Not impressed by new Classic FM schedule
29 February 2008Following the news that GCap Media are to scrap their theJazz and Planet Rock digital radio stations, it seemed that Classic FM, as an analogue station, would emerge unscathed. Unfortunately, the closures have had a knock-on effect that has changed Classic FM for the worst.
In the week, I’m only really able to listen to the station in the evening. Changes at this time of day include the scrapping of the 6:30pm Classic Newsnight programme. While this was not the best news programme imaginable, it was the only news bulletin I could catch after work, having usually missed most of Radio 4’s news. Instead, Smooth Classics at Seven has been extended by an hour, becoming Smooth Classics at Six. Smooth Classics, presented by John Brunning, was always one of my favourite programmes. Unfortunately, they have now pushed John out in favour of Margherita Taylor, who apparently used to present a programme called Easy Jazz at Six on theJazz. I’m afraid I am so far unable to get used to Ms Taylor’s voice. I don’t know if she’s supposed to be a celebrity because she’s been on TV; I’m not interested in celebrities. I liked John Brunning’s smooth voice presenting this programme. Margherita Taylor appears to have a “trendy” voice with an end-of-sentence intonation I don’t appreciate.
In turn, John Brunning has displaced Nick Bailey as the presenter of the Evening Concert programme, which has been renamed The Full Works. For around five years, Nick has presented the programme live, enabling him to read out listeners’ e-mailed comments as he received them (including several of mine over the years!) This gave the programme a much more personal touch, and meant it was better company for anyone listening alone. Early indications are that The Full Works is no longer presented live. Nick Bailey has now been pushed into the overnight slot, starting from 2am, displacing Mark Griffiths who has now left the station. I’m quite certain Nick isn’t happy about losing the Concert and having to present overnight.
One aspect of the new schedule that has proved most controversial is the introduction of two hours of jazz each night, starting at midnight. The programme is presented by Helen Mayhew, who is also a refugee from theJazz. Lisa Duncombe, the young violinist who was given a job after complaining that the station didn’t promote young artists enough, has also been given the axe. Classic FM used to promote itself as the country’s only 100% classical station, as opposed to rival BBC Radio 3, which has always played jazz. That distinction has now been lost. I should probably go to bed at midnight anyway, but I have to say that, despite my reservations, the jazz programme is the change I mind the least. The music is still quite relaxing, and at that time of night the music is only background to reading or whatever, rather than being for serious listening.
The station has responded to complaints about the introduction of jazz by claiming:
Radio stations periodically change their programming line-ups and our research shows that there is a very strong cross-over between listeners to classical music and jazz.
That is implying that they introduced the new schedule as a result of careful audience research. I would contend that they have done no such thing. The new schedule was introduced in a hurry after GCap decided to pull out of DAB. The evidence for this is clear. In the past, new schedules on Classic FM have been the subject of much fanfare and promotion for weeks beforehand. Now they are calling this the biggest change in 15 years, yet there was no mention of the new schedule until just before it started this week. In the just-released April issue of the Classic FM magazine, they have just managed to get the new schedule in there. But there is a detailed listing of the music that will be played on the Evening Concert in March, with an accompanying article by Nick Bailey who it says, “presents the Classic FM Evening Concert every weekday night from 9pm”. That shows these changes to the schedule weren’t carefully planned as the result of audience research. They were rushed through for commercial and contractual reasons as a result of theJazz closing, after much of the magazine had already been produced.
The jingle that accompanies the new programmes can only be described as naff. I don’t believe it was created by David Arnold, the composer of the famous Classic FM jingle, and of the many arrangements that are heard on the station. It was no doubt recorded in a hurry, again because the schedule change wasn’t planned very far in advance. And what on Earth is the slogan “We raise you up” supposed to mean?!
It seems GCap needed to find a job for Margherita Taylor as a matter or urgency. Perhaps she had some sort of contract that would have been expensive for GCap to terminate – more expensive than sacking Mark Griffiths anyway. Perhaps the contract also specified that Ms Taylor’s programme should be at a time when decent numbers of people are listening, not in the middle of the night. So to make way for her, they have shunted along two long-standing presenters on the station who had presented their respective programmes for many years extremely successfully. The same may be said for Helen Mayhew replacing Lisa Duncombe, although there the motivation is probably also an attempt to appease jazz fans: they can still listen to jazz, as long as they don’t mind staying up until 2am!
I am quite unimpressed with the changes to Classic FM’s schedule. Because of what are ultimately business decisions by the owners, they have spoilt my favourite station quite a bit. Now I can’t listen to the news, I can’t hear “Mr Smooth” present his classics, and I can’t enjoy listening to the concert with Nick Bailey. I hope some of these changes can be reversed when theJazz’s former presenters’ contracts expire. I know that other listeners are unhappy, particularly with the jazz programme. Yet they are unlikely to abandon the station as there aren’t many alternatives. Unless, that is, GCap’s own internet broadcasting strategy turns out to be the way forward, in which case people may well discover that there are many good classical music stations around the world (from countries without draconian copyright laws) and so they can consider abandoning the station that puts business before its listeners.
