Classical Music Radio Should Be Listed As An Endangered Species

Two recent news items ought to make your head whirl. The first is from current.org which is the online arm of Current, the pubcasting journal.

The latest analysis from public radio’s Grow the Audience project identifies a “short list” of market factors that drive performance of individual NPR News stations–namely education levels, competition within each market for NPR News listeners and the presence of key psychographic segments.

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New Hampshire’s WCNH: a small station filling a big role

The other day I wrote that I found no applicants for new noncommercial classical stations in last fall’s application window, other than the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Well, I did find another one, under the inconspicuous name of Highland Community Broadcasting. And Highland is no newcomer to classical radio — in fact, it now operates the only classical station in the state of New Hampshire.

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Milwaukee orchestra faces longer wait for radio station

I wrote recently about the good fortunes of free103point9, the New York nonprofit devoted to art that uses radio and transmission media as a starting point. free103 recently received a construction permit to start a new noncommercial FM radio station in Acra, N.Y. This led me to wonder about the fate of other applicants for noncommercial stations. Unfortunately, it looks like they have more waiting in store.

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