Scala Radio is cancelled
NewsThe UK younger-listeners station has been hustled into an urgent rebrand.
From September it will be known as Magic Classical.
Original, right? Fresh and attractive? Your call.
Scala Radio hit a record low of 188,000 listeners in the last quarterly stats, squeezed by a resurgent BBC Radio 3. Svala, owned by Baiuer Media, has posted losses for more than two years.
Gary Stein, Director of Audio said: ‘As Magic Classical, Scala Radio will continue to bring its loyal listeners a playlist of familiar masters alongside contemporary classical music, whilst introducing the fantastic talent on the station to a whole new family of listeners.’
There will be no team changes and current Scala Radio Content Director Nick Pitts will become Content Director for Magic Classical alongside his same role at Jazz FM.
So if I rename myself the Duke of Westminster, will that make me a millionaire?
Ha, ha!!! Love your. humour – yes, even with a U!
No it will not.
It will make you a billionaire.
And, of course, you’ll deserve it just as much as he does.
Scala Radio was never going to pull in the incorrectly perceived younger classical music audiences with an unconnected name like that unless you know of La Scala Opera House, Milan..
(and who under 40 would these days?)
The new Magic Classical is equally silly and plays to the usual Common Denominator – which like all music broadcasting stations and networks these days, seems to be acceptable.
Sounds like something Disney would run.
This station has never been anything other than a failure. It tried to compete with Classic FM and dumbed-down Radio 3 in the field of providing strings of snippets for those with short attention spans. They might have been more successful if they had provided complete works, operas and informative talks, on the lines of what Radio 3 provided until the 1980s, thus capturing those like me who abandoned it, accounting for its declining market share.
PS – Scala should consider the advice that if at first you don’t succeed, try making failure your objective.
Gary Stein says: ‘…introducing the fantastic talent on the station to a whole new family of listeners.’ These fantasy cohorts of new listeners conjure up visions of Napoleon in exile, mobilising his toy soldiers into divisions that had, in reality, long since been annihilated by Wellington and his allies.
I ‘ll resist the temptation to comment on the name of the Director of Content…
I am 77 and housebound, and I love scala radio! More people should listen to the entertaining Charles Nove in the morning (a wonderful start to my day!) as well as the many other brilliant presenters. More people need to know about Scala, and it should be advertised More widely.
Have to say Charles is now the only show I listen to on Scala other than the playlists
I agree Charles Nove is excellent but I feel he is being restricted in the music he plays since the name change – no more eclectic ( and sometimes wonderfully eccentric) choices, just playing similar to Classic fm. Shame.
I listened a few times when it started but couldn’t see the point of another metoo classical station. Nor, it seems, could anyone else.
Charles and Penny are excellent.
Let’s hope the ‘classical’ tag doesn’t spell doom for the likes of Kern, Porter and Gershwin.
It was over for us with the reshuffle and the loss of Lucy Holland and The Console. Our children used to love listening to the video game music
I’m always fascinated by the knee jerk negativity of some readers of this website.
As supposed supporters of this ‘genre’, shouldn’t we collectively be celebrating the attempt to retain a third national radio station (given the state of arts funding and music education we have faced in recent years)?
Will the new service be available in more areas? It cannot br received in East Kent
It’s interesting that the listening figures have dropped following the reshuffle and loss of the afternoon/evening presenters plus regular programmes. That was and continues to be a mistake in my opinion, and one that was never really explained satisfactorily, other than it being a money saving exercise…
Instead of a rebrand, they’d be better admitting that music only hasn’t worked and get some presenters back in!!
It took a while to dial into Scala at the start. It seemed an uneasy mix of works. However, the community of the original presenters during the week really pulled you in. Scala never got the weekend listening right and I think that’s where the station didn’t develop. With the exception of Mayo’s original Saturday programme, the excellent Lucie Holland and Jack and Alex’s weekend shows the station sounded like it had playschool presenters patronising their listeners.
As both a Radio 3 and classicFM listener in the past (and a one time professional musician) I can say I enjoy the blend of contemporary and light classical music but I really miss the presenter community. Dropping into one of Mark’s stories of farm life or Sam slipping off her shoes for the mindful music slot was like having a friend or family member contact you.
Well almost all gone now. Such a pity the station decided its audience was different from the reality of its middle aged reality. I just hope Magic classical at least keeps “walk in the park”.
When it started, Scala was really good. Sadly it has become very ‘middle of the road’ and differs little from Classic FM. The non-traditional music that used to be played needs reinstating (e.g. The Piano Guys are rarely heard at all, and it’s only the most common tracks of classical music that get played anyway) and traditional classical music needs reducing so that more unusual versions are played.
But why the awful name change? It just sounds like a dumbing-down and I don’t think it’ll attract any more listeners. I prefer Scala to Classic FM, and hoping that they will keep to the same format, especially the early-hours walk in the park birdsong.
Sadly commercial radio is driven by listener figures and not by quality of output
I have tried Scala several times but always gone back to Classic FM and radio 3. When it started and ever since it was a poor imitation of the other stations, and has now shot itself in the foot by dispensing with presenters, presume because they’re losing money. The latest rebrand is another silly name, sound like music for young kids out of Disney. You may as well close down before you lose any more money – better than just fading out.-
Scala has been its own worst enemy. you switch to dab+ only and drop having presenters and see what you get.
Getting rid of presenters and becoming an imitation of Classic FM was never going to work. Such a shame.