Why are GCap trying to destroy Classic FM? Margherita Taylor is a horrible radio voice and 3 hours every night……………..
And Nathalie Wheen´s saturday and sunday afternoon shows are gone!!!!She IS the Best…..and now its 22.00….
The way Classic FM hade their programs prior to this week was a winning consept (Sony award winnging station) so WHY on earth destroy it? Its beyond me.
After a few weeks away, I was shocked to see/hear the changes at Classic FM. Frankly, Lisa was not a loss, but Griffiths? And moving Nat and Nick?
This really started when they moved Crick out of the breakfast show, years ago. I used to tell all my broadcasting friends to listen to Jamie, just to hear a proper morning ‘air’ personality that wasn’t daft! He is a wasted talent at mid-day.
If anyone sees Griffiths, send him birthday greetings from his fans in the States!
Classic FM was rather good when it started, with presenters like John Julius Norwich and Michael Mappin, but it’s been going downhill for years and is now mainly a product placement channel for Classic FM CDs and the like. My advice would be to try Radio 3.
All very valid points, especially yours, Jonathan. There is something that distinctly stinks about the haste with which these changes were made- yet they are all the stranger because, for the moment at least theJazz remains on the air on DAB. Rumour has it that the station will close at the end of March if a buyer is not found- but it’s rather more than rumour that Global Radio are keen to get their hands on the whole GCap empire including Classic FM. Indeed, British Stock Exchange rules mean that by the end of this month, they must “put up or shut up”.
I hope that Global do win their prize, and perhaps see sense with their radio assets in a way that Fru Hazlett’s dreadfully preciptious moves has not done. theJazz may not have been the commercial success that GCap was aiming for, but why compound one failure by taking a course which seems bound to alienate a substantial number of Classic FM listeners while gaining scarcely any new ones.
The biggest loss for me in the changes is Mark Griffiths, who had the perfect voice and style, I believe, for the slot he covered. Nick Bailey is admittedly a fine broadcaster of many decades standing- he started his career on the pirate ships, of course, but he’s just not right for the “graveyard slot” and indeed it shows. I feel really sorry for my namesake Mark- I didn’t even have the opportunity to wish him goodbye before his programme vanished, and sadly his website hasn’t been updated so I don’t know what he’s up to now.
Contrary to Andrew Rogers’ comments, I think that Classic FM still had a winning formula- the fact that the format has been either licensed to or copied by many stations worldwide speaks volumes. But as other correspondents here say, the station has now lost its uniqueness with the incursion of Jazz (though I always felt that the “Chiller Cabinet” and similar weekend fare were marginal to the original ethos anyway). And indeed, the new slogan and jingle are dire.
Fru Hazlitt seems to have an obsession against DAB, but doesn’t she realise that if she doesn’t return a decent, friendly, classical service to FM with the voices people know and love, that will generate nothing but bum notes too. If anybody at Classic FM reads these comments, please think again and reverse these changes. After all, Henry Kelly was brought back after a sudden departure, so dare we hope Mark Griffiths and others can return too?
Like Marc I have been away and came back to find Nick Bailey’s voice at 4 o’clock in the morning. Mark Griffiths gone and now tonight Lisa Duncombe said farewell. I liked Lisa, her voice was alive and she will be missed, by me anyway if that counts for anything. I would like to have listened to Mark Forrest for longer than his 6 pm sign-off as he, Jamie, and Jane have good shows. Simon Bates is switched off before he utters a sound as I think him to be insulting and condescending to his colleagues. He recently referred to elephants when introducing Nicola Bonn for a traffic report.
The new schedule has a lot to be desired and I accept that changes have to be made to keep listeners from drifting but retrograde steps have been made. How can you introduce jazz on a classical programme? It is on as I write this and it is a plink-plonk of piano with a piercing trumpet that is now getting up my nose. How I wish I did not suffer occasional bouts of insomnia.
ClassicFM is definitely changing for the worse and I agree entirely with Eddie the Expat. What really gets me is that Margerita seems totally incapable of reading out the names of any composer or artist unless they are called John Smith’s Band! If we do have to endure her until her contract expires could someone please get her a voice coach!
