I deplore the recent changes to Radio 2 that have further destroyed CBC's exposure of classical music and promotion of great performances. Our nation and its children are the losers. RESTORE A CLASSICAL AND GREAT NEW MUSIC SERVICE TO US!
Two New Hours is the only show that introduces the national audience to contemporary music- more importantly contemporary music from Canada. if the CBC removes this show, its mandate is incomplete. I hope the CBC will change its mind and ensure an adequate representation in this niche.
CBC needs to retain it's position as an unique supporter of music and the arts, not just a mirror of commercial radio, that's why we (the people) love it and pay for it!!!
I've missed Danielle Charbonneau's evening program. There is also a clear lack of general arts reports/updates throughout the day. I'd like to know more of what is happening in my community related to the arts.
I think it is deplorable that such wonderful programs have been cancelled. The programs brought musicians together with audiences all across Canada. These programs were unique, valuable, and very successful in introducing new contemporary classical Canadian music to the public. Now there is a void which can not be filled with the new programming.
I can't believe how the CBC brass are gutting classical music content. I have no objection to jazz and pop music - but start a new channel for them, Radio 3. Don't throw the nation's primary cultural conduit out with the bathwater!
The new program format has completely lost the focus provided by the old programming (with the exception of the new early evening jazz program). Classical, contemporary, experimental,
CBC at its best has dared to lead and be an important creative and intellectual force in Canada. It is sad to see it lose its way and become a follower rather than the trend setter.
Growing up in culturally starved Windsor, I listened to Two New Hours on a weekly basis. It was an invaluable resource and greatly influenced my development as a young musician. It gave me a way to hear what was going on in new concert music across the country. It was like having one on one access to Canada's greatest composers right in my living room--hearing their music and wonderful interviews. When the show stopped, composers lost a valuable venue for sharing their music, ideas, and wisdom. I live out of the country now and have no real way of hearing performances of Canadian music on a regular basis.
For the past few years I would sit in my den, put on CBC2 and let the evening glide into night. There was a consistency and quality not found elsewhere. Now, I have no idea what will spill out of the speakers and the end of the day. I, therefore, stream NPR from Rochester in order to maintain some continuity. What a frightful change that I can no longer count on the CBC to provide superior programming that was once relied on. What is the audience that you are trying to reach? What about the audience you had?
CBC Radio two is NOT, nor should it be considered, merely a money making venture. it does cost money - but our taxes dollars are very well spent on this highly important programming.
CBC radio seems unwilling to listen to the many comments about their unilateral decision, as if it is a private, not a public, enterprise. The PUBLIC OWNS CBC
Some changes are for the better but NOT the new version of CBC2. Please bring back Danielle Charboneau and the other programs that give CBC2 its distinctive and unique flavour.
The new format is dreadful! I am listening to the old programs (Music and Company) and switching to other stations where there are changes to the old programming
The new version of CBC2 is pathetically like some old folks trying too hard to be young and hip. Do what you do best, and please let Katie Malleck do what she does best -- jazz and not hip-hop
The CBC is eroding fast to be another sell out to the U.S. and to pop culture in general. Canada does not need yet another radio station to boradcast the same stuff on commercial radio. What happened to the CBC mandate? And why has our government not stepped in to enforce that mandate? Canadian artists, especially its composers, like myself, are now further back on the back burner with little hope or prospect for our music to be heard accross the nation.
I do not recognize the radio station that I grew up with. When Bob Kerr died, you could have found an almost equally erudite host and continued the show, but no. JG
Recent efforts to make Radio 2 (and Radio 1, for that matter) more trendy have been a national embarassment. People with a genuine interest in culture, especially Canadian culture, should be given power to restore programming that worked and to innovate with a view to making a better product. Those responsible for the current vandalism should be demoted to positions that will not leave the listening public hostage to their destructive impulses.
These changes do nothing to support our country, and serve only to deliver the lowest common denominator to people whose interests are better served elsewhere. When those people grow up, where will they turn now for intelligent programming?
