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June 4, 2021 10:54 pm  #1


CBC Music

CBC Music, the network they used to call Radio II. Prior to that it was just CBC Stereo. It was a great service back in the days when it was only available in major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. It was mostly classical music and jazz.

But when they started expanding the network out into small towns like London, Windsor and Cabbageville,the CBC elitists in Toronto felt they needed to dumb it down for us hayseeds out here. So they flipped to its current, All Garage Band format.

Does anyone even listen anymore?


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

June 5, 2021 7:43 am  #2


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

But when they started expanding the network out into small towns like London, Windsor and Cabbageville,the CBC elitists in Toronto felt they needed to dumb it down for us hayseeds out here. So they flipped to its current, All Garage Band format.

Interesting that your viewpoint is "dumbing it down".    A big motivating factor for the format change was seen as how old, stuffy and stodgy the format and its music was perceived - not current and hip enough - with its huge blocks of classical afternoon programming (and jazz, yes). It got snickers for being "your grandparents' station" or even "your parents' station". I don't see that as "dumbing it down" or playing to a more rural audience or anything, moreso trying to appeal to a wider audience and reinvent a tired, decades-old format.

 

June 5, 2021 7:48 am  #3


Re: CBC Music

I started to listen in the 1980's when they introduced "Brave New Waves" over night and had Night Lines on weekends.  Listened into the 1990's as they had the great David Wisdom who was the last bastion of free form radio on the air waves here. Still have a few postcards I got from them and even a few air checks.

In the early 2000's they introduced a triple A format during morning and afternoon drive  which in the beginning really was sort of triple A but which has shifted more recently to a more pop orientated phase.

Last edited by Fitz (June 5, 2021 7:52 am)


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June 5, 2021 9:14 am  #4


Re: CBC Music

I listen to CBC Music, but not when they are playing classical music, and I hear all kinds of tracks that I don't hear anywhere else.

 

June 5, 2021 10:25 am  #5


Re: CBC Music

CBC Music is getting it's best ratings ever.  In Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share.  Halifax 5.3, Ottawa 5.6, Saskatoon 6.8, Regina 4.3, Calgary 3.8, Toronto 2.5, Montreal 3.7.  So they are doing not too bad and the overall trend is up.  They don't get a lot of promotion, and are available on satellite with Sirius XM.   I would expect to see promos for CBC Music during the JUNO Awards on Sunday.  I remember when This Hour Has 22 Minutes used to make fun of the old CBC Radio Two, showing bored listeners with toothpicks in their eyelids trying to keep their eyes open and remain awake while listening to the classical music and monotone announcers on CBC Stereo.  It was pretty funny. 

 

June 5, 2021 11:21 am  #6


Re: CBC Music

I guess I was one of those boring listeners ;-)

 

June 5, 2021 4:24 pm  #7


Re: CBC Music

Ditching Brave New Waves was among the dumbest moves the CBC ever made. Fortunately, some episodes live on at archive.org.

 

June 6, 2021 10:14 pm  #8


Re: CBC Music

I have no issue with CBC "Music" being block formatted.   I think it's doing what a public broadcaster should in this regard.   I hardly think Jazz and Classical serve majority of Canadians.   Block formatting allows them to expand to serve many different styles and audiences.   I do feel they could expand their abilities to add HD signals to their FM transmitters.    This would allow things like an all classical format, all jazz format etc.   

This all being said, I strongly believe CBC should be 100% Canadian and allow private broadcasters more freedom on content.   It would allow me to accept the money we throw at CBC, as it would be supporting/promoting Canadian music. 

Last edited by radiokid (June 6, 2021 10:16 pm)

 

June 6, 2021 10:48 pm  #9


Re: CBC Music

Paterson1 writes "=12pxIn Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share. "  Triple AAA?  What I wouldn't give for a AAA station in Toronto.

 

June 6, 2021 11:42 pm  #10


Re: CBC Music

I must admit I have never heard of it. Is this on the dial or an internet channel?