Iagree with all the Classical Fans (I’m a Jazz Fan) you cannot mix the two, now two types of listener are upset
and the Jazz listeners have to become insomniacs to hear their brand of music on a DAB radio set or have their computer based in the lounge or dining room permanently and running 24/7. This does not go down well with HER-IN-DOORS particularly when entertaining friends or family. My wife listens regularly to The Jazz when doing the chores at home,but has lost the pleasure and cannot be expected to carry a laptop on her hip. Is’nt there someone out there who can rescue the situation and make Classical and Jazz listeners happy. I have looked at My Classical FM site and was not impressed, particularly as I was unable to get either Jazz or Classical Live music over the Web
Saddened Jazz Fan !!!!!!!
Margherita Taylor has the most grating voice so I have to switch her off!
Mark Griffiths is an awful loss. Two hours of jazz at midnight is not conducive to my insomnia. Bring back Mark please. As for audience research, I’m on the mailing list but no-one asked for my opinion!!!!!!!!!!
As for that awful”we raise you up”………………… I will be going back to Radio 3 after having been a loyal listener to Classic FM since day one.
I agree completely with Peter King and feel sorry for all The Jazz supporters and classical music lovers too. I love the Jazz and listened to it a lot on Sky in the lounge & on my digital radio. I too do not want to turn on my computer in order to listen to music I like. I am annoyed with The Jazz for advertising a similar Jazz station on Classic Fm, as actually, it doesn’t exist. I still don’t understand why the Jazz had to close (I know tons of people who listened to it) and why poor classic fm had to take the changes too.
I don’t like the new CFM schedule either. I think John and Nick should never have been shunted, and I do miss the news too. Margherita Taylor’s voice really annoys me. She played something last week, that wasn’t even a relaxing melody. Let’s hope CFM see the light and put things right. I find it very difficult listening to CFM now since all the changes.
Most of the comments above chime with mine. I am a relatively late convert to classical music and Classic FM in particular, and I did not believe that the format (as it was) could get very much better, except perhaps for the loss of a few presenters like Myleene Klass or Lisa Duncombe or Katie Derham, who add nothing to the station. But even with them, I was happy with the schedules. Now that we have the intrusion of jazz (sorry, all you jazz lovers, but I just loathe the stuff) I feel the station’s raison d’etre has been violated. I was appalled at the abrupt exit of Mark Griffiths, who has one of the best voices on radio, and John Brunning is no substitute for Nick Bailey. I don’t listen to Natalie Wheen because I’m not fond of her choice of music, but I am outraged on her behalf and that of her regular listeners that she should be shunted to late night.
But I am even more indignant at the palpable untruths that are surrounding these alterations, as it is patently obvious that the changes were rushed through and that no market research was done. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas: neither would Classic FM fans vote for jazz on their station, or their long-standing and in many cases favourite broadcasters be pushed out of the popular spots and into areas where they can conveniently no longer be listened to.
And yes, the jingle is unmemorable. The other one could occasionally get on one’s nerves, but it was noticeable and so it did its job. And ‘We raise you up’……? What? Think again, Classic FM, if you want to remain a popular station or indeed grow even bigger.
I totally agree with what everyone else is saying here. I too have been a CFM listener for 15 years and this latest schedule is not good. Aled Jones was a huge loss and I have not listened to Saturday/Sunday mornings since Myleene Klass took over. Nice person I’m sure; radio presenter no way. That aside the rest of the schedule was pretty good overall. Everyone is going to have presenters they like and dislike, we all know that’s a fact of radio. But this, what have they done. It’s just awful. I too am considering Radio 3. I cannot abide the stupid “ding dong ding” jingle, it is driving me nuts. I have mailed the station to ask why the changes and could they possibly consider removing the new jingle - strangely enough …. I’ve heard nothing back! Hey ho.
I read with interest the comments on insomnia. I, too, sufer from poor sleeping habit only now, I toss and turn in silence as I too, hate loathe and detest jazz - indeed, sometimes, 2 a.m. is actually welcomed as at that time I can get back to ‘my’ kind of music.
And what have they done with Henry Kelly this time? I disagree with Simon Bates’ comments that Sunday morning are now improved!
I believe Henry Kelly will return with a new show after the special programmes for the Classical Brits have finished.
Please, Give me back my “old” Classic FM - Mr Smooth, John Brunning, at 7 (the perfect voice after a long and streesful day, M Taylor has a awful,grating voice) Nathalie Wheen on weekend afternoons, she who has given me many new music idees and Mark Griffith, my only company on many sleepless nights.
Acording to GCaps own website, CFM has gone from 6.3 million listeners in September 2007 down to 5.7 today………that´s 600 000 listeners that have abandon CFM in a verry short time, so mrs Hazlett, take a hint and listen to what CFMs listener and your own statistics tells you!
I’ve really tried to like the changes, but it’s no good, I can’t talk myself into it. On the positive side it’s good to have 3 hours of smooth classics, but PLEASE not with Margherita. As for losing Mark Griffiths, if anything they should have moved him into a daytime slot where more people could hear him. I want presenters who introduce the music as though they know what they are talking about but who speak in a natural, un-sugary and uncondescending tone; i.e. Nick Bailey, John Brunning, Mark Forrest, Mark Griffiths, Anne-Marie Minhall, Henry Kelly; not those who sound as though they’re doing us a favour by talking to us (Margharita, David Mellor, even Jane Jones).
