Programming

The New WQXR

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Thursday night, at 8 p.m., the new WQXR as owned and operated by WNYC hit the airwaves.  The station moved from 96.3 to 105.9 and became a public radio station, while continuing to broadcast classical music. The new version of the old station started with a few introductory remarks and a concert performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra broadcast live from Carnegie Hall.

But what’s next?   How will the station’s overall sound change? Playlists for the few hours of operation so far are online (lots of standard orchestral music, but also Arvo Pärt and an opera aria), but it’s hard to tell the overall direction from such a short sample.

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We Can Do Better: Promoting Classical Music On Your Air

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Below you’ll find the first in a series of articles by professionals involved with classical public radio. These articles were originally posted on the Listserv of the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio, and are being reprinted here with the permission of the authors.

The first article is by Peter Dominowski, a public radio researcher and consultant. He started his company Market Trends Research, Inc., in 1985. Here’s his full bio. Without further ado, his article:

We all love classical music and want other people to enjoy it as much as we do. Unfortunately, our aspirations for increasing listening to classical music on the radio are often not matched by the effectiveness of our promotion of the music on air.

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The Continent’s Only Radio Orchestra Back in Business?

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A year ago we reported on the demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra.  Now it looks as though the orchestra may have new life.  Time will tell, but the orchestra members have reunited with the help of  Montreal venture capitalist Philippe Labelle, and while they may not have their airtime restored (airtime is expensive real estate!) , they are at least collaborating with the CBC for a broadcast or two.  Instead, the old orchestra with a new name ( “National Broadcast Orchestra”) is going to be on YouTube and on its own website.

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A familiar scenario, this time in Kentucky

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The news just keeps coming, and for classical fans, again it’s not good. This time it’s a public station in Kentucky that has cut back on classical music during its middays and moved it to a full-time HD Radio channel.

This decision by Murray’s WKMS has prompted a petition drive led by a local history professor. Joe Fuhrmann tells the Murray State News:

You can get the radios as cheap as $50 but you can’t buy them in Murray, and to get a very good one you have to pay about $200. As recently as three months ago, WKMS had about 15 hours per week of classical music, now the station has gone more and more into talk and news. The only HD station in the area is WKMS (HD-2). Even some people who have HD stations report they don’t have very good signal at times or they can’t even get WKMS at all.

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