On Sunday evening at 11.00, the final broadcast by David Jacobs was aired on Radio 2. This coincides with the recent trend of parting company with those deemed too old to have a role in the media. His first broadcast was in 1944 as an 18 year old for the BBC General Forces Programme Navy Mixture. At 87, he has now bucked the recent trend and decided to retire from broadcasting mainly due to ill health. Since 1998, his programme "The David Jacobs Collection" championed the music from Hollywood, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley. It is no coincidence that these songs have been covered within an inch of their life in recent years as artists have come to realise their timeless worth. His delivery was smooth and peerless. Many of the stars singing the songs he played were personal friends so he was able to give that unique insight in to their true personas.
This now leaves Desmond Carrington as the sole octogenarian in mainstream broadcasting. His show champions music from all eras. His format is both simple and effective. By adopting a common theme, he is able to take us for a journey through music from before the Great War to the present day. His collection and knowledge are mind blowing and with due respect, it would take a young man years to even get close to such expertise.
Up until quite recently, Sunday evenings were the last bastion of the experienced broadcasters and to listen to them was an education. The death in 2003 of Alan Keith brought to an end the longest running classical music programme in radio. "Your Hundred Best Tunes" was a brilliant show. Like Jacobs and Carrington, Alan Keith had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the music he played and his sombre tones belied his passio for it. The original hundred pieces were chosen by himself but periodic listener polls updated them. I suspect that for many people, Alan Keith provided the perfect introduction in to the sometimes stifled world of classical music. Of course, Classic FM has since come to dominate that genre in this country but its commercial format renders it a poor second to the masterful Keith.
On those Sunday night bills twenty years ago, another former TV broadcaster hosted a very popular long running show. Richard Baker had been a newsreader and had actually presented the first BBC TV news in 1954. His light music programme "Baker's Dozen" was a regular on Sunday evenings for a long time which was enjoyed by the millions who tuned in. He also became the voice of the "Last Night of the Proms" for many years. There was no better choice to take over "Your Hundred Best Tunes" following the death of Alan Keith in 2003 and the gentle delivery of that programme is still sorely missed by many because Sunday night is the time to be winding down in readiness for the week ahead.
The decision to dispense with Baker and many others makes little sense really when you consider that we have an ever increasing army of the elderly in our society. Although I don't agree with the decision to dispense with faces deemed too old to be seen on the TV, there is no such excuse for radio. You can't buy experience like that and their audiences are testament to their popularity.
I gather that radio audiences are in the ascendency while TV audiences continue to drop. It seems as though the huge growth in the number of TV programmes has had a diluting effect. This seems to give credence to the old adage "less is more". For me, the TV license is a price I resent paying every year because I watch so little of it. The radio on the other hand is an essential part of my life. Although the death of radio has been predicted many times in recent years, I don't see any evidence just yet and don't think I will because for millions of people like me, it is a priceless resource.
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