I’ve been a faithful listener since the trial broadcasts, but tune in far less frequently now. I emailed the station and did have a reply, along the lines of ‘thank you for your message, we value your input’. Hah! I don’t think so.
I am sorely missing Mark Griffiths. He was a pleasure to listen to.
It is just not the same now so I will go back to listening to Radio 3.
Only now can I bring myself to write calmly, after enduring the garbage that Classic FM is now inflicting upon us following the radical programming changes several weeks ago.
I live in a different time zone from the UK, so my days were definitely brightened by the professional delivery and lovely musical choices of John Brunning, Nick Bailey and, most especially, Mark Griffiths. No longer, I fear. Who on earth is this dreadful female, “Margherita Taylor”? Do I understand from previous comments that she is a TV personality? What has that got to do with classical music? Then there is the two-hour jazz presentation — again, what does that have to do with classical music? And finally, there is the execrable Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen … he, alone, is reason enough for a ClassicFM boycott!
Friends, fear not — if you are a web listener I can heartily recommend kdfc.com in San Francisco and king.org in Seattle. Both stations remain true to their programming commitment (unlike ClassicFM) and have pleasant and professional presenters (yes, they have American accents but, despite that, I promise you they are very easy to listen to).
So, classical music lovers, remember the maxim, “Vote with your feet” (in this case your “ears”)? Classic FM depends upon revenue from advertising, so together let’s ditch ClassicFM and turn our attention to other more deserving classical music stations.
I wouldn’t want to ditch Classic FM - up to now it’s been a great station, and parts of it still are. We need to persuade the current people in charge that they’ve got it wrong, and hope that the drop in listening figures will convince them that they need to go back to the successful formula. I’m sure that several of the long-standing presenters must feel the same as we do.
I’ve heard KDFC when visiting my son and his family in California, and I agree that it’s excellent; but I prefer to listen on the radio (not online) so that doesn’t work for me in the UK. Radio 3 is not the answer, either.
@Jill: You could try a dedicated internet radio set, which will receive the signal from your wireless router. The quality can be much higher than DAB. They start at under £50 now.
Incidentally, I don’t agree about David Mellor, who is one of the few presenters who actually knows what he’s talking about!
Thanks for the hint, Jonathan. I’ll give it a try.
I agree that David Mellor knows what he is talking about; my reference to him was because I don’t like his condescending tone (or his very poor intonation).
Beautifully summed up Jonathan, the most irritating change for me is the jazz at midnight when the radio is on sleep-timer. What’s most depressing is the hurried nature of the changes, makes you wonder what gods (or demons) they’re appeasing. Either way I agree that what started as a positive refreshing change to classical music broadcasting is being progressively compromised.
I’d also wonderd about the internet radio idea but then wouldn’t I also be party to the demise of DAB?
I have several points to make about this situation:
1. GCap Media is obviously an incapable body to deal with the transmission of radio stations, especially Classic FM. A big media magnate does not really fit their image!
2. The online player is awful! Not only does it constantly display picture based ads, but the bit rate is slow and the lack of presenters makes it almost completely unlifelike and inhuman. I cannot get it to work on my Windows Vista computer, and it is no substitute for either theJazz or CFM.
3. When it was announced that tJz was to close, I listened to it every night until it did close to try and boost the ratings. Unfortunately this didn’t work. The only remnant of this station I have now is a CD!
I would just like to say that I agree with many of the commenst so far. I, like many listeners, am disgusted at the shunting of Nick Bailey and the ’sacking’ of Mark Griffiths. I was recently on holiday, and even people whom I met on my trip to Greece were talking about the changes; and the ‘waste’ it was to have Nick Bailey on the overnight slot. I think in general people miss Nick. And let’s not forget Mark who had the pefect voice and personality for overnight radio. Although John Brunning is not my favourite presenter, I don’t think he should have been pushed into Nick’s wonderful concert programme just to make way for Margherita Taylor. I think the problem here is that it would have been cheaper to get rid of Mark than to pay-off Taylor and the result has backfired, because not only have CFM lost a great voice and compromised outstanding presenters, they will now inevitably loose listeners!