 

June 7, 2021 6:37 am  #11


Re: CBC Music

cash wrote:

I must admit I have never heard of it. Is this on the dial or an internet channel?

It's what used to be known as CBL-FM in Toronto at 94.1. You can stream it if you want, but it's a regular radio station. Other markets have it on the old CBC FM position on the dial. 

 

June 7, 2021 7:25 am  #12


Re: CBC Music

They did have an internet only option called Radio 3 for a while. Don't think it's there anymore and I think it featured Canadian indie artists.

Back to the aforementioned David Wisdom. He used to play a lot of Canadian indie artists  In fact on the bit below he has just played Cub, Gob and Bent on Being Bent by Bum. Have a go at the pop rock radio quiz from all recording eras up to that point.

Edit: I just found Radio 3. Still there and a bit hidden on the web site but no live hosts anymore and I guess it's ok to have a Radio 3 without a Radio 2.

David Wisdom 1996

Last edited by Fitz (June 7, 2021 7:38 am)


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June 7, 2021 9:02 am  #13


Re: CBC Music

Internet streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
     Thread Starter
 

June 7, 2021 9:43 am  #14


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

Internet streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

Not to be obtusely argumentative but, how?

I always thought of it as just another carrier.  Almost all my radio listening in the house is through streaming because I still don't have an actual radio after my Grundig died a few years ago and it actually sounds better.  Not only that, I can tune in stations from all over the world.

 

 

June 7, 2021 10:13 am  #15


Re: CBC Music

Peter the K wrote:

turkeytop wrote:

Internet streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

Not to be obtusely argumentative but, how?

I always thought of it as just another carrier.  Almost all my radio listening in the house is through streaming because I still don't have an actual radio after my Grundig died a few years ago and it actually sounds better.  Not only that, I can tune in stations from all over the world.

 

Agreed. The internet opened up avenues for radio unimaginable before. Of course I'm a fan of actual radios but there is little local content that makes me listen and at this late date I don't listen on the internet much ether but there are lots of options.

Not a fan of low bit rate internet streams which are sometimes replicated on HD radio but there are some high quality music streams on the internet that actually equal or better FM.

Anyone looking for a radio experience from the in internet may want to invest in an internet radio but my computers hooked up to the stereo serve the purpose.
 


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June 7, 2021 10:17 am  #16


Re: CBC Music

Peter the K wrote:

turkeytop wrote:

Internet streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

Not to be obtusely argumentative but, how?

I always thought of it as just another carrier.  Almost all my radio listening in the house is through streaming because I still don't have an actual radio after my Grundig died a few years ago and it actually sounds better.  Not only that, I can tune in stations from all over the world.

 

I love the clean clear quality of streaming.  I agree with Peter the K, it is great to listen to stations from all over the world.  Not exactly the same as listening off air, but for some that isn't a big deal.  A friend told me about a tiny station in Sausalito California called Radio Sausalito.  Cool little station with "Footstoppin Jazz"..who knew??  .

 

June 7, 2021 11:07 am  #17


Re: CBC Music

Fitz wrote:

Agreed. The internet opened up avenues for radio unimaginable before. Of course I'm a fan of actual radios but there is little local content that makes me listen and at this late date I don't listen on the internet much ether but there are lots of options.

Not a fan of low bit rate internet streams which are sometimes replicated on HD radio but there are some high quality music streams on the internet that actually equal or better FM.

Anyone looking for a radio experience from the in internet may want to invest in an internet radio but my computers hooked up to the stereo serve the purpose.
 

And I suppose that car racing arcade game is actually a real car.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
     Thread Starter
 

June 7, 2021 11:13 am  #18


Re: CBC Music

I occasionally listen to CBC Music when im in the mood for that indie-hipster format and want to hear new stuff from the genre.   Their show "Drive" with Rich Terfry is one of the best. 

 

June 7, 2021 11:31 am  #19


Re: CBC Music

On the JUNO award broadcast last night, the CBC Music logo was on the screen the whole time where the regular logo would have been.  They also gave CBC Music a fair bit of promo during the evening, so any exposure will raise the profile of the network a bit.   

