Comments on: Changes at CBC Radio 2

By: husnain

husnain — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:36:21 +0000

"They have great topics like this one on www.energytalkradio.com and donate 30% to charity! Check them out."

By: husnain

husnain — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:35:12 +0000

"They have great topics like this one on www.energytalkradio.com and donate 30% to charity! Check them out."

By: susan campbell-webster

susan campbell-webster — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:15:04 +0000

I used to be a devoted listener to CBC Radio 2. Suddenly there was a new announcer who sounds maybe nice if you are 19 years old and have never heard a classical concert in your entire life. Eric Freison was also suddenly gone — and while the woman who replaced him – Julie Nazrallah is enthusiastic and learned and plays lovely music — still for me, you simply cannot replace someone like Eric — no way, no how. Jurgen Gothe — gone. The new guy in his spot has character and is fun — still, the music simply doesn't hold me and so I am gone. Back to the US jazz station — its good public radio and all — but how I miss my classical music all day. What a pity. When you guys take off the opera, you'll lose me for good.

By: Mickie

Mickie — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:15:03 +0000

I am absolutely devastated at what's happened to my beloved Radio 2. If I wanted to listen to “poplar” music, and endless inane chatter, I'd tune into any one of a dozen private stations.

If it weren't for Tempo in the mornings and TONIC(a truly wonderful program) – I simply wouldn't bother turning on my radio. Please, please, please…. give us back our classical music.

By: Kathy Schwartz

Kathy Schwartz — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:17:28 +0000

Okay. I did give Ms. Julie the old college try. No more. She could possibly be helped by a stint at broadcast training school. The music being offered is hugely boring – classical music 101 with barely informed commentary. What I am most missing is the way I used to wonder what her predecessors (Catherine, Eric, Juergen) would surprise me with today. They all had the ability to connect classical or “art” music with contemporary life. The new program “Tempo” has no zip, no zest, no excitement. It was easy to feel engaged with the previous announcers, almost as if they were friends. I miss the active listening that was a part of my former involvement with CBC Radio 2. I barely turn the radio on these days.

Kathy Schwartz
Seattle

By: Jim Elliott

Jim Elliott — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:01:45 +0000

CBC Radio 2 seems determined to rid itself of its few remaining listeners. It has worked in my case. Radio 2 was a significant part of my life for many years. It saw me through my late wife's final illness and supported me in the grieving period which followed. I was a regualr listener at home or in the car, and latterly on my computer when out of broadcast range. I have enjoyed Julie Nasrallah live as a singer on several occasions in Ottawa, and was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. Her first two days were disasters, the third some slight improvement, but not enough to justify another visit. Let's not talk about the earlier programs in the morning, nor Jueregn Goth's replacement in the afternoon. Sorry, I'm sure i'll miss Radio 2 more than they will me. Thank heavens for satellite radio, XM gives me two or three good classical channels.

By: toddmundt

toddmundt — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:03:12 +0000

Yes, I wonder how it will work and how it will sound. Thanks, Kathy!

By: Kathy Schwartz

Kathy Schwartz — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:34:15 +0000

I will certainly give it the old college try, but for the life of me, I can't understand dismantling programming that is fine and good, uplifting and life affirming, and hard to find anywhere else. It's not as if CBC is a commercial operation driven by ad revenues and listener ratings. During the CBC strike a few summers ago, I realized that music on the radio by itself is boring. What makes it live is the act of selecting music and the commentary that accompanies it.. The programs that are being ditched were masterful at this.

I have no interest in pop or jazz (blues excepted) or ethnic music. The program called "Tonic" which replaced "Music for a While" is merely annoying in its mission to be hip or cool or whatever, so we usually turn CBC of at 6 p.m. Based on the programming that has been offered recently on evenings and weekends, I don't have confidence that the new Radio 2 will be an improvement or even a tie with the programs that are being shelved.

We'll see next week.