Oh - I’ve just been told about this excellent website of Jonathan’s and I’m amazed to see that I’ve been mentioned on it several times - and in quite a positive way too. Thank you. For those who have been wondering what has become of me - and I see there are one or two - I must first apologise for my sudden departure from Classic FM. It was as much of a shock to me as it seems to have been to many Classic FM listeners. There’s a lot to tell about what happened. As I’ve indicated on my website home page - and you can find my site at http://www.markgriffiths.name - I will soon be back with a new classical music show, featuring the same kind of music, quiz, your emails (I hope) and other bits and pieces - along similar lines to my show at Classic FM. I also have some other really exciting news about a new radio show I’ll be presenting from South East Asia, starting in June 2008. It’s going to be broadcast on AM and FM around the world (including the UK and USA), as well as from about 10 different satellites and on the Internet. You might like to sign up for my newsletter to find out more about what happened at Classic FM in February, and about what the immediate future holds for me. I run the website, so you won’t be inundated with rubbish if you sign up for the newsletter. I hope to hear from you with a bit of feedback about my new shows, details of which I’ll be announcing in my next newsletter. Thanks again for your kind comments - it would be great to hear from you through the contact form at my website. Let’s all keep smiling. If you do the opposite it gets you nowhere even faster! Let’s keep in touch. Mark
Dear Mark
We miss your wonderful voice every night, as we have listened for nearly ten years. Classic FM have ruined our listening hours of ten until six in the morning. For the insommniacs this is devastating, as not only did we have wonderful music, enjoyed some super quizzies, which keep the brain alert, and presented by the one and only Mark Griffiths, outstanding velvet voice.
We no longer tune in to Classic Fm, But listen to Radio 4 and SAILING BY, and the long radio weather forcasts for DGGER BANK etc. How can this programme be called CLASSIC sorry you have lost us and all our night friends. Hazel Jacques
I follow the comings and goings at Classic FM with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. I was very sorry to hear of Mark’s departure, but not totally surprised at the apparant change of direction at the station. Those presenters with a passion for the music (and I admit Classical music does provoke more passionate reactions than many other kinds) seem to be getting thinner on the ground. Let’s face it, the ultimate aim of a commercial radio station is making money and for that they need listeners. The fear at Classic FM, going right back to the earliest days, is that the audience would plateau. The first Programme Controller, Michael Bukht, was not afraid of this, stating that plateaus made good steady launching pads for higher and greater things. His strategy was to load the rocket (sorry, the metaphor is wearing a trifle thin) with things Classical and imaginative. The introduction of Jazz to CFM is a sad, cynical bid for new listeners. The immediate decision to vote with their feet made by many listeners is of no consequence to those who make the decisions. Letters or emails will make no difference. The only thing to do is ride out the storm and wait for a change in the weather. I agree with Mark that it’s better to smile than frown. But it is only with the benefit of distance that I can raise a grin at the remembrance of one producer who told me that he would make a programme about bricks if he thought it would bring in the listeners.
I agree with all comments that I have read. My mother and I listen frequently to Classic FM.
Since the sudden programme changes I have missed listening to Lisa Duncombe’s ‘Late night’ programme. I don’t like the Jazz prog at all. So I switch off at midnight or tune to Smooth Radio for a different style of music altogether, if Classic Fm had Classic music on after midnight I would stay. Classic and Jazz do not mix on the same station. I am not a jazz lover anyway.
Also, I use to enjoy Nick Bailey with his evening concert, but now that has gone. So, the programme changes I am not impressed with at all.
But I suppose knowing what I know about UK commercial radio, which I have followed since it’s introduction to our shores in 1970 and the way it all ticks. All run by accountants and computers, it is hardly suprising that these changes have happened, I have seen other good stations deteriate in the same fashion. The truth is the people who are in charge, have not a clue on how to run a radio station.
The Jazz on DAB was doomed from the start really, as the audio quality on DAB is not nearly as good as on FM. Again it’s due to money. They limit the bandwidth to get more stations on the DAB network to make more money. Even Classic FM sounds better on FM compared to it’s DAB channel. Even my mother of 80 years notices that.
But with all that, I hope that Classic FM takes note of people’s comments and makes ammends.
Hey Michael - it would be good to meet for a chat and catch-up before I disappear off to SE Asia in two weeks. Give me a call or send an email through the Contact page of my website - http://www.markgriffiths.name/contact.html - if you have a moment! I have an email address for you, but I think it’s an old one… Mark G.
Classic FM has been going elsewhere for years. The ousting of Nicholas Tresillian was about the low point and that babbler, Nick B taking over. Nick Tresillian “wanted the opportunity to look after his pigs” Nick B didn’t, and still doesn’t know one end of a piece of music from another and I do NOT miss him, but Natalie Wheene taking over at the weekend - never my favourite when on Radio 3 - is a considerable improvement. She might ven be better during the week, but ‘The Full Works’? Ugh!!!
Margherita Taylor and her voice; unctious in the extreme, but when a radio station is run by such merchants, what more, I suppose, does one really expect? An interesting comment about her origins with Jazz FM Explains a lot.
