There’s an interesting editorial today in Radio-Info.com. Tom Taylor summarizes an interesting uptick in public/classical stations:
New York, Philly, San Francisco, Dallas, Pittsburgh and now Nashville – public radio finds ways to build.
Two years ago it was New York Public Radio committing $11.5 million to create a standalone classical station. Then we’ve seen the University of Southern California extend up into the Bay Area with the purchase of two FMs to create a classical service, and then a new venture to buy Pittsburgh’s WDUQ (90.5) for $6 million (a group led by the former management offered $6.5 million), and now this week, New York Public Radio and Philly’s WHYY buying pieces of the nine-station NJN group. There’s also Nashville… It’s not that public radio is wealthy – they’re doing it the hard way. But they don’t want precious broadcasting licenses slipping away and going to religious operators…Nashville pubcaster WPLN pays $3.35 million to give itself a second FM, for “Classical 91 One.”
Nashville Public Radio’s surprise purchase of Vanderbilt University’s former WRVU answers the question you read in yesterday’s TRI – why would Vanderbilt change the call letters of a station, after more than 50 years, with no notice and no apparent reason? As of June 1, WRVU became “WFCL”, and now we know the “CL” probably stands for “classical.” As of this morning, Nashville Public Radio’s WPLN-FM (90.3) can move the classical CDs over to 91.1 and re-constitute its own programming to be truly fulltime news and information – just as so many other pubcasters have done, from coast to coast. It’s got the resources to buy a suddenly-available FM, too.
You can read about the Nashville station’s finances here.
On “Classical 91 One”, the pubcaster will be live from 6am to 5pm, and will also use “Classical 24” from American Public Media and PRI, Oddly enough, the conversion of WPLN-FM to news/talk and the christening of “Classical 91 One” will strand some outlying listeners to classical radio. WPLN’s been simulcasting on co-owned South-of-Nashville WTML, Tullahoma (91.5), and East-of-Nashville WHRS, Cookeville (91.7). Nashville Public Radio also owns Nashville AM WPLN (1430), with a separately programmed news/talk lineup. The website’s here. The Nashville Board of Radio-Info.com is monitoring WRVU/WFCL.
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NYPR did not create anything. Then WNYC purchased the assets of WQXR, a venerable if deteriorated Classical music station from the New York Times. They did not get the high power frequency, which went to a Latino station, WNYC got that station’s 600 watt frequency.
WQXR is still the call ID. the traditional Classical programing at 105.9 FM and a stream is better that it was.
Q2, the New Music stream, is a re-born wnyc2, stronger for the presence of some great people, especially Nadia Sirota.
And, if you are going to incorrectly include WQXR, the why did you not include the purchase of WCRB by WGBH in Boston, a deal with some/ similarities to New Yok, minus the Latino station involvement.
I think that KUSC did actually do something constructive.
I was quoting from Radio-Info.com about the shifting classical landscape, and the added station was in Nashville.