Make your voice heard - Protest changes to CBC Radio Two

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has embarked on a major campaign to hold CBC's management accountable for the disastrous changes to Radio Two programs which came into effect on Tuesday, Sept 2.

We urge you to register your protest of the changes to Radio Two with the CBC Board of Directors.

Additional Resources

April, 2008 - CBC Radio Listeners: Their Attitudes and Behaviour and Why They Listen to the Radio

FRIENDS Globe & Mail Ad Campaign - Ad 1 | Ad 2 | Ad 3

Questions & Answers

How many Canadians listen to Radio Two?

Radio Two's daily audience is 600,000 to 700,000. Just over one million Canadians tune in to Radio Two each week.

Is this a big audience?

Radio Two's share of all English station listening is 3.5%. Radio One's share is nine percent. The balance of listening is to Canada's 600 private radio stations. By comparison, the largest Canadian specialty channel, TSN, has a 2.8% viewing share. Very few CBC Television shows reach 600,000 viewers.

Why do Canadians listen to Radio Two?

Audience surveys show Radio Two listeners tune in for classical music programs.

Is classical music available elsewhere on the dial?

In most parts of Canada the answer is NO.

Isn't this just about programming by dead, European male composers?

NO. Balinese classical music is just as classical as Bach, Beethoven or Mozart.

Why is classical music important on CBC?

World classical culture is the way civilizations transmit values across generations. Most democratic countries rely on public broadcasting for this purpose. Canadian choral work relies on CBC Radio to reach a national audience.

Who at CBC made this decision?

CBC Radio management has had this change in the works for some time. Radical changes in programming must be approved by CBC's Board of Directors, including its President.

What's behind CBC's decision?

Although they now deny it, CBC's management's original motivation was to attract a younger audience to Radio Two. This at a time when Canada's population is aging rapidly

What is CBC's mandate?

The Broadcasting Act states that CBC should inform, enlighten and entertain.

What's next?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appointed the current CBC President, has mused about putting Radio Two on a commercial basis. Could the September 2nd schedule change be the first step?

October 3, 2008 - Globe & Mail: Radio 2's new weekday lineup needs rethinking by Robert Everett-Green
Columnist offers praise and criticism to CBC Radio Two's new programming.

September 6, 2008 - Halifax Chronicle Herald: How far would an unfettered Harper go? by Ralph Surette
Columnist asks whether getting rid of the CBC could the crowning piece of Stephen Harper's cuts to the arts in Canada.

September 6, 2008 - Ottawa Citizen: Nesrallah helms watered-down Tempo by Richard Todd
Columnist says CBC executives - in search for some some imaginary "demographic" - have dumped most of the classical music on Radio Two and watered down what's left.

September 5, 2008 - Re: Redefining Radio Two
Email string between Radio Two listener and Richard Stursberg, CBC's Executive Vice-President of English Services.

September 5, 2008 - Vancouver Sun: The New CBC Radio 2: Listeners rebel, broadcaster hangs tough by Nicholas Read
A CBC spokesman has admitted that the broadcaster has received "thousands" of complaints about its decision to change Radio Two from a mainly classical music format to one emphasizing pop, jazz and blues.

September 5, 2008 - Letter from CBC Chief of Staff to Radio Two listener
CBC form letter in response to a message protesting programming changes to Radio Two.

September 3, 2008 - Ottawa Citizen: CBC blocking emails from angry listeners, watchdog says by Chris Cobb
FRIENDS says emails to CBC representatives from citizens protesting changes to CBC Radio Two started bouncing after a national ad campaign was launched.

September 3, 2008 - Vancouver Sun: The new CBC Radio 2: Dumbed down or daring? by Nicholas Read
Vancouver Sun readers say changes to CBC Radio Two will have a deleterious effect on how much classical music is produced in this country, on the level of exposure young children will now have to classical music, and on the very cultural life of Canada.

September 3, 2008 - Montreal Gazette: Jury's out on 'new' Radio 2 by Arthur Kaptainis
Columnist says new CBC Radio 2 mid-day classical programing is "firmly grounded in the Three Bs: bland, bland and bland."

September 1, 2008 - National Post: Classical music to get close trim Tuesday on CBC Radio 2 by Nicholas Read
Observers say CBC Radio Two could end up jettisoning older listeners still reliant on radio for music for harder-to-grab younger ones for whom music radio is increasingly irrelevant.

September 1, 2008 - Vancouver Sun: CBC takes programming risk by Nicholas Read
Columnist says that by limiting classical music on Radio 2, CBC could alienate a vital group of listeners.

August 31, 2008 - Calgary Herald: CBC changes are out of tune by Richard Wagamese
Columnist says the CBC has a responsibility to maintain the cultural linchpins that define us as Canadians.

August 31, 2008 - Toronto Star: Thanks and good-bye to classic radio by Miriam Mittermaier
Op-ed cites new CBC management with little connection to the classical world and a dismissal of an "older" audience as reasons for Radio Two programming changes.