Dual format out in Alabama

News surfaced recently of some fallout from the upcoming cancellation of Classical Public Radio Network. WBHM, a news/classical station in Birmingham, Ala., announced last week that it would stop airing classical music during middays Monday to Friday, and has replaced the music with news programs. The changes took effect yesterday.

Station execs indicate that they had anticipated dropping midday classical sometime within the next few years, but that the impending demise of CPRN hastened those plans. In local press and on WBHM’s website, they cite several reasons for the change, many of which echo the weaknesses of the dual format that we’ve been discussing here at Scanning The Dial.

“We believe this program change is in the best long-term interest of WBHM in terms of both listeners and fiscal stability,” says a thorough FAQ. It goes on to say: “In addition to CPRN shutting down, the news is more important every day not just with the Presidential election coming up but in the years after as well. National and international news require thoughtful, civil, public discourse, which the new programming schedule will provide.”

What’s more, 59 percent of WBHM’s listeners never listened to midday classical. That’s a lot of airtime to devote to programming that the majority of your audience avoids. And the station also points out the conventional wisdom that I’ve noted before: “The most effective way to program radio (both commercial and public) is to stick with a single format.”

WBHM plans to offer a digital HD channel someday. It’s still airing classical from early evening to early morning every day.