CBC and Radio Canada Changes: All-Classic Stations Still More Popular, But Elin's on Espace Musique

The latest BBM market ratings are out, and efforts by the CBC and Radio Canada to change programming haven’t resulted in a huge surge in listeners. You’ll remember that both networks have cut the classical music content of their offerings on Radio Two and Espace Musique over the last little while, and added more “diverse” music in an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic.

In Montreal, the new statistics—measuring the period between April 14 and June 8, 2008—show the dedicated, non-public classical music station CJPX holding about steady with 4.3 per cent market share among Francophones. Its share was 4.4 during the last reporting period, and 3.5 the period before that. CBFX, Espace Musique, on the other had, held steady at 3.2.

In Toronto, where all classic CFMZ competes with Radio Two’s CBL-FM, the former still draws a larger audience (with 4 percent), although Radio Two did go up from 1.9 to 3.0 over the last two periods. Just who is listening to the stations isn’t clear from those BBM statistics that are available for free.

We’ll be listening to Espace Musique tonight (July 23, 2008) for sure, though. A concert Elin played in last Friday at the Centre d’arts Orford summer festival will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Called The Chronicles of Anna Magdalena Bach it features the music Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for his second wife. Soprano Kimy McLaren is accompanied by Martin Robidoux on the harpsichord and Elin on viola da gamba. If you’re interested, you’ll be able to find the concert on the net at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time too.