Happy Monday, everybody. There’s a very nice blog post about WQXR’s switch from commercial to public radio here. Doc Searls lists five reasons public radio is better than commercial for classical music, but my favorite is the last one: Direct Listener Involvement. Commercial radio has had a huge disadvantage for the duration: its customers and its consumers are different populations. As businesses, commercial radio stations are primarily accountable to advertisers, not to listeners. Public radio is directly accountable to its listeners, because those are also its customers. As public stations make greater … Continue Reading
Just a brief post for a busy Monday. If you want to have some fun, try imagining what you would program if you could program the new NY station. A great post in the NY Times on Friday asked listeners what they would like, and the responses are a lot of fun to read. Check it out here. Happy Monday, all. Hope you’re having a great summer.
The oldest American commercial classical station is commercial no more, but it will remain classical. WQXR will be sold by The New York Times to public radio station WNYC and Univision.
The call letters and the classical music will move across the dial from 96.3 to a weaker signal at 105.9, while Univision’s Spanish-language WCAA will move to 96.3.
Ever since the news that WUFT at the University of Florida in Gainesville is switching from classical music to news/talk, Mike and Mona and I have been privately batting around a discussion about what classical stations need to do to survive and thrive. We thought you might want to join the discussion.