I am not a Classic FM housewife

Having returned from travels in a distant land I was looking forward to listening to BBC Radio 3's Proms broadcasts. But it wasn't to be, because after just two concerts I have given up. For me, even great music-making cannot survive Radio 3 presenters topping and tailing each work with endless quotes from a children's encyclopedia of classical music punctuated by smug info-commercials. 

There has been much self-congratulation by Radio 3 about audience gains; however audience data shows that increase has been achieved by poaching Classic FM's listeners. Despite Radio 3's audience increase, the UK classical radio audience is not increasing. Because listeners are simply moving from Classic FM to Radio 3. In fact the total classical radio audience is decreasing.

Under ex-Classic FM supremo Sam Jackson, BBC Radio 3's strategy of taking listeners from Classic FM was initially targeted at the daytime housewife audience. But that strategy has now been applied to evening concert broadcasts; which alienates the many listeners who, like me, are not Classic FM housewives. Soon Radio 3's entire audience will be former Classic FM listeners, who will run a mile when anything remotely outside their comfort zone is programmed. Which means that as audience metrics rule, nothing remotely outside the comfort zone of Classic FM housewives will be heard on Radio 3. 

Many years ago when I worked for the BBC, presenters were called continuity announcers. Because they discretely provided the continuity between performances, thereby allowing the music to speak for itself. But today celebrity presenters speak on behalf of the music, and have become an inseparable part of the performance, with their intros and back announcements hardly separated from the music. Today the music is not allowed to speak for itself. We have created an audience that listens to the presenters as much as to the music.

I know my reference to Classic FM housewives sounds sexist. But it is no more sexist than BBC Radio 3's strategy of almost exclusively using housewife-friendly female presenters. Even the few remaining knowledgeable male presenters have been reprogrammed to spout non-stop Classic FM-speak. If I was one of those remaining male presenters I would be watching LinkedIn very closely. How long before all the BBC Radio 3 presenters, male and female, are replaced by AI bots trained on the Classic FM language model? But I'm not worried, because I have a large and still challenging CD collection as an alternative.