How hard is it to successfully program a classical music radio station? Are there any tried and true formulas? Does what worked yesterday, still work today? Tomorrow?
Audience
Catching Up On the News
Classical radio is not quite ready to bite the dust just yet! Two brand new 24-hour classical services in three markets are gearing up to go live this fall:
In Columbus, Ohio a new 24 hour classical station is about to start up. Ohio State University’s WOSU is acquiring an adult alternative rock station and relaunching the frequency in the fall as Classical 101. WOSU at 89.7, now dual format, will become an all news station carrying mostly NPR programs. You can read about it here, on the WOSU website.
Good News in Portland
All Classical FM at 89.9 in Portland, Oregon is having another spectacular year. My co-blogger Jack Allen would never toot his own horn, but the station is up 58% in listenership over two years. They have a 3.6 share, according to Arbitron, and have broken into the top ten stations in the city. In addition to new audience, All Classical’s revenues are at an all-time high, and they have a balanced budget.
More from AMPPR
I asked some of the attendees at the AMPPR conference in NYC to write reports for this blog. Here is the first of two installments:
From John Pitman, Music Director at All Classical in Portland OR:
While visiting the facilities of WQXR/WNYC, I felt like I was walking the halls of some vast intergalactic public radio space station: multiple floors, corridors, elevators, seemingly uncountable staff… it was most impressive.