarah Walker and the Nth degree smugness of James Jolly.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

the Alexander Armstrong Show innit ... a shoe in .....

they are defining a 'personality' market for the listener's ear, content is not the first or second issue compared to who and how much ... and then it will be how not to scare the punters .... 360 multiplatform digital drivel with a FACE

[french frank]

They change to John Suchet at 9.00 a.m. for four hours. Seems a more sensible time to break than the very silly R3 10 a.m.

When the BBC thought for itself, the thinking was that 9am is a classic 'switch' time - when listeners think about changing to another station. So the idea was that there should be no proper break at 9am, in order to keep people tuned in. With a fairly seamless change, signalled by a pre-handover chat with the next presenter, it was hoped that people would "stay longer with the station" [sic].

But it could indeed be that Suchet is now doing well at CFM. In which case the obvious thing for R3 to do is - go in the opposite direction, and leave the lighter stuff to CFM. No competition is - no competition

[french frank]

the Alexander Armstrong Show innit ... a shoe in .....

they are defining a 'personality' market for the listener's ear, content is not the first or second issue compared to who and how much ... and then it will be how not to scare the punters .... 360 multiplatform digital drivel with a FACE

Right - this is our chance to have our say - the shortlisted presentations are to be given this coming week (Thur/Fri), decisions announced at the beginning of June. Erm, so I understand.

So let's have some positive suggestions!

[DracoM]

A consortium of Jane Glover, Verity Sharpe, Catherine Bott. Roger Vignoles, Stephen Johnson, Jonathan Swain come together to plan a month each of themed programmes. Included as part of the remit in each day or every other day is a 20 minute discussion slot with a called-in expert - say around coffee time say 1100hrs - on interpretations on record of a well known piece or section of a piece. Analytic, explanatory. Piece then played. Given the big audience that CDR gets, the BBC must know that there is a real hunger for that kind of interpretation ideas exchange, so why not use it, exploit it? Record industry would be keen too.

The Radio Forum [ i.e. us] become the 'official ' messagebaord for responses to that segment - suggestions, comment etc - rather as AMcG used to look at the old R3 mbs before and during and after CDR.

The Forum has a formidable array of truly knowledgeable experts / connoisseurs that could provide a real insight and support, would attract people with a bit of background as well as those hungry to extend and learn and become on ongoing hook per prog.

[amateur51]

Right - this is our chance to have our say - the shortlisted presentations are to be given this coming week (Thur/Fri), decisions announced at the beginning of June. Erm, so I understand.

So let's have some positive suggestions!

The thought of no more Jolly James on my radio is ... thrilling If it happens, could I suggest a week of street parties? (you did ask for postive suggestions, ff! )

I confess that I listen to TTN on the iplayer to replace the usually ghastly breakfast chumminess - sorry Rob & Sarah - and I think a re-jigged TTN-type programme would be worth trying, minimal chat & lots of interesting pieces and performances. Given that its content is from around the EU radio stations, you could call it 'Continental Breakfast' couldn't you. You could. You know you could ...

Then re-instate the Rob & Jon show please - it was such a good programme, so intelligent and interesting - to reinstate it is NOT just 'going back and being safe', imho it is also playing to your strengths, just as the re-instated 19.30 'live' concerts broadcasts are. The current lunchtime-to-Sean format works for me; Sean will always have his fans and his detractors.

I confess that I tend to tune out bedwards after 22.00 but I often drift in & out to TTN.

I hope that this is sufficiently positive, and all power to others with bigger & better suggestions

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Simple.
Extend Through the Night until 9.00 a.m.