 

June 7, 2021 12:04 pm  #20


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

Internet streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

i agree with Peter the K , Fitz & paterson1 .. 

Last edited by g121 (June 7, 2021 12:04 pm)

 

June 7, 2021 12:06 pm  #21


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

CBC Music, the network they used to call Radio II. Prior to that it was just CBC Stereo. It was a great service back in the days when it was only available in major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. It was mostly classical music and jazz.

But when they started expanding the network out into small towns like London, Windsor and Cabbageville,the CBC elitists in Toronto felt they needed to dumb it down for us hayseeds out here. So they flipped to its current, All Garage Band format.

Does anyone even listen anymore?

I'd hardly call London a small town.

CBC Stereo has broadcast in London since 1978, however it was 2008 before they started transforming the network into what it is today. It was classical music almost 24 hours a day when I was younger; they also simulcast The World at Six and the morning World Report with CBC Radio One back then.

 

June 7, 2021 2:05 pm  #22


Re: CBC Music

“CBC Music is getting it's best ratings ever.  In Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share.  Halifax 5.3, Ottawa 5.6, Saskatoon 6.8, Regina 4.3, Calgary 3.8, Toronto 2.5, Montreal 3.7.  So they are doing not too bad and the overall trend is up. “

Those are 12+ numbers. It’s mostly a bottom feeder in major markets. It had potential, but has been mismanaged for years. The first mistake was only going half Triple-A. One of the biggest programming tenets for music radio is “be consistent.” You should tune in any time of day and hear similar styles of music. They also kept on the programmer whose only background was classical music. No idea how to program a popular music station. One of his big moves was to hire a morning guy who had never had a radio show before, then an afternoon host who also hadn’t had a show before, but at least had some industry credo - if not host skills. The other thing that works against it, is that it’s not live. Because they stagger the specific shows across the country, everything is recorded. No live interaction with a national audience. Probably partially because the way the day parts are so radically different.
The original programmer is gone, and after a huge search, they hired the guy who created the Polaris prize, a guy who has never worked in radio.

 

June 7, 2021 2:53 pm  #23


Re: CBC Music

MJ Vancouver wrote:

I'd hardly call London a small town.

CBC Stereo has broadcast in London since 1978, however it was 2008 before they started transforming the network into what it is today. It was classical music almost 24 hours a day when I was younger; they also simulcast The World at Six and the morning World Report with CBC Radio One back then.

I lived most of my life in a part of Ontario where CBC Radio II was unavailable. When I first moved to London a few years ago, I was thrilled that, at last, I could listen to it.

Right around that time they were starting to roll out the network in rural areas like Owen Sound and Podunk. That's when they made the decision that they had to dumb it down for all of us rubes out here.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
     Thread Starter
 

June 7, 2021 7:14 pm  #24


Re: CBC Music

John D wrote:

Paterson1 writes "=12pxIn Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share. "  Triple AAA?  What I wouldn't give for a AAA station in Toronto.

CBC Music really is the CURRENT definition of a AAA.

I know the format was created in the 90s and included a fair bit of what we'd now consider Classic Rock, but we have to consider that was ~25 years ago!

CBC Music, The Current Minneapolis, KEXP -- AAA.

 

June 7, 2021 9:29 pm  #25


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

MJ Vancouver wrote:

I'd hardly call London a small town.

CBC Stereo has broadcast in London since 1978, however it was 2008 before they started transforming the network into what it is today. It was classical music almost 24 hours a day when I was younger; they also simulcast The World at Six and the morning World Report with CBC Radio One back then.

I lived most of my life in a part of Ontario where CBC Radio II was unavailable. When I first moved to London a few years ago, I was thrilled that, at last, I could listen to it.

Right around that time they were starting to roll out the network in rural areas like Owen Sound and Podunk. That's when they made the decision that they had to dumb it down for all of us rubes out here.

