Stations

New Management in Oregon

by

Station KBPS in Portland, Oregon announced last week that they have hired a new CEO, reports The Oregonian. Jack Allen comes from the programming side of classical music radio, but with a lot of management experience. He was director of news and music for seven years at Minnesota Public Radio, including being an on-air host at Classical 24. For the past five years Allen has been in Austin, TX managing the much smaller, listener-supported classical station KMFA. This article in the Austin Chronicle makes it pretty clear that Austin is going to … Continue Reading

News roundup: More on the CBC, and Los Angeles’ KCSN

by

Authormike72x72_3 A Canadian federal committee has voted to hold hearings on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s decisions to change its programming and to shut down its radio orchestra, reports the Vancouver Free Press. “I want Canadians who are concerned about classical music, who are concerned about the CBC Radio Orchestra being disbanded, and who are concerned about the direction of Radio 2 to have an opportunity to express those concerns to … the parliamentarians on the standing committee on Canadian heritage,” said the member of Parliament who initially moved to hold the hearings. “I also want the CBC to pay attention to what these folks are saying to the committee.” Not being familiar with Canadian politics, I must admit that I have little inkling of what sort of effect these hearings may have. But it seems like a first step.

Meanwhile, Chris Boyce, director of programming at CBC Radio, has penned an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun defending the network’s decision to cut back on classical in favor of other musical genres. He writes:

And what we heard was loud and clear. People love classical music. But they also love other kinds of music, too, as long as it’s of high quality and intelligently presented.

Consider the following. Of the approximately 30,000 pieces of music released each year in Canada, 240 receive regular airplay on Canadian radio stations. We intend to take advantage of this vast body of Canadian music that is otherwise ignored and make the best of it available to our listeners in an intelligent, creative and engaging way. We see this as the embodiment of our mandate.

Continue Reading

Station profile: Classical WETA 90.9 FM, Washington, D.C. (continued)

by

Authormike72x72_3 Second of two posts

After WETA-FM became the sole classical radio outlet serving Washington, D.C. — you can catch up on the back story here — the benefits of claiming the city’s classical franchise were immediate. In the first Arbitron ratings book after the switch, WETA’s market share jumped to a 4.9 — more than double its 2.1 prior to the change. That took WETA from 17th among the market’s radio stations to fifth.

The station went on to average a 4.5 share last year and had a successful fundraising drive in February. “Public service is being transacted here,” says General Manager Dan DeVany, “because people are listening.”

WETA aims to present a mix of classical music that appeals to a broad audience — “anywhere from those who would be considered aficionados of classical music to those who enjoy it but don’t necessarily know much about it,” says DeVany. “Being broad-based in our appeal has certainly been an effort on our part, and it’s paid off.” The station couldn’t sound like the old commercial WGMS-FM “even if we wanted to,” DeVany says, because the lack of 20 minutes of ads an hour offers more programming freedom.

Continue Reading

Station profile: Classical WETA 90.9 FM, Washington, D.C.

by

First of two posts

WETA, the powerful all-classical public radio station serving Washington, D.C., has attained its biggest audience in years by claiming the city’s franchise in classical music radio. Its arrival at this stage in its 38-year history has been hard-won, however. In just four years, WETA has endured great change, from a news/classical mix to all-news to today’s steady stream of classical.

“If you had asked me a few years ago if I would have gone through this — two format changes in a period of three years — I’d have said it would never happen,” says Dan DeVany, WETA’s g.m., when I interviewed him last month in his office at WETA’s headquarters in Arlington, Va. “And here we are.”

The first jolt to WETA’s status quo came in February 2005. Like many stations, WETA was struggling as it tried to attract an audience to its dual format of NPR’s newsmagazines and midday classical music. Its ratings in fall 2004 were the worst in 15 years. Fewer listeners were donating, and while news programming was drawing underwriting income, classical was less successful — a common pattern in public radio. WETA’s position was further complicated by competitors in the D.C. market that shared its formats — WAMU, another well-established NPR affiliate but one that specialized in news/talk, and WGMS, the city’s commercial classical outlet and one of the most successful in the country.

“It was clear that we had an identity problem,” DeVany says. “We didn’t stand for anything in particular.”

Continue Reading

Send this to a friend