Public radio

Good News in SF: KDFC Expands

by

The University of Southern California is adding to its collection of stations  in the Bay Area with the purchase of KCNL 104.5 in San Jose.  The goal is to increase the coverage of classical KDFC into the South Bay area.  If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall that KDFC switched from commercial to public early in 2011.  You can read about it at Radiosurvivor.com and and a little more clearly at Radio-Info.com. It’s probably one of the most convoluted arrangements in the radio universe: KDFC used to belong to Entercom, who sold the brand and the programming to … Continue Reading

Spring Fundraising – Guilt, Dread, oh yeah, and Gratitude

by

It’s that time for many stations.  Spring fundraising time.  There’s a tongue-in-cheek, somewhat uncomfortable op-ed on Chron.com from the Houston Chronicle.  History Professor and KUHF listener Robert Zaretsky writes about his dread of fundraising and guilt for not donating regularly. I confess a sense of guilt plays a role in my reaction. Though I regularly listen to KUHF, I have been an irregular member. Like the rest of us, I suspect, I have a number of strategies for dealing with this form of guilt. There is the “that will show ’em” gambit, … Continue Reading

Steve Brown New PD in Roanoke

by

WVTF in Roanoke has named Steve Brown its new Program Director.  He does the octopus act  — a little bit of everything — like all local station peeps do. Since October 2011, Brown has hosted the weekday “Morning” and “Afternoon Classics” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., “a lengthy announcing schedule by any broadcasting standards,” said WVTF Program Director Rick Mattioni. In his role, Brown now programs all the classical music for the weekdays and Saturday afternoons. In addition, Brown updates the playlists that appear on the WVTF website and maintains the music library. … Continue Reading

Good Idea at MPR

by

A friend asked me earlier this week if I’ve heard anything creative lately on classical radio, and I had to answer “not really.”  In my experience, classical stations are risk averse and I don’t just mean averse to playing new music or vocal music.  Not to disparage anyone, but except for KUSC and WQXR, I rarely hear about stations trying new ideas or being bold about stretching their audiences. I just ran across one today that I didn’t know about.  Minnesota Public Radio sponsors what they call an “artist-in-residence,” but instead of being “in-residence” on the … Continue Reading

Send this to a friend