Kathy Schwartz
Seattle

By: CBC announces its new streams

CBC announces its new streams — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:40:44 +0000

[...] CBC Radio 2 getting ready to re-launch on Monday (I blogged about it in March), CBC is announcing details of the four new Internet streams it promised earlier this year. The new [...]

By: toddmundt

toddmundt — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:25:54 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Kathy. Will you still listen to Tom Allen in the morning on 2? His new show will be an hour longer – 6-10am. I'm also interested to hear how Julie Nesrallah presents classical music during the workday.

By: Kathy Schwartz

Kathy Schwartz — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:26:05 +0000

August 27, 2008. For the last week of my beloved CBC Radio 2 broadcasts, I have gone into full funeral mode, staying home all day to listen to my favorite programs, remembering and enjoying the intelligent, cultivated, witty, entertaining and insightful comments of Tom, Katherine, Eric and Jurgen. I am so grateful for the beauty they have brought to my life. I miss Shelley and Danielle – my husband and I used to dine to Music for a While, but it is all gone now, or will be soon. I made a batch of butter tarts to get me through the mourning and am girding myself to shut it down forever this Friday at 6 p.m. Adieu sweet Canada.

Kathy Schwartz
Seattle

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:13 +0000

I’m not looking forward to a morning without Breakfast & Company. I may have to invest in Satellite Radio so that I can find another station in a forward thinking country that I will enjoy.

Easy Listening….. seriously? i can’t think of anything that would have a smaller audience.

It doesn’t appear that this plan is to save money, since some of the items noted will likely cost more in multiple salaries, so the only other strategy that would make sense is to get more listeners than there currently are and I would think that having a better idea of what people are interested in would make the most sense and not just willy nilly change that will ultimately reduce the listener base.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:00:13 +0000

I’m not looking forward to a morning without Breakfast & Company. I may have to invest in Satellite Radio so that I can find another station in a forward thinking country that I will enjoy.

Easy Listening….. seriously? i can’t think of anything that would have a smaller audience.

By: classicalfan

classicalfan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:53:48 +0000

Windsor listeners at least have an option – 90.9FM, WRCJ broadcasts out of Detroit on FM and on the web: http://wrcjfm.org

By: classicalfan

classicalfan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:53:48 +0000

Windsor listeners at least have an option – 90.9FM, WRCJ broadcasts out of Detroit on FM and on the web: http://wrcjfm.org

By: Al

Al — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:57:07 +0000

Update: That spluttering, gasping, speed-talker, Tom Allen, will remain on the air, sadly…..and D. Drucker, where did you get the idea that our socialist backwater is a more “sophisticated” country? LOL!!!

By: Al

Al — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:57:07 +0000

By: David Drucker

David Drucker — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:03:58 +0000

I’ve been posting about this on my blog for the last few months. Losing Tom Allen will be a drop in the quality of my life. Of this I have no doubt. Mornings won’t be as interesting, funny or enlightening. I’ll miss his music and company (both in the title and those words in actuality) the way someone misses a family member when they die.

To prepare for the day when ‘The Music Dies’ (Hey, classical music can plunder from pop culture references too), I’ve bought an Internet Clock Radio that will bring in many thousands of Internet-based stations via our WiFi network. Eventually I’ll find one I don’t mind waking up to. Unfortunately, it will probably be in a different time zone, so forget about ‘morning-appropriate’ content. At least it won’t be Easy Listening pablum or the chatter of inane talk radio (or even the swiftly Rightward-moving NPR in the US). The car will have to be iPod instead of radio.

That the CBC has screwed this up so epically is a real surprise. When I moved to Canada 3 years ago I thought it was yet another advantage of living in a more sophisticated country. Now (and I’m tempted to think it’s a Harper/Conservative view that ‘culture’ is a dirty word, because anything that they think is intellectual is suspect’) the CBC is going away, and as far as I’m concerned an advantage of living in Canada is also vanishing.

