R2OK!

Dharma Cat · Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 13

I really enjoy Classic FM. I like the Breakfast Show with Mark Forrest and I will miss Simon Bates loads (only get to listen to him when I am not working) Love Smooth Classics & Jane Jones' evening show. I listen to more Classic FM than R2 these days which is Crying or Very sad

as it used to be the other way round. I try not to miss Simon Mayo's show though - he is the best Very Happy

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Dharma Cat
"This is what you should do;
love the Earth and sun and the animals...
~ Walt Whitman

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

I like listening to Classic FM but i have to say I don't think Smooth Classics has been anywhere near as good since John Brunning stopped presenting it
The current presenter comes over to me as a bit too highbrow
I also used to like the lunchtime request show
Do they still have that?
I think Radio 2 should have a request show for an hour after Jeremy Vine and cut the afternoon show down to 2 hours

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

Dharma Cat, welcome to the forum!

I listen to a fair bit of Classic FM too, but only certain presenters.

Mark Forrest in the mornings is fine with me but I just cannot be doing with Simon Bates and I won't miss him when he leaves.

Bates was truly awful when he started as he clearly knew nothing about the music and couldn't give the proper title half the time, and used to come in before the end of a long end chord etc.

Listeners complained and he did improve, in fact used to scold himself when he made errors like spoiling the end of music, and I believe he made efforts to try and ensure quiet music wasn't immediately followed by a bellowing advertisement e.g. On-Line Insurance or whatever. Don't know how successful that effort was as I stopped listening to him long ago and have preferred Radio 3 mornings.

Adverts apart some of the presenters do make the shows listenable, like John Brunning and Nick Bailey but some of the ladies I just don't like e.g. Jane Jones, though she is OK on the Full Works programme as she doesn't say much Smile

ruddlescat, while John Brunning is away Nick Bailey is presenting Smooth Classics. I think Nick is OK. I got well used to him a couple of years ago when he regularly presented the late evening show (when it was called Evening Concert) and I was a regular listener because at that time Radio 3's evening schedule was mostly non-classical stuff that I didn't enjoy.

Classic FM's playlist is limited during the day, well it is to someone who has listened to classical music for decades and has more such LPs than my rock collection. The late evening programme does make an effort to play more works.
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John W

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

Sorry John when I was talking about the presenter being too highbrow I was thinking of a woman who presented the show
I think she might have been called Anne Marie Mindhall(or MINGHALL as I used to call her!)
And I think there was another female presenter who took over from her but I could be wrong
I don't mind Nick Bailey and also I quite like Jane Jones
I used to love the Midnight Classics show a few years ago
I used to sleep better in those days!!

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

By the way sorry I should have said welcome to Dhama
It's nice to have a fellow feline on here but I've yet to discover whether you are male of female
Nice to meet you and perhaps we can chat over a couple of saucers of milk sometime!!!

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

Anne-Marie Minhall.

ClassicFM poached her from Radio 3 many years ago. I don't mind her. She is knowledgable and doesn't read a script, wel,l they all read from CD booklets sometimes for in-depth stuff like she delivers.

She presents a couple of the weekend shows, and currently is doing the twilight slot while Nick Bailey sits in for John Brunning.

Ha Ha they have the same problems with sit-ins as Radio 2!
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John W

The Singing Kettle · Joined: 31 Mar 2010 Posts: 46 Location: Northfleet, Kent

I said on here last week that Classic FM is heading in the same direction as Radio 2. The presenters are getting younger and the celebrity culture has invaded the station. Whatever happened to Henry Kelly and Paul Gambaccini? Last time I heard them they had been relegated to Sunday nights (now that sounds familiar: Radio 2).

Many years ago, a gentleman called Hugh MacPherson hosted an opera show on Classic FM. Whatever happened to him?

Dharma Cat · Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 13

Thanks for the welcome Ruddlescat
I really like it here on R2OK, everyone is so polite Very Happy

I am a female cat by the way Laughing

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Dharma Cat
"This is what you should do;
love the Earth and sun and the animals...
~ Walt Whitman

aviddiva · Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:09 pm Post subject: Classic FM

I used to listen to the Album Chart on a Saturday morning - it was at the time that Steve Hackett charted with the Midsummer Night's Dream album!
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We are loonies and we are proud!

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John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

I'm astonished the ClassicFM magazine sells only about 30,000 copies per month, and it's a pity that magazine is to stop publication next month

http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/magazines/classical_music/news/classical_music_news_story.asp?id=1276

Classic FM has claimed it has 6 million listeners, yet only 30,000 buy the magazine - I really do wonder about how relevant/accurate is Rajar in the way it gets its data.....
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John W

Ian Robinson · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:00 pm Post subject:

Hmm. Seems to be more about licensing issues than sales although the publishing industry is in "challenging" times.

Regarding ratings to readings ratio: I know that Doctor Who gets 10m viewers in the UK and is one of the most-watched shows in the world. Yet it's tie-in magazine sells just 30,000 copies but is still the biggest-selling monthly Sci-Fi mag in the world!