You would have to search Hi and Lois to think that CBC FM's path down alternative rock was "rubes" driven. The young main streamers in smaller markets might have been Honeymoon Suite or Sweeney Todd fans but there was no sign of such on the station. The older hillbilly types might have enjoyed some Eddie Rabbit but still no. Brave New Waves played avant garde electronic music during their final two hours every night.
 

Last edited by Fitz (June 7, 2021 9:30 pm)


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June 7, 2021 10:23 pm  #26


Re: CBC Music

RadioAaron wrote:

John D wrote:

Paterson1 writes "=Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share. "  Triple AAA?  What I wouldn't give for a AAA station in Toronto.

CBC Music really is the CURRENT definition of a AAA.

CBC Music, The Current Minneapolis, KEXP -- AAA.

89.3 The Current from Minnesota Public Radio is the benchmark for Triple-A stations. CBC Music is a pale comparison. WXRT out of Chicago is a good example of a commercial AAA.

This is a decent recent (mad rhyme!) look at the format:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9527549/adult-alternative-radio-anniversary-interview-programming-directors/

 

June 7, 2021 10:29 pm  #27


Re: CBC Music

turkeytop wrote:

Fitz wrote:

Agreed. The internet opened up avenues for radio unimaginable before. Of course I'm a fan of actual radios but there is little local content that makes me listen and at this late date I don't listen on the internet much ether but there are lots of options.

Not a fan of low bit rate internet streams which are sometimes replicated on HD radio but there are some high quality music streams on the internet that actually equal or better FM.

Anyone looking for a radio experience from the in internet may want to invest in an internet radio but my computers hooked up to the stereo serve the purpose.
 

And I suppose that car racing arcade game is actually a real car.

The argument you guys are making is that the delivery method is more important to you than the content.
That’s an odd point of view in my humble opinion. To me the announcers and the music are the reasons to listen... Not the receiver.

 

June 8, 2021 2:50 am  #28


Re: CBC Music

Yes to you Tomas Barlow - who wrote......=12pxThe argument you guys are making is that the delivery method is more important to you than the content. =12pxThat’s an odd point of view in my humble opinion. To me the announcers and the music are the reasons to listen... Not the receiver.

________________________________________________________

Marsden writes - As I wrote a few weeks back, it's time to stop thinking about what a radio is. Time to start asking is it a Noun. Adverb, adjective etc

It no longer has to sit in the dashboard or one's car. Nor is it any longer a box sitting on one's night table. 

Only the old guard thinks of it that way. And that is how the old guard are going to lose all those millions they have invested. 



 

Last edited by Marsden (June 8, 2021 2:52 am)

 

June 8, 2021 4:32 am  #29


Re: CBC Music

Holliday wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

John D wrote:

Paterson1 writes "=Vancouver their hybrid AAA format has a 5.2 share. "  Triple AAA?  What I wouldn't give for a AAA station in Toronto.

CBC Music really is the CURRENT definition of a AAA.

CBC Music, The Current Minneapolis, KEXP -- AAA.

89.3 The Current from Minnesota Public Radio is the benchmark for Triple-A stations. CBC Music is a pale comparison. WXRT out of Chicago is a good example of a commercial AAA.

This is a decent recent (mad rhyme!) look at the format:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9527549/adult-alternative-radio-anniversary-interview-programming-directors/

Good article and it sums up what I have been saying about triple A for along time.  The format carries on the tradition of good AOR/free form. I listened  to the format on various American stations on the internet up to about 7 years ago. Now I have become more preoccupied with going through old radio tapes but a local triple A would be my go to station in the car.

Shame the format never took off in Canada. Vancouver  has had maybe 3 stations that tried. The triple A in Windsor was perhaps the longest lasting but that changed formats last year. The closest Toronto got post free form  was before the format actually existed on some iterations of CFNY up to about 1990.
 


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June 8, 2021 5:27 am  #30


Re: CBC Music

BBC Radio 2 is music based and personality driven. Consistently one of  the most popular stations in the UK.. I believe that it evolved from the 'Light Service' when the UK allowed commercial broadcasters. Interesting hosts and an eclectic mix of popular music.