WUFT in Gainesville, Fla., went through with its change to all-news Monday, despite the continued protests of area classical fans. The Gainesville Sun ran an article noting the change — I wonder whether this might be the most media coverage of a switch away from classical since we inaugurated this blog. WUFT now airs an all-classical HD channel, and the Sun notes that electronics stores in Gainesville have sold an unprecedented number of HD radios since the change. I was also surprised that the HD channel features live hosts. That may be a first for an HD classical channel, according to the article. (Are any of the hosts on WNYC2 live?)
Bravo San Francisco Classical Voice
A lot of us in the media have been casting about for the best way to support and promote the artists who create the classical music that we live and breathe. Their place in newspapers is shrinking, shrinking. In some communities the symbiotic relationship between the classical radio station and local musicians is strong and vibrant. In others not so much.
San Francisco has one great answer for our common dilemma, and it just turned 10