CBC radio listeners take to the streets in protest
Plans to ditch orchestra and switch to 'easy listening' draw heavy fire from fans
by Lloyd Dykk
Vancouver Sun
posted Saturday, May 24, 2008

If the CBC thought people were going to sit back and take its recent decisions lightly, it was very wrong.

When it was announced that it had axed the (Vancouver-based) CBC Radio Orchestra, the last radio orchestra left on the continent, there were unrelenting flurries of protest, as there have been over the news that it plans to revamp its radio content, essentially turning it into an easy listening resource but with five daily hours of classical programming, and those scheduled for a time of day when most people will be at work and unable to tune in anyway.

Those flurries turned into a storm of protest on Saturday afternoon when about 300 people showed up at the north end of the Vancouver Art Gallery to express how they felt about a publicly funded institution whose behavior has rivaled in arrogance something rarely seen since the days of Marie Antoinette's unfortunate attitude of "qu'ils mangent du gateau" (let them eat cake).

                              
Musicians played near the steps of the gallery and local officials and celebrities spoke. They included councillor Elizabeth Ball, Bard on the Beach artistic director Christopher Gaze, Colin Miles of the Canadian Music Centre, veteran bassoonist George Zukerman, Vancouver Symphony conductor Bramwell Tovey and others.

The mood was of outrage, anger and disbelief. The speakers decried what the CBC is becoming or perhaps has already become. Still there was an air of festivity, such as often accompanies rebellion under a joint cause. There was a lot of music, featuring a brass quintet of CBC orchestra musicians, the Trio Accord string trio and a hot Django Reinhart-like quartet of guitars, violin and bass.

Tovey spoke eloquently about the hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas of B.C. who would be deprived of classical music, of the Easter Sunday when he heard Bach's B-minor Mass followed by a Johnny Cash song ("not that I don't like Johnny Cash but it didn't make sense") and of the new "ageist agenda" of CBC brass, that being a primary interest in people between 30 and 50.

Zukerman, who played with the CBC Radio Orchestra 55 years ago, said that the CBC brass have forgotten their mandate. "This is less about the orchestra than an issue of the complete downgrading of music on the CBC. I don't think for a minute that they knew what they unleashed when they canceled the CBC Orchestra."

Ball, speaking for the mayor, proclaimed the month of June the month of the CBC Radio Orchestra. There were also read letters of support from violinist James Ehnes and Hedy Fry, among others.

ldykk@png.canwest.com

Personally, I'd like to see the CBC ditch its current Radio 2 concept altogether and move the programming philosophies of Radio 3 in its place, with specific attention paid to the 18-34 demographic.

The purpose of the CBC should not be to cater to the elite who can frankly afford 80GB iPods and walls of classical and jazz libraries which they love (and likely already own.)  It should be to cater to as wide a scope of Canadians as possible.  And the lackluster ratings of Radio 2 in every book continue to prove that it currently does not fulfill that mandate.

The tax dollars of those who pounded the pavement aren't worth nearly as much as the ones of those who don't listen.  The math doesn't add up, and as a result the CBC must -- for the sake of satisfying those who sign its cheque -- change its programming philosophy.

Ditto.

I must disagree Canuckkid only because I want to put true alternative programming on the radio and getting a job at the CBC is about as easy as fighting a polar bear.

so let CBC 3 languish away on Sirius.

CBC 2 has been a civil and respected radio voice until now. The metaphor for it's unravelling is the voice of the "image" announcer who does the psa's and the station breaks - patronizing, immature, too frequent- many radio off switches are now programmed to shut off when Mr. Wherever Music Takes You" comes on. The good news is that Classic KING FM in Seattle (98.1) has good music, exceptional voices, and informed chatter.

I am amused by Canuckkid and the others who think CBC Radio 2 is for old fogies like me.  I would remind him we seniors now outnumber and outspend young unseasoned pups under 30, Clearasil excepted.  Also I would note that Radio2 tied for 3rd place in the last Vancouver ratings, were also highly rated in Victoria and, even I find it hard to believe, were no 1 in Nanaimo.  Somebody is listening.  
People who think the classical music audience is small should take note that the no. 4 station in San Francisco is classical, Seattle's KING is consistently in the top 10.  Other "world class" cities have classical stations that do well in the ratings.  Even Toronto, that bastion of everything Canadian, has a private station playing classical, although I don't know what their ratings are like.  I understand they are profitable however, which is the only real measure that counts.  Maybe AM730 should change to Bach, Beethoven and the like.