While I've been collecting up listeners' reminiscences about Brave New Waves, a couple of Toronto-based writers have been documenting the on-coming changes at CBC and pretty much offering a blow-by-blow for their readers.Michael Barclay's Canuckistan blog has been keeping up with the changes, staff dismissals (including one Michael Barclay), and broadcast stoppages of late. However, being a longtime fan, Barclay also has a storehouse of old interviews with CBC late night personalities such as David Wisdom and former BNW host Brent Bambury to draw from to inform his position. Barclay is open about his love of BNW and seems a fan of the radio format generally. His stuff is worth checking out, if only because it balances a real respect for the show and its importance, while acknowledging that it probably should have been cancelled. Not an easy position to maintain, but one he is capable of.
Also of note would be Carl Wilson's Zoilus blog, which has been following the switch away from BNW and listening to the proposed replacements with interest. Wilson's position is similar to Barclay's in that he believes in the importance of radio, the significance of BNW, and the logic in its demise. His blog is worth reading through even if you are not in Toronto (which is an official medical condition now), because even if Wilson's posts about BNW's end are balanced and even, the comments from his readers speak to the anger and confusion a lot of CBC listeners feel. It is an interesting way to cross-reference the reaction to the end of BNW.
Personally, I don't understand a lot of the changes at CBC, both literally (as in, I don't know what shows have been cancelled, are in short-term re-runs, or are on permanent hiatus), and strategically (as in, why certain shows have been cancelled in the first place). Why Brave New Waves was not given the opportunity to become a podcast, especially given the popularity of Grant Lawrence's Radio 3 podcast, I will never understand.
The saga continues, I suppose. I just wanted to post about some of the more skilled commentary that has been tracking the end of BNW, to promote the understanding that these changes are being felt across the country.
2 comments:
hello sir
just to clarify, i was not dismissed from BNW. i left of my own volition, in a bit of a hurry to accept a new job in toronto, and all management and staff were very accomodating and generous regarding my departure. i did not leave under anything resembling bad circumstance--other than the fact that part of the reason i left was because i knew the show would not be around for much longer.
ah, i stand corrected. i should have said 'staff departures' rather than dismissals. thanks for the correction, barclay. and they say you can't believe anything you read online!
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