By: David Drucker

David Drucker — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:03:58 +0000

By: Arthur Caputi

Arthur Caputi — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:31:40 +0000

Upon moving to Bellingham, WA from California, one of the first things I discovered was CBC Radio 2. It convinced me that Canada might be the last bastion of civilization in North America. I start every morning with Tom Allen and can’t imagine how dreary my day would be without him and his classical cohorts.

Rock, Country, R&B, and other “popular” music forms abound on the radio. By changing its format, CBC will not be giving us anything that isn’t readily available, but it will be depriving us of a music form that seems to be heading for extinction. Since I neither vote nor pay taxes in Canada, it is obvious I, and other U.S. citizens, can’t have much of an impact on this decision. Nevertheless, I find it shortsighted and wrongheaded. This will be a sad day for Canada and all of its citizens who value the intellectual stimulation provided by the current format.

By: Arthur Caputi

Arthur Caputi — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:31:40 +0000

By: Gordon Stirling

Gordon Stirling — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:25:34 +0000

Don’t despair good listeners, this was bound to happen when the youngsters took over. Never lead but follow the trends is their motto. What I’ve been doing ever since I started to hear the changes is to lay in a good eclectic supply of my favourite music on CD including classical, jazz and whatever. Then I can turn off the ditsy, effete voices which continually interrupt my morning and afternoon listening with their throaty promos.
It’ll soon be “Goodbye CBC , its been good to know yer” – Thanks Shelley, Katherine, Eric, Jurgen ,
Danielle, Katie and so many other good comperes.

By: Gordon Stirling

Gordon Stirling — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:25:34 +0000

By: Wesley Wollin

Wesley Wollin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:24:17 +0000

If CBC moves to a broader mainstream format, then why is it still funded by the Government? If it wants to compete, let them work on a level playing field. If they want government $, it should be with a requirement to nuture and support classical arts.

Seriously though, my teen kids laughed at the idea that CBC might shift to appeal to them. Never. They listen to classical when I put it on, but when they hear CBC's attempt to 'relate', and they usually change the station. Keep trying CBC.

Finally, why doesn't SIRIUS get a hold of Tom Allen and the rest of the gang and get them on satellite. I'd pay.

And I won't even start about their spot ads. Tells us alot about their ability to live on the edge. Why not stick to what worked well? Who is running that place?

How can we petition to have their funding pulled?

By: Wesley Wollin

Wesley Wollin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:24:17 +0000

Seriously though, my teen kids laughed at the idea that CBC might shift to appeal to them. Never. They listen to classical when I put it on, but when they hear CBC’s attempt to ‘relate’, and they usually change the station. Keep trying CBC.

Finally, why doesn’t SIRIUS get a hold of Tom Allen and the rest of the gang and get them on satellite. I’d pay.

And I won’t even start about their spot ads. Tells us alot about their ability to live on the edge. Why not stick to what worked well? Who is running that place?

How can we petition to have their funding pulled?

By: Richard Booth

Richard Booth — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:58:42 +0000

The most recent buzz at CBC 2, “Wherever Music Takes you” has taken me to Classical 96.3, PBS in Buffalo and my own music collection. In the past there was no need to advertise their programming. It all was good. Now even the voice doing the advertising turns me off.

By: Richard Booth

Richard Booth — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:58:42 +0000

By: Sally Passey

Sally Passey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:40:17 +0000

I am devastated to think that changes are being made to CBC 2…. I have been a CBC listener all my life, and my parents as well…..I was not happy with the changes to CBC 1, so was delighted when I was able to pick up radio 2 on our dish….we live in Cranbrook, and can only get their local radio station which I never listen to, so depend on the CBC…. Why cannot people who want a lot of modern music just listen to thier local radio stations and leave CBC as it is!!!!! Sally Passey, Cranbrook, B, C…..

