I think "the older generation" David Wright is referring to is people born before WW2, whose taste in pop music was shaped in the pre-rock'n'roll era. This is the audience that Radio 2 used to cater for. But it is an ageing audience and the station now, understandably, is aimed at a younger, 30 plus age group - too old for 'cutting edge' Radio 1 but crucially, when it comes to music, from the post-rock'n'roll generation. Jimmy Young's gone. Parky's gone. Russell Davies' excellent Sunday afternoon show has been shunted into some quiet backwater of the schedule. Desmond Carrington's clinging on, but it can't be long. Only Alan Titschmarch holds the fort. (I'll leave Wogan out of this: although his 'vibe' was old-school, his playlist was, on the whole, modern mainstream R2).
On the recent thread about cover versions I mentioned that I never knew that the disco classic Gonna Get Along Without You Now by Viola Wills was a widely-covered pop standard dating back to the early '50s. I've since collected a few different versions. There's a nice country pop version by Skeeter Davis. A cracking version by Tracey Dey (produced by Bob Crewe during thumb-twiddling time between making the 26 singles the Four Seasons put out in three years). But the one I'm enjoying the most is by Lawrence Welk & his Singers & Orchestra. And here it is . . .

Now, obviously, being from the rock'n'roll generation, my initial reaction to this clip was to laugh: it's absurd; it's 'cheesy'; the Lawrence Welk show is the yardstick for square-ness in American showbusiness history. But then, a few 'replay's in I found my mind wandering ... it's a jaunty arrangement, well played; the singing may fall at the first when it comes to conveying the wounded but defiant pride implicit in the lyric, but it sounds nice enough; I wonder which one of the girls is actually called Norma Zimmer?(it's the third one from the right); wonder which one of them is most likely to turn out be a bit of a tiger in the sa.. (sniiip)? The wardrobe department's ensemble "packet of Opal Fruits with the Commie red ones taken out" costuming is only the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen on the fashion front if you're yet make the acquaintance of the Kings Of Leon's new designer clothing range (I kid you not). Before you know it you can understand why this sort of thing was a lot more popular than Country Joe & The Fish.
This sort of thing was once all over the telly and the radio. Because people loved it. But the Tyranny Of Cool made it redundant.
It's easy to sneer at Easy Listening. It's easy to embrace it in an 'ironic' Mike Flowers Pops way. But amongst the third-rate cabaret rubbish there are great performers, musicians, writers, arrangers etc.
And there a lot of people more at home with that sort of music.
There are plenty of people who are more at home with Brenda Lee than Lady Gaga, which is fair enough; more at home with the James Last Orchestra than U2, which is understandable; more at home with Wogan and Titschmarch than Russell Brand. And, what's more. they're at home more. Wanting to listen to the radio. David Wright is absolutely right. I really like Chris Evans etc. and a good deal of modern Radio 2, but there is a genuine audience that they have abandoned. I think it's a business opportunity: the grey pound is there for the taking.

Was thinking of the 65-100 age group.

I'm sure Terry's new show will appeal to his old audience and win some new fans, but as mentioned, Sunday does seem to be then only day when Radio 2 caters for its "lost audience", I feel they've been treated badly, where do they go and who do they listen too?
There is a guy called Frank Whoppit, who does a show around the local Yorks and Teeside BBC stations on a Sunday night and he plays all sorts; dance band stuff from the 30s and 40s and old music I've never heard before and I quite enjoy some of it myself! It's the only show that caters for my father's tastes (he's 72) but even this show has the last hour cut off by Radio York who start a late night love request show at 10pm.

but I suspect she may be more the exception than the rule.

It's a difficult problem. Even though the population is older than before, the 'old' radio2 audience who tuned in to Ray Moore or JY in the 70s and 80s have mostly died off now. People in their 60s and 70s were younger people in the 50's and 60's. My dad is knocking 70 (well, he's 68 tomorrow) and loves rock 'n' roll and the likes of Marty Robbins, but both my parents love other stuff. My mum quite the liked the Pugwash album I lent her to check out recently, loved the recent George Harrison compilation and is partial to a bit of Richard Hawley.

And Radio 2, even in daytime, does manage to hit some of that demographic. Some of the specialist stuff is interesting but too short. So we see Russell Davies shunted off to 9pm on Sunday, away from the slot he (and before him) Benny Green used to live in. BBC local stations do take up some of that slack, but not all of it. I used to love listening to Marin Kelner's show from Leeds on a Sunday evening in Teesside, but that stopped eventually.

I miss Wogan already too, but I think Evans is doing the right thing. Some will not like him, but what he's doing now has its heart in the right place, I think. More importantly, I think he's much more of a 'radio' man than some of those stunt presenters parachuted in to do shows. How I'm praying for them to give Ross's Saturday morning gig to Danny Baker...