Remake Radio 2 – or watch it die
* Comments (Comment43) on globe site
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Globe and Mail
August 1, 2008 at 11:37 PM EDT
Earlier this week, I attended a lecture by composer R. Murray Schafer, who
once wrote an essay called Radical Radio. The essay proposed an
environmental
form of the medium that would include such things as a 24-hour ocean
program,
to present the sounds of the sea during that span of time. Schafer didn't
talk
much about radio during his lecture, but afterward someone asked for his
opinion of the ongoing program changes at CBC Radio 2. I thought he might
find
some striking new angle on what has become a rather rigid debate.
“Probably they're committing suicide,” he said, adding that, once Radio 2
had
transformed itself into a commercial-style network, the real commercial
stations would successfully lobby for its elimination. It was obvious from
the
reaction among the mainly elderly audience that he had expressed their
worst
fears.
I've listened to the new programs, and talked at length with CBC Radio
music
head Mark Steinmetz, and I think I can say that the odds of Radio 2
becoming a
commercial-style network are only slightly greater than the likelihood
that R.
Murray Schafer will grow fins. The Radio 2 we will have by Sept. 2, when
the
last of the new programs come on stream, will be less commercial, in every
sense of the word, than CBC Radio has been for much of its history.
Commercial radio is divided into narrow formats, seldom discusses what it
plays, does not make its own live recordings, and plays things in
rotation,
i.e. repeats itself a lot. None of that describes the shape of things to
come
for Radio 2. Contrary to what soprano Measha Brueggergosman said recently,
the
network is not making itself a home for musicians who have “massive PR
budgets.” We will not be hearing the next singles by Nickelback, Nelly
Furtado
or the latest Canadian Idol on the new Radio 2.
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Enlarge Image
CBC's The Happy Gang. Left to Right: Eddie Allen, Kay Stokes, Bert Pearl
(seated), Blain Mathe.
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Next in the series
Saturday, August 9: Mature orchestra seeks caring partner
The CBC recently announced that it can no longer finance the last of its
radio
orchestras, which has been playing and broadcasting music from Vancouver
for
70 years. But is this really the end for the CBC Radio Orchestra, or can
it be
kept alive by other means?
-------------------
The zenith of CBC Radio's commercialization is already well in the past.
During its first few decades, the CBC was the dominant broadcaster of
popular
radio entertainment in Canada. Its schedule included top-rated U.S.
programs
hosted by the likes of Bing Crosby and Jack Benny, daytime soap operas
such as
The Guiding Light, and the wonderfully named Carnation Contented Hour. It
also
produced shows like The Happy Gang, a daily lunch-hour program that
featured
popular songs and cornball skits. The Happy Gang ran for 22 years and had
a
peak daily audience of over two million, double the entire weekly audience
for
Radio 2 today. The Massey Commission, which reviewed broadcasting in 1951,
re****ted that more than 50 per cent of prime-time evening programming on
CBC
Radio was commercial.
CBC Radio went commercial back then because it had to build a network, and
an
audience that could sustain it. In the past few years, it became obvious
that
a similar challenge now faces Radio 2. The network is there, and the
audience
numbers are stable, but half of that audience is over 65 (20 years ago,
only a
quarter were seniors). Most of those older listeners have probably been
loyal
to the CBC for decades, but it's obvious that they won't be listening for
decades to come. Radio 2 faces the decimation of its public within 10
years.
This time, however, it isn't reaching for a commercial solution. There's a
whole galaxy of significant non-classical Canadian musicians who get no
airplay on private radio in Canada. Commercial stations aren't investing
any
time in the music of distinctive performers such as the New ****ographers,
Chad VanGaalen, the Telepathic Butterflies, Final Fantasy, Wolf Parade or
Kyrie Kristmanson. All of these people would suit the new prime-time
evening
program, Canada Live; on the late-evening show, The Signal; and probably
on
the forthcoming drive-home show hosted by rapper Buck 65.
The Signal and Canada Live are as about anti-commercial as you can get, in
that they range widely across genres. The Signal's radical assumption is
that
there are listeners (of whom I am one) who are equally interested in
composers
such as Claude Vivier and Steve Reich, and performers such as
avant-fiddler
Oliver Schroer and Jewish rapper Socalled.
There will be less classical music on the network as of September, and
none at
all between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. That's one of the features of the new
schedule
that has enraged some loyal listeners, and I'm not convinced that a
complete
shutout from evening prime-time is a good idea. But two of four
forthcoming
hosted CBC Web channels will feature all-classical or all-Canadian
contem****ary music. New Canadian music in the classical tradition is
actually
increasing on the broadcast network.