By: Sally Passey

Sally Passey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:40:17 +0000

By: Tim Evans

Tim Evans — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:48:18 +0000

Has anyone had the misfortune of tuning in to CBC Radio 2 at 10 pm PST?. Dreadful,but never mind what I think; a survey of who’s listening to that crap needs to be done ASAP, and I’m sure the result will be NOBODY. A huge waste of air time and taxpayers money.Tim Evans BC

By: Tim Evans

Tim Evans — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:48:18 +0000

By: L Knox

L Knox — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:14:39 +0000

What a shame that CBC Radio2 thinks there are not enough people listening to Classical music. It’s obvious that’s what they are thinking. I grew up in Toronto listening to CFRB’s Starlight Seranade that my Mom had on. Later on my own I found CBC Radio 2. It’s interesting that I am finding that as people age they turn to classical music. I also hear younger people listening to it as well. To me that shows that classical music is very poplular!

By: L Knox

L Knox — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:14:39 +0000

By: Oldrich Hungr

Oldrich Hungr — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:26:58 +0000

This campaign of destruction strongly reminds me of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Young, mostly uneducated people, driven by a bunch of fanatical ideologues, systematically vandalized cultural and religious symbols across the country, until there were very few left. You can still see the results, wherever you travel in China. Now these same people are adults and they wish they did not do so!! Cultural heritage of a country is not to be messed around with.

By: Oldrich Hungr

Oldrich Hungr — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:26:58 +0000

By: Katinka Verneuil

Katinka Verneuil — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:14:17 +0000

I came to Toronto 25 years ago and one thing I love most about Canada is or was the CBC radio program, both in English and French. Already th changes introduced recently disappointed me greatly although I do appreiciate the fact that some of these programs, both in French and English, on Radio CBC2, offer music from around the world – so introduce all Canadians to a diversity of music from cultures represented in canada. That should be limited to a couple of hour a day if that. What is further announced as to program changes frightens me! With multiculturalism being the philosophy is this country, there is a real need for one cultural LINK that’s “truly Canadian” if there is such a thing. I would argue that CBC has been that strong link across the country and should continue to be: it is vital, essential. So many new ethnic groups have their own radio and TV stations; what people need to become more part of this country is an historical reference to its past culture and main present culture so as to adapt to it and not hear their own music and pop and jazz yet again, like on so many other radio stations. I think CBC is making a big mistake and wish they would go back on their decision and also no disband the CBC orchestra… And please, CBC, do not remove Tom Alan in the mornings…

By: Katinka Verneuil

Katinka Verneuil — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:14:17 +0000

By: Phyllis Macza

Phyllis Macza — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:15:27 +0000

Hello: What a glorious day of music on Sunday - all Beethoven!! Only our "own" "old" CBC FM station would be so bold! We are truly thankful.

Why must there be changes to a successful format? We who love the classics will not listen to pop, rock, or other current fads in music. Nor are we cowboys who yodel and strum tonelessly. We don't have an alternative station. Other types of music are forever playing on umpteen stations on our dial.

CBC has been a unifying force in our huge country. Let's keep it that way. Let's not change a successful format for FM classical music fans. Perhaps CBC AM can handle a change.

Phyllis Macza

By: Phyllis Macza

Phyllis Macza — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:15:27 +0000

Hello: What a glorious day of music on Sunday – all Beethoven!! Only our “own” “old” CBC FM station would be so bold! We are truly thankful.

Why must there be changes to a successful format? We who love the classics will not listen to pop, rock, or other current fads in music. Nor are we cowboys who yodel and strum tonelessly. We don’t have an alternative station. Other types of music are forever playing on umpteen stations on our dial.

CBC has been a unifying force in our huge country. Let’s keep it that way. Let’s not change a successful format for FM classical music fans. Perhaps CBC AM can handle a change.