I also thought that Michael Mappin was a superb presenter and he knew what he was taking about, but with Michael Bukt being invalided out all those years ago, like so much, the Saturday Night quiz with Quentin ??, the axing of JJN and others, the hooligans took over and these changes are all part. It seemed that anything bordering on the intelligent was out of the window.
Let’s also face it Radio 3 has dropped some awful clangers. (Sir) Nicholas Kenyon as controller and John Tusa, the better candidate, being edged out to be asked to read the 1pm TV news!!
Don’t listen and play CDs ; it will soon be read in the audience figures. Courage, mon ami!
I don’t agree with your comment on Nick Bailey. He did his best, and it was the only time the programme was live, which meant it was possible to e-mail him to discuss the music, and he always replied! Also, Quentin Howard, who presented that quiz, is actually an executive who’s been partly responsible for the state DAB is in by insisting that the bitrate should be low to squeeze stations in at the expense of sound quality:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/articles/President-of-WorldDMB-was-dishonest-about-DAB+-on-BBC-TV.php
Classic fm is going off and has been for a while. Why the introduction of all these ‘celebrities’? (Alex James, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen (ugh!)), etc.
Jane Jones is irritating, with her ’sugary’ voice, and as for Simon Bates ….!
Mylene Klaas is OK but does sound as if she is reading from a script. As for ‘We raise you up’ -AAARGH! I’m afraid I have to switch off every time I hear it or anticipate it, (and then often forget to switch on again!).
Switching to Radio 3 is not the answer, as the reason Radio 3 listeners swicthd to Classic fm was because they liked ‘proper music’ with good tunes, rather than a lot of the jangling discordant stuff Radio 3 is determined to inflict on us.
It is great to hear from Mark Griffiths and how his future is now being mapped out. I enjoyed listening to him and I wish him all the best
What has happened to Lisa Duncombe? How is she now coping? Come on Lisa, drop us a line so that your fans can keep in touch. I am a night worker and really enloyed listening to her dulcit tones. Alas night listening will never be the same again!
If the executives from ClassicFM are accessing this site maybe they are now realising the errors of their ways and are looking at ways to appease their audience….
Thanks Terry - I just saw your comment. I’m in touch with Lisa and am arranging to meet up with her next week before I fly to China for a job at China radio International - something completely different and a change of direction for me. I’ll tell Lisa about this page so she can put a comment on here if she wants to. I’m also working on a classical music project for radio and hope to have it up and running soon. I hope you’ll sign up for the occasional email newsletter by clicking on the button at my website homepage at http://www.markgriffiths.name so you’ll be among the first to know exactly what’s happening both with me and some of the other presenters no longer at Classic FM. You can also contact me directly if you want to, through my website contact page. It would be great to hear from you. You may already know that GCap (the company that owned Classic FM at the time of the changes) has now been taken over by Global Radio, and I for one would definitely go back if the new owners approached me and suggested it, so you never know… normal service may well be resumed at some point in the future…
What do Classical and Jazz have in common? - They’re different forms of quality music. I find it quite strange how some people can be so narrow-minded. For the record, the Midnight Jazz program is fantastic!
So Gordon, would you also introduce heavy metal or contemporary R&B on the station? There’s plenty of quality music there too. But when people switch on a classical station they expect to hear classical music, and that’s exactly how Classic FM advertised itself for a long time. Where do you draw the line? You can have a station that plays every type of music under the sun, but then it has no distinct identity. As I said, I personally don’t mind the jazz programme, but I still don’t think it should have been introduced, and the worst thing is the way Classic FM have lied to people over why it was.
I agree with Jonathan. I don’t like jazz anyway, but I accept that some people do and I respect their opinions. However, its arrival on Classic FM is unfortunate to say the least. If there are not enough listeners to keep a dedicated jazz station going (as it appears there are not) then maybe jazz lovers should bite the bullet and realise that they are in a minority and therefore find their music on stations offering a mixed bundle. Jazz should not be allowed to dilute the identity of Classic FM – I mean, what will be next? A renaming of the station to Classic-and-Jazz FM?
These days I no longer listen to Classic FM as often as I used to. In fact, the only programme I regularly tune in to is Nick Bailey’s in the early hours – and that is because I grew used to radio listening at this time due to Mark Griffiths’s show. I like Nick, and in days past have enjoyed his Evening Concert, so I was pleased that it was he who filled the huge gap left by Mark’s departure.
Once a week I listen to about 30 minutes of Margherita Taylor (which is quite enough, thank you) and wish that she didn’t continually use strained adjectives to describe the music (everything is ‘wonder-ful’ or ‘beauti-ful’), which may be something she does to hide the fact that she does not know a great deal of background information on that music.
And I find irritating in the extreme the new habit of running two pieces of music together, separated only by an advert for another of the station’s programmes, with no intervention by the presenter. This seems to happen at least twice an hour. Maybe it happens even more often than this – as I said, I don’t listen as frequently, or as long, as I did.
