Marty Ronish Responding finally to Mike’s query last week about how programmers choose their music, I think a good place to start is to look at how the successful stations program. Of course I have my own opinions but I’ll save them until the end of this post.
If you look at the big commercial stations, WQXR in NY, WFMT in Chicago, KDFC in San Francisco, you’ll find they all have one thing in common: they all play classical music!
Mike has started a great thread about programming, and I hope to give it some real thought next week, but today I’m going to digress to a topic that has come up because of the economic mess we’re in.
Like most of us who work in classical music radio, I go to a lot of concerts. I serve on boards. All of us in radio use the power of the airwaves to promote live concert-going. But right now, with the shrinking of arts coverage in newspapers the music organizations have lost a major means of communication. Is it the job of radio to make up for that loss?
This is the best, happiest, most smile-inducing story I have heard in a long time. The Deseret News of Southern Utah reports that Dixie State College is launching a new classical music station — KXDS — to be run by students.
I don’t know if you’re following the brouhaha over the Boston Globe. The paper’s owner, the New York Times, is threatening to close down the paper unless the Globe’s unions agree to $20 million in concessions. There’s plenty of upset in Boston over the news. Another venerable Boston media company is feeling the budget squeeze, too. Dual format station WGBH is owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation. In an all-staff memo dated April 2nd, WGBH’s CEO Jon Abbott cited some grim figures: • A decline in viewer and listener support of 15% … Continue Reading