It's classic

Chuntering at change: The Times has offered some letters from disgruntled Radio 3 letters, a news piece picking up on 'dumbing down' claims by Friends of Radio 3, and a leader this week.

The change is at Essential Classics, running for three hours every weekday morning.  One host - Sarah Walker, has been shifted to weekends, and now Suzy Klein shares presenting duties with Rob Cowan. It's hard to tell the long-term plan for this sharing, but schedules so far show them doing alternate weeks.

Behind the scenes, there's been another change. Previously, the show was produced by indie Somethin' Else. It went out to tender earlier this year - guide price £364k per annum, excluding presenter fees and use of studios and cruet. Interested parties were asked to suggest a presenter to replace Sarah Walker "to build a balanced and diverse team".

Lo, even at this weedy price, it was the BBC Radio 3 production team who won back the business, and BBC favourite Suzy Klein (South Hampstead and a first in music from St Hugh's Oxford, plus a post-grad in broadcast journalism from City) who got the gig. And the show continues its toe-curling faux-accessibility, with listener tweets, quizzes, themed selections, and musical pieces not lasting much more than 6 minutes on average. Essential Classics is the network's "most listened to" programme; I suspect even The Times won't change the direction of travel much.