Saturday night dead
CBC Radio 3 goes to air live for the last time on March 17
John Kendle

March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, a time of celebration for those of us with Irish blood or a fondness for beer and whisky. But I won’t be surprised if many Canadian music fans opt to stay in on Saturday night, tuned to CBC Radio Two while they toast the loss of a special radio friend.

That night CBC Radio 3 will be broadcast live on the Corp.’s terrestrial network for the last time. Host Grant Lawrence will mark the occasion by taking listener phone calls, spinning Canadian-made discs and playing host to live music sessions featuring the likes of Jim Bryson, Buck 65, Joel Plaskett and the Winnipeg husband-and-wife team of Christine Fellows and John K. Samson.

As of 4 a.m. on March 18, thousands of Radio 3 listeners will only be able to connect with their favourite musicians, hosts and programming if they purchase a Sirius satellite radio or subscribe to one of Radio 3’s podcasts at radio3.cbc.ca.

CBC brass made the decision for two reasons.

First and most important is a major programming shift at Radio Two, which next week begins airing jazz and contemporary music in its prime-time hours. The Corp. wants to ‘rebrand’ this network.

Second, Radio 3 is deemed to have come of age. The brand was created in 1997 as part of a plan to launch a network for young, hip listeners. It was initially identified as a ‘network-within-a-network’ through its Saturday airtime on Radio Two.

By devoting itself almost exclusively to Canadian independent rock ’n’ roll, Radio 3 quickly became a popular niche broadcast. And just as Canadian music has attracted worldwide attention in recent years, Radio 3 has also become more influential.

In 2007, Radio 3 podcasts are now the most-downloaded in Canada (over 100,000 per week), its New Music Canada website is a destination for Canadian bands, and it is a full-time digital station on Sirius channel 94. But, because the Radio 3 audience is perceived to be Net-savvy and satellite-friendly, the tall foreheads feel it’s time for the youth network to fly solo.

As a fan of Radio 3, I think the reasoning sucks. By ending Radio Two broadcasts of Radio 3, CBC will be making Radio 3 programming unavailable to thousands of listeners. And then there’s tradition. For the past 20 years — since Nightlines moved to Vancouver from Winnipeg — a live, music-oriented program has aired on Radio Two on Saturday nights.

Host Lawrence is certainly disappointed.

“I think we create one of the best live, national rock ’n’ roll shows in the world,” he says. “The listeners love the intimacy and the interaction.”

I’m certainly going to miss it. I can’t afford a Sirius receiver and listening to one-hour podcasts just isn’t the same as spending Saturday nights watching Hockey Night in Canada while listening to Radio 3.

I will listen tomorrow night. But, like thousands of others, I won’t be very happy.