Bring back the classic Classic FM!
Jan, so very well put.
Nancy
Lisa Duncomve to return to Classic FM?
http://madamearcati.blogspot.com/2008/06/lisa-duncombe-dj-babe-to-return-to.html
I still think that the Jazz show is right and is in keeping with the general Classic FM atmosphere. Radio 3 has managed to broadcast Jazz and Classical for years although it seems to cover a much wider musical field.
For those of you who are simply saying “I don’t like Jazz”, then all I can say is that the “We raise you up” jingle is all you deserve.
Yes, Margherita ‘I Robot’ Taylor is bad, very bad. That downwards inflection at the end of every sentence is annoying in the extreme. Actually, perhaps Classic FM should replace her with the in-train announcement system the Underground use - it might be an improvement.
I agree with the earlier comment about Jamie Crick being wasted in the lunchtime slot - a true pro, who comes across as a very nice guy. I suggest he replaces that irritating smarta**e Forrest character (who, infuriatingly seems to be on every time I tune in) with his wretched ‘faux northern’ pronunciation:
‘mAsterclAss’, ‘After’, ‘pAst’…. ughh.. so phoney it makes you want to throw up!
Simon Bates though is a superb broadcaster and I will not hear of him being criticised in any way! As for Jane Jones… well yes, sugary is the word alright. Gushing insincerity by the truckload… get ‘er off!
Thank you for agreeing so generously with my previous post, Nancy.
Gordon: well, of course jazz lovers like the jazz show on Classic FM. But the point being made is in the name. ‘Classic’ FM. Not Jazz FM, or Classic-and-Jazz FM. If the radio station in question wishes to remain a serious classical music station and true to its name, then it needs to ditch the jazz. Radio 3 can broadcast all the jazz and other music it likes: it is not named ‘Classic Radio 3’, ‘Classical Music Radio’, ‘Radio 3 for Classics’ or any combination thereof, and thus does not openly proclaim its tendencies. There is no comparison.
The other day during my once-a-week short foray into Smooth Classics at Six, Ms Taylor was having problems. The whole thing was going haywire, with Ms Taylor blithely announcing the details of a track that had not been played, was not going to be played, and featuring nowhere in the programme. I can only assume someone had messed up the music so that her (presumably recorded) presentation no longer fitted what was intended to be played. Did anyone else catch this? Maybe it’s a regular occurrence these days.
Actually, I like Jane Jones’s choice of music, though (and it seems like everyone else on this forum) I wish she would moderate her style! But anyone who likes both Mozart and Rachmaninov cannot be far from good in my eyes……
I have to admit that listening to the station as it is now does nothing for me. I find the format irritating and, now that I can no longer listen to it for an hour or so after midnight, it has almost ceased to have any useful purpose for me at all. If it weren’t for Nick Bailey’s show, as far as I am concerned, it would be history.
I heard Smooth Classics go wrong the other day. The presenter’s part has always been pre-recorded, so the same thing used to happen when it was John Brunning. That’s one thing I miss about Nick Bailey’s Evening Concert - it was the only time that programme has been live.
I know that most people like a good moan, me included. However, I thought that some might be interested to hear about my change in “listening” habits. In the past when CFM have changed schedules in a way that I didn’t like I’ve come round and got used to things. This time it isn’t so. My radio is tuned to CFM for maybe 1-2 hours per day, other than that it is switched to R3 or R4 or off altogether. The changes and some of the new ‘presenters’ have really switched me off and I just don’t want to listen. That’s really sad for me as I’ve been a fan for such a long time. I know the playlist is very limited but so what. Most of the music they play is lovely. I just can’t stomach some of the gushing OTT and ignorant presenters. But do you know what has turned me off more than any other single thing ….. yep, the ghastly jingle “ding dong ding we raise you up” I can’t stand it! It alone has forced me away from a station I used to love!
Hey ho!
Nancy, the irony is that the one programme that still uses a variation of the old jingle is the jazz programme! I liked the old jingle, composed by David Arnold, and it was very clever the way he made so many different variations of it. I realise that the new jingle is actually the first three notes of the old one, so live in hope that they’ll eventually go back to using the whole thing.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one to dislike the new Classic FM schedules. The station is going downhill, and find myself listening to Radio 3 more and more
I particularly dislike Alex James (why does he say everything is cute?) and I also dislike Margherita Taylor’s (and Jane Jones) voice.
Myleene Klass is ok. But the sooner that blasted jazz show is kicked into touch the better.