Phyllis Macza

By: Trevor Armstrong

Trevor Armstrong — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:54:54 +0000

The top brass at CBC clearly don’t understand the audience that Tom and Jergen attract every morning and evening. They are my daily therapists. Where would I get all the history and trivia from if it weren’t for Tom? Where would I hear the amusing stuff that Jergen broadcasts? I can get my morning and evening classical fix from Classical 96.3, but it’s not the same. If this insane plan goes ahead then maybe Tom can get a job with 96.3. I will suggest that to them. CBC would lose a lot of listeners. Although Jergen is based in Vancouver I’m sure that technology could keep his voice and eclectic programming to us via 96.3. However, I suspect that as you move away from the major cities (such as Toronto) there is NO alternative classical station.
The CBC is no longer seving its traditional audience. Classical music is the cultural heritage of the people who pioneered this country when it was just forests, lakes, rivers, and mountains (which I love). We live in a multi-cultural society. That doesn’t mean cultural replacement. CBC has destroyed the last broadcast orchestra in North America. What’s next?
As for me, if these changes are implemented I will bocott CBC altogether, including television, which also includes, of course, Hockey Night in Canada, Coronation Street, and the Olympics (nothing to do with Tibet). The Royal Canadian Air Farce is going anyway, so I won’t miss that.
BOYCOTT THE CBC. Do what private broadcasters have been trying to do for years and not suceeded. The CBC are commiting suicide.

By: Trevor Armstrong

Trevor Armstrong — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:54:54 +0000

By: Gordon Klassen

Gordon Klassen — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:49:41 +0000

I’m watching from a distance the latest tinkering the tall foreheads are doing to my once favorite radio station. From a distance because about a year ago when constant petitioning and letterwriting campaigns seemed to fall on deaf ears, I switched from radio 2 to podcasts and my own classical collection. I read now that disk drive and music and company are on the chopping block and, from a distance I can see the circle now coming complete, as radio 2 once and for all kicks the last of it’s faithful listenership out the door. I was dissappointed a year ago, now this once great haven for culture and the arts is just a sad shell of what it was.

By: Gordon Klassen

Gordon Klassen — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:49:41 +0000

By: Thierry Gudel

Thierry Gudel — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:09:07 +0000

The new changes will force me to listen to even more classical radio stations from europe on the internet. how about revamping the presentation of classical music on cbc radio instead of cutting down( less talk and babble, more classical music)i agree with sheilah roberts; cbc radio IS dumbing down. sad!

By: Thierry Gudel

Thierry Gudel — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:09:07 +0000

By: J Brummeler

J Brummeler — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:06:35 +0000

I will be listening to the Buffalo radio station WNED more and more. I am very disappointed with the proposed changes to CBC radio two. I find myself turning off CBC radio quite often.

By: J Brummeler

J Brummeler — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:06:35 +0000

I will be listening to the Buffalo radio station WNED more and more. I am very disappointed with the proposed changes to CBC radio two. I find myself turning off CBC radio quite often.

By: Hoshiar Abdollah

Hoshiar Abdollah — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:35:23 +0000

I am disappointed and dismayed with gutting of classical music programs on CBC 2 and particularly with proposed changes that will come on in the fall. I will never listen to CBC 2 again.

By: Hoshiar Abdollah

Hoshiar Abdollah — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:35:23 +0000

I am disappointed and dismayed with gutting of classical music programs on CBC 2 and particularly with proposed changes that will come on in the fall. I will never listen to CBC 2 again.

By: Pierrette Winter

Pierrette Winter — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:48:55 +0000

I have just read a list of the proposed changes (yes, yet again) to make CBC 2 even less appealing than it is now. My favourite programme, with T. Allen, will disappear, as will E. Friesen and J. Goethe. Who is the person who thinks that this is a good thing? Classical music is a balm to the heart for so many of us, and so many stations pander to every taste except that one. Why not be original and keep classical alive on one station at least? When all those changes will take place, my husband and I will say goodbye to the CBC for good. And we have been such constant and loyal listeners. The dumbing down of life should stop somewhere. Why not with the CBC? THAT would be original.