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

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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.”

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Oklahoma station cuts back on classical; Canadian MP sticks up for CBC Orchestra

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Authormike72x72_3 KOSU in Stillwater, Okla., joins the ranks of stations cutting back on classical in favor of more news and talk programming. My guess is that they dumped the dual format, but I’m not sure (the most recent incarnation of their previous schedule that I could dig up dates to almost a year ago). Their website calls the station “the New KOSU.”

This article in the local Journal Record includes background from the station’s new general manager, who mentions a survey the station conducted that helped inform the decision. (Use Bugmenot.com to skirt the registration prompt.) The survey involved input from 500 listeners. Compare that to the station’s weekly audience of 24,400 listeners as of Fall 2007, according to the Radio Research Consortium. That’s about 2 percent. KOSU also cites other factors such as public forums and an advisory board’s input.

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The Democratic Primary as Classical Radio Metaphor

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Authormarty72x72 I’ve never been a news junkie before, but all of a sudden the drama of the primaries has grabbed me by throat and won’t let go. It’s an opera in the making.

The arguments in classical music radio are amazingly similar to the conflicts between the two Democratic candidates. Should we keep the old tried and true conservative model, or should we break out and take a chance (some say “risk”) with something unknown and exciting, and in the process reach a whole different demographic?

The Candidates
Barack Obama could be called the Peter Gelb of Election ‘08. Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, hired director Julie Taymor to spin Mozart. He took the opera to the people, airing it in our own local movie theaters. He launched a 24-hour Metropolitan Opera channel on satellite radio, put live streaming performances on the web, broadcast opening night on huge screens in Times Square and Lincoln Center Plaza, and offered $20 weekday tickets.

Gelb didn’t let fear of change or shrill criticisms stop him. Mary Jo Heath, who produces the Met Opera radio broadcasts, told me you can’t believe the volume of nasty emails and calls they got at first from people who didn’t want change. I’ll bet $2,300 (the maximum legal political donation) that those same “whiners” are the ones mobbing the movie theaters now.

On the other hand (full disclosure), I work for the Hillary Clinton of radio. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is a powerful legacy orchestra, a grande dame of orchestras, and we distribute our broadcasts through the WFMT network, which is an old-fashioned legacy service. They are willing to consider new ideas, but they are not risk-takers. Every idea has to be vetted before it makes the air. Not a bad policy when you have such an important legacy. They take themselves and their reputation very seriously.

The Hillary Clinton model of classical music radio has its contradictions. Clinton talked about getting us out of Iraq at the same time she threatened to obliterate Iran. Many classical radio program directors keep saying they want “fresh” programming and “innovative” ideas; yet when you ask them what they mean, they say they want interviews with artists and great live performances. Same old, same old. Then they play the Holberg Suite and Espana again.

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A Monday Morning Rant

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Authormarty72x72 Two recent articles about radio and music got my juices flowing: one was a post last week at “Inside Music Media” called Drinking Radio’s Kool-Aid by Jerry Del Colliano, whose understanding of the radio industry is both insightful and cynical. He was quoting David Rehr, CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, who said,

…being local, in and of itself, is not what defines radio’s value… It’s the accessibility and the connection with radio personalities. And it’s being everywhere and available to everyone. A radio is not a jukebox. If you’re listening to radio, you want to hear a human voice sharing that same moment in time that you are. There is power in that personal bond. A CD doesn’t have that connection. An iPod doesn’t have that. No, our model is not broken.

Jerry’s response?

WHAT? This is outrageous. If there is anything about radio that is compelling it is that radio is a local medium. It’s defined by being a local medium. Even the NAB refers to terrestrial radio as local radio. If you take local out of radio you have — well, the Internet. The world wide web. That’s not radio’s strength.

Hold that thought.

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