ABC Classic

ABC Classic FM 12.00 Tuesday aftn. Wow you were scraping the bottom of the barrell when you hired this couple of self interested BORING people! a morning of beautiful music but I had to turn it off at 12.10. You have got to be kidding ABC

Shocking decline in quality especially Breakfast/Drive shows – Like the rest of the ABC, Classic is now a mediocre basket case of garbage commercial grade drivel. The Breakfast and Drive shows are particularly awful. Gone is the carefully curated quality playlist and instead it’s just pop song after pop song. Then there is the curious mindful music. What’s this rubbish doing on a Classical music station? Those chasing quality classical have no options but seek foreign stations on the internet.

Glib commercial style talkfest – ABC Classic is now pure garbage especially the breakfast and drive shows. They’ve turned it into to another glib commercial style talkfest for the uninterested. I now switch between Classic 2, or better still BBC Radio 3. To be fair, it’s not just ABC Classic that gone downhill, but the entire ABC organisation. What a shame.

Attracting a new audience is costing you a significant number of your former followers – I have loved ABC Classic for years. Although I like most types of music, I gained so much understanding of composers and the richness of the music itself, that it was pretty much all I listened to. But that was then, and this is now. The recent "subtle" inclusion of obviously non-classical musical genres alongside true classics both old and new,… Read more

is incremental change presumably driven by the marketing department. It happens at prime time and it's not subtle. It's a sad and sometimes brutal reminder that ABC Classic uses agents for change whose job is to engage a new target audience. Which is not their existing audience - who have loved the station for a long time. Some presenters don't seem to care what they pass off as classical music, as long as they can attract and retain younger listeners who evidently like screen soundtracks and easy listening music - low hanging fruit indeed. While still trying to appease the traditional audience by playing just enough actual classical music. But you can't have your cake and eat it too. Were we supposed to be happy to hear something by "good old Bach" as one presenter introduced him? Then had no idea how to pronounce the name of another famous composer? More too-bad-how-sad-for-the-traditional-audience moments. And that's the level ABC Classic is pitching at to get the target audience. As I'm not in that target audience, they probably won't be shedding tears to hear I've mostly stopped listening since earlier this year. It's painful to be constantly reminded of what we've lost and why. And hard not to hear the marketing department above the music.

Love ABC classic – Fantastic service. I'm happy they have presenters back on during the night. They do fun events too like the top 100

I love ABC Classic – I love this radio station and have been listening to it for many years. Most of the bad reviews seem to be a) people who don’t like that there’s a greater diversity of music than there was in the past and b) people who don’t like how much talking there is. To respond to these points - a) I think the station does a good job at balancing new and… Read more

traditional music. I’m not always the biggest fan of the newer music they play, but I like being exposed to new things, and still the vast, vast majority of the music they play is Beethoven, Bach etc.

b) I really like the talking - the presenters are delightful and reading out text messages gives a lovely sense of a community of listeners. If you just want to hear music then there are so many other places you can go, eg ABC Classic 2 or Spotify. And if you want a little bit of talk but not too much, there are some shows on ABC Classic throughout the day that have less talking. Eg Breakfast and Drive are quite “chatty” but the Evenings show has far less talk and Mornings tends to play long stretches of music with less talk. Also the presenters have different styles so even if some aren’t to your taste, there are probably others who are.

Non stoppe [Content Removed] – That’s right, like many ABC programs and news, ABC Classic has become a nonstop [Content Removed]. Was a devout listener for many years and our family grew up listening to just ABC Classic. Now they want to be like a commercial station with way too many trivial SMS reading, odd choice of music from viral YouTube personalities that are not even… Read more

classic music, film scores galore. Breakfast has become unbearable, with poor choice of music like some depressing [Content Removed]at 7am on a Monday. Some nasal speaking chick drives me up the wall with her pettiness in the evening. Then there are those that are obviously there to fill the diversity quota and not chosen for their talent.

Mind you there still are some brilliant people like [Name Removed], and [Name Removed].

But then is it really necessary to have weeks playing [Content Removed] composers or women composers or left handed composers or three [Content Removed] composers? Can’t we just have good composers irrespective of their gender? And can presenters be hired for their talent in presenting a classical radio show based on their knowledge and ability to present?

