Thursday, January 25, 2007

R.I.P Northern Lights

Not "The" Northern Lights, but the radio program by the same name that runs on CBC One every evening at 11 pm.

There was always something warm and gracious about listening to beautiful music over the AM radio on the prairies. The static and noise always added to the reality that you were out there in the west some place, sometimes a very uncivilized place at that. But there would come this wonderful music from different times than your own. And it could sooth your spirit.

CBC One was where I first discovered "Classical" music, (Whatever that means). In my bedroom, late at night I cultivated an interest in things Beethoven and Chopin and Mozart-ian.

CBC One went with me to College and was one of the things I had in common with Lauralea. I recall dreaming with her late one night that when we got back to civilization we would get dressed up in our finest and go to a concert of wonderful music. We did.

Then it went with us to Southern Ontario, and it was with me in the back of that semi-trailer I would be loading on the night shift at the insulation factory.

Now CBC One is going mostly talk and news and information. Which is fair I suppose.

But how are the young ones out in Cutknife Saskatchewan ever going to experience good classical music?

I wonder.

5 comments:

  1. I think they're expanding their horizons for CBC Two as well, setting up signals in more locations (such as their recent setup in Prince Albert). If this is the case, classical will be alive and well.

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  2. "A significant issue raised during the CBC's renewal was the limited coverage of the Radio Two service in a number of provinces. While Radio One is currently available to 96% of the English-language population, Radio Two reaches only 74% of the English-language population. Furthermore, Radio Two reaches less than 50% of the total population in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. In New Brunswick and British Columbia Radio Two reaches approximately 67% and 73% respectively of the English-language population. The Commission considers this situation to be unacceptable."



    As do I.
    They are on the move, but these big wheels turn very slowly.

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  3. Hmmm... I guess I was wrong. I thought their expansion had progressed further. Serves me right for not reading the whole article.

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  4. I wonder if Radio Canada serves more or about the same numbers of people in Saskatchewan. They have some good music - very different than the genre heard on English radio.

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  5. Way back when I was a kid, CBC on the AM radio was indeed the only option for prairie folks wanting to listen to classical radio. Now if the young'uns of Cutknife have an Internet connection they can listen to a wide variety of classical music stations if they are so inclined, and satellite radio is another option. CBC is just adapting to a changing world, and that's probably OK.

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