Concert’s appeal not confined to older folk

‘‘WHAT if we were to say ‘Let’s axe the All Blacks now’?’’

That was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s outraged reaction to Radio New Zealand’s proposal that the RNZ Concert programme be removed from its FM frequency and transformed into an automated nonstop music station with no presenters, streamed online and broadcast on AM radio and freeview television, to make space for a service aimed at a ‘‘younger, more diverse audience’’, as part of a new multimedia ‘‘music brand’’. She wasn’t the only person expressing concern at the proposal. Helen Clark described it as the ‘‘dumbing down of cultural life in New Zealand’’, and by 2pm on Thursday 26,897 had signed a petition opposing the move.

There may be a place for a RNZ service specifically aimed at a younger audience (though it’s the older demographic which will be expanding, proportionately, as babyboomers age). But why destroy a successful service to establish one, especially when many commercial and student stations already serve that audience?

RNZ management, arrogantly disregarding a Government request for delay, said the audience for RNZ Concert was small, elderly, and would be able to listen to the classical music replacement service online, on freeview television, or on AM radio (but not when Parliament is on air), and that the youth service would better meet RNZ’s charter requirements of reflecting NZ’s diversity and supporting its cultural diversity, music, and artists.

What about those claims? Last November’s GfK audience survey showed that RNZ Concert attracts 173,300 weekly listeners, 4% of all New Zealanders (not just of radio listeners) aged over 10: a significant audience, catered for by no other New Zealand radio station.

Interest in classical music and jazz (RNZ Concert’s present strengths) isn’t confined to the elderly. In New Zealand a diverse range of thousands of youngsters learn musical instruments, and play in school orchestras and jazz bands, and in youth and civic orchestras. University music departments attract many young people. Those involved in these activities need and enjoy the exposure to the wide range of classical music (including local compositions and performances) and information that RNZ Concert provides.

AM transmission is poorer quality than FM, more prone to interference, mono rather than stereo. It’s used mostly for spoken programmes, such as news, sport, and talk shows, while music is generally broadcast on FM or digitally. There are many situations in which online or freeview TV broadcast wouldn’t be available (Civis often listens to RNZ Concert in the car), and the older audience rejected by RNZ planners is much less likely than ‘‘youth’’ listeners to be able to use cellphones to listen (that includes Civis). And classical music, more than most genres, needs highquality reproduction. The GfK survey asked respondents (selected to reflect New Zealand’s population) whether RNZ National, Concert, and website together meet its charter requirements. Only 3% felt it didn’t provide programmes and content of interest to a wide crosssection of New Zealanders, 1% that it didn’t reflect this country’s cultural diversity, 2% that it didn’t support New Zealand music, and 2% that it didn’t reflect

New Zealand arts and artists.

RNZ Concert is a highquality, vital part of New Zealand radio, essential in fulfilling RNZ’s charter requirements of ‘‘recognising the interests of all age groups’’, and ‘‘reflect[ing] the diversity of cultural expression’’. It’s a taonga.

Its presenters are indispensable. They curate music, discuss it, interview local and visiting artists, and introduce live performances. Civis, no music expert, often hears them (for instance, Nick Tipping’s fascinating description of the development of jazz) while driving, and has learnt a lot from them. The Government, by opening up more frequencies, has solved the FM issue. RNZ has bowed to pressure, and withdrawn its proposal. But listeners shouldn’t relax. RNZ CEO Paul Thompson still talks, not of services, but of selling ‘‘brands’’. RNZ board chairman Jim Mather, interviewed on RNZ National, was unimpressive, seemingly subject to management capture. If the RNZ board doesn’t understand public service, who will rein in future destructive management proposals?