Hopefully the new incoming management will steer this sinking ship to its former glory. In the meantime, I’ll be listening to foreign Classical music stations.

Switch stations – Not like it once was. Presenters overtalk the music instead of being an accompaniment. Too much gushing and not enough listening Oh for the days of Colin Fox and his contemporaries. 2MBS is much better.

disappointment – very disappointed I used to love the station. now I cant handle it anymore.

There are alternatives, as ABC Classic goes through an introspective phase – Eg: Venice Classic radio, which has 2 channels, no presenters and a picture of the CD cover for each item. This might be more of an immersion in classical music than listeners are used to from ABC Classic, where the music is pre designed to fit in with timeslots, advertorial and other material. The choice on Venice Classic is mainly limited to… Read more

18th and 19th century European composers but perversely this is a means of appreciating contemporary composers as the context is revealed. When ABC Classic plays contemporary composers it does so, usually, without assisting the listener in the expressed or inferred intention of the composer.

ABC Classic is totally ruined – Decades long listener here. I can’t stand it anymore. Just as bad as commercial radio. A lot personalities seeking attention. A lot of pettifogging. A lot of inane polls, and reading out of people’s silly text messages which I really couldn’t be bothered or care about. Why do I need to know that some random listener slept through a concert which… Read more

in turn triggers a stream of other texts by more listeners to tell us in which concerts they slept through.

I DO NOT CARE !

A lot of music that is not classical at all. Poor quality of interviews. List goes on and I now hate ABC Classic

I now tune in to ABC Classic 2 but that’s not available when driving because it’s only available as internet stream.

Used to listen all the time – I used to reliably be able to leave ABC classic on, but recent years it annoys me too often because it’s not actually playing Classical music. 1. All the didgeridoo music they play is jarring. It’s ABC ideology to push indigenous content into every area, so much so, they actually commissioned more of it. 2. Presenters talk a lot more than they… Read more

used to, and they’re not likeable. 3. ABC don’t seem to care about their audience, which is dropping off a cliff. 4. Better music stations are on Apple Music or Spotify.. I wish I could get a refund of my taxes that go to the ABC to pay for it. It really is Their ABC now,

What is Wrong Russell – The music on ‘Drive’ tonight, 24.04.23 is sheer crap. You are capable of so much and this fails to reflect that. Try harder please for your followers

Has substantially declined in quality – In the past we listened to ABC Classical Radio for the MUSIC. Nowadays unfortunately there are so many interviews with self-serving artists who are promoting themselves, their publicized performances and their craft. Please Please Please return to being a Classical Music Broadcaster, and let another branch become a Classical Artist Interviewer/Promoter radio station. WE WANT TO LISTEN TO MUSIC rather than the flapping of chops.

Either Merry-Go -Round or Opera Music – At 72 years age I have/had spent many happy hours on ABC Classic FM. Even with the Classic Jim Mc Leods Jazz Track which was the longest running Radio program in Aust. But the diversity has really dropped off. Seems the Opera buffs @ ABC have now dominated the palette, it must be trendy to be an Opera listener. Though I suspect it has some… Read more

magnetism for the aspiring middle class. Otherwise there is also a lot off fair ground & marching music predominating as well. Remember - just because it is classic does not mean it is good.

No longer what it used to be! – I have loved and listened to this station for decades. Just recently, I have given it the flick, for the following reasons: ABC Classic FM once served the classical-music-loving community with wonderful music offerings. THIS USED TO BE THEIR PRIMARY MISSION. Not any more! It has now become their secondary one. Their primary one is now serving an… Read more

increasing personality cult among their presenters. This is evidenced in promoting various presenters, via emphasizing their professional credentials OUTSIDE THEIR ROLE AS PRESENTERS, whether their books, their music teaching roles, their gender ideology or simply annoying its listeners by repeatedly, and in my opinion, excessively playing the programme jingle stating their name! For these reasons, listening to this radio station has become an irritant, despite very enjoyable music! Sadly, we taxpayers are supporting all this! Someone do something!