What you say is so right, Nancy. Most people are naturally resistant to change, and I am no different, but eventually I usually come around to accept change where it is inevitable. And although it seemed very unlikely in February, I thought that given some months, I might at last come to terms with the new schedule. But no. I simply can’t. Like you, I have changed my listening habits radically. Every radio in my house (and I have quite a few!) were always tuned to Classic FM so that when I switched on I didn’t have to fiddle with the dial or presets. It was only rarely I listened to other stations. But now – well, literally the only show I listen to is Nick Bailey’s for an hour or so in the morning before I go to work. I used to listen to some of Mark Forrest’s show when he had Drivetime, but now at the time I drive home from work (and turn on the radio) he is doing that ‘Kid’s Call’ thing. I am all in favour of children listening to classical music, and indeed some of the brief interviews are good, but let’s be honest, nine times out of ten the music chosen is a film score – Harry Potter and the like. It has become so predictable that it is tiresome. So I don’t listen to Mark Forrest any more. And I am afraid that my 30-minute period of Margherita Taylot has been discontinued. I just cannot bear her. Last week I tuned in to Radio 3 instead, and they had a very pleasant woman presenter who gave us some splendid Mozart and Beethoven chamber music. All the movements, too; I had forgotten how very satisfying it is to have more than just one movement played on the radio. I do find that I am playing my own collection of CDs much more now, and the radio stays off. Ironically, many if not most of the CDs were bought because I had first heard the music on Classic FM.
How sad it all is.
Jan.
A bit late in the day but I agree with every criticism made on the schedule changes, down to Taylor’s dreadful voice. The link comments, such as “We raise you up”, are spoken by people who have no idea of intonation when speaking,flat, boring and dropping the tone at the end of the sentence.
I am also a trad jazz fan but on the one occasion that I listened at midnight, it clearly wasn’t my scene.
I,too, have gone back to listening to my own CDs, which has done wonders for my blood pressure.
Yes, Jan, it is all very sad.
Now it seems as if Nicola Bonn has gone from weekend overnights, replaced by Matthew Stiff.
I think it’s a shame the way Classic FM is using ‘names’ from TV (Myleene Klass, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Alex James, Matthew Stiff), all of them apparently voice-tracked. It means we’re losing people who have an affinity for radio, real communicators. In fact, I think it’s a scandal that a national station has so much pre-recorded stuff, esp at weekends.
Bob Dinan
I came across this website whilst Googling Nathalie Wheen in an attempt to find out what else she is up to. I agree wholeheartedly with the gripes and grievances already listed (changes in programming, irritating voices, people who obviously have no knowledge of music or artists or how to pronounce them, jazz when I’m trying to go to sleep and - above all - the loss of Mark Griffiths). As a refugee from Radio 3 when Classic first started, I’ve drifted back - and still find Radio 3 as irritating as ever on occasions - and if Classic ‘improves’ I probably won’t know as I hardly listen to it now. I heard Nathalie’s excellent and very funny one-’man’ show last year when she said how happy everyone was at Classic - I wonder what she would say now?
It’s such a relief to find this thread and know that I am not alone. For reasons too sad to mention I actually _need_ the radio, but the horrific Margherita (la belle dame sans merci, if one ignores the ‘belle’ bit) has forced me to Radio 3, where I have acquired a profound knowledge of what a string quartet sounds like when it’s boiled alive.
Is listening to some vile dirge preferable to hearing Madame Robotica’s unceasing alternation of “..here on Classic FM..” with “..on smooth classics at six..”? Of course it is. If the alternative was death by wolves I could understand why folk might seek out Ms Taylor’s company, but no other circumstance makes any kind of sense.
Where has Nicola Bonn been, does anyone know? As Bob noted, she disappeared off the schedules some weeks back, prompting speculation (as least from me privately) that she had gone for good. And this morning, when my radio crackled on as it normally does early morning for Nick’s show, there was Nicola Bonn. Nick said on air last week that he was sitting in for Jane Jones on the breakfast programme this week, so I had been curious to see who would substitute for him. I half-expected it would be that rather wooden presenter Matthew Stiff (Stiff by name….), but had a lovely surprise when I heard Nicola’s dulcet tones.
So where has she been? At the Olympics, perhaps?
Jan.
Travelling home from a long weekend away there was nothing much to listen to on R4 at the time so I hesitantly switched to CFM. I say hesitantly because it was gone 6.00 pm which meant that Margherita Taylor was broadcasting.
I really don’t like her style as mentioned before, it’s just too gushing and seemingly insincere (IMO). I was quite surprised though, her style appears to have changed and she is speaking more naturally without the over-cooked intonations etc. I would still prefer John Brunning of course but I was quite taken aback; maybe some of the feedback is filtering through?
Interested to hear what others think?
Jan - I too missed Nicola so am glad to hear she is back in some form. I’m always glad when anyone sits in for Jane Jones as I find her too OTT (but not as much as MT). I was very happy when Jamie Crick took over the lunch time slot from JJ.
Nancy