“There are more hours of real contem****ary Canadian art music on the
network
now than there were on Two New Hours,” says Mark Steinmetz, referring to
the
Sunday-evening new-music program cancelled last year. Earlier this month,
the
CBC also announced an increase of $50,000 in its annual commissioning
budget,
to add to the 1,000-odd Canadian works the cor****ation has already helped
bring into being.
I don’t see how these changes are “not consistent with the CBC mandate,”
or
how they would “undermine Canada’s ability to create and recreate its
national
culture,” as stated by two petitions on the website, Stand on Guard for
CBC.
But I’ve never really understood how a performance of a symphony by
Beethoven
or Rautavaara, even in an excellent reading by a Canadian orchestra,
represents our national culture. How did we get the idea that the CBC’s
mandate necessarily implies a major commitment to the European classics?
No
legislation governing the CBC mentions any particular kind of music, only
that
(as the latest version of the Broadcasting Act has it) the network should
be
“predominantly and distinctively Canadian,” that it should reflect the
diversity of the country, and that it “contribute to shared national
consciousness and identity.”
When the CBC first started building a classical infrastructure (including
half
a dozen radio orchestras and two opera companies), and commissioning
pieces
from Canadian composers, it was assumed that those composers would be
among
the prime builders of our national culture. The Massey Re****t discussion
of
music on Canadian radio focuses on “serious” music and folklore,
mentioning
the popular stuff mainly in order to issue a warning about entertainments
that
“debase public taste.” There’s no sign that anyone re****ting to the
commission
foresaw that popular musicians might contribute something significant to
our
culture.
I think Radio 2 has been drifting from its purpose for years. A lot of
Canadian creativity in popular music has passed without notice, except on
Brave New Waves, which started at midnight and was cancelled last year. To
me,
the classical programs have felt tired, and the soft-classical choices on
the
daytime shows (such as Music & Company and Disc Drive), often make me
think of
George Steiner’s quip about the “Muzak of the sublime.” I don’t know what
will
be heard on mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah’s forthcoming daytime classical
show, but if it’s more of the same, I won’t be listening, just as I won’t
tune
into Buck 65’s show to hear Blue Rodeo.
I’m not at all sold on some of the known parts of the Radio 2 agenda. The
new
jazz program, Tonic, has no more edge than the old one. We need less
middle-of-the-road jazz on Radio 2, and more of what Quebeckers call
musique
actuelle. Guelph Jazz Festival director Ajay Heble told me this week that
six
shows from his cutting-edge event will be broadcast this year on Radio 2,
up
from four last year (when the new order began) and none for two years
before
that. But those shows are going to The Signal. I think the CBC would do
well
to at least cut Tonic in half, and give one of its two hours to a more
demanding kind of evening program, whether that means classical or
improvised
music or both.
I don’t see the point of In the Key of Charles, which is neither
distinctive
in its choices nor particularly informative. And though I like Pat
Carrabré as
a person, and sometimes as a composer, when I hear him hosting the weekend
edition of The Signal I feel like he’s addressing a group of preschoolers.
What I’ve missed most of all from Radio 2 in recent years is passion and
contention. People get worked up about the music they like and don’t like.
Too
much music on Radio 2 is presented in a spirit of bland approval. I’d like
to
hear somebody occasionally make a case for apparently unlovable stuff, or
attack something that most people think is swell. Having or hearing that
kind
of discussion (when it’s genuine) is part of being a thoughtful
participant in
music culture.
Another way of putting it is that Radio 2 should exhibit some kind of
intellectual distinction - which doesn’t mean the hosts have to be
musicologists or semioticians. As a listener named Randy Meingast told me
in
an e-mail: “With CBC Radio, I expect to be educated as well as
entertained.”
Radio 2 has some work to do if it wants to convince people that it’s going
to
satisfy that expectation, and in some ways it has made its job more
difficult.
It was a dumb idea to run a full-page ad in this paper that included
endorsements from the heads of major record labels, and that failed to
include
any classical musicians among the photos of “homegrown talent.” But so
far, a
threatened exodus of listeners has not happened. Independent figures
released
earlier this month show that Radio 2’s audience has expanded slightly.
It would probably also be good to find more ways to let people know what
to
expect from any given segment of Canada Live or The Signal. I like
surprises,
but I think it’s prudent to make sure you’re communicating with your
audience.
I would also like the CBC to find a way (maybe through another Web
channel) to
take up R. Murray Schafer’s concept of environmental radio. As in many
musical
matters, on this subject he was clearly ahead of his time.
* Comments (Comment43)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.
wclassical02/BNStory/Entertainment/home.
Also 3 comments (including the pro-change director of TafelMusic)
on the story at :
http://www.earsay.
com/standonguardforcbc/2008/08/02/remake-radio-2-or-watch-it-die-globe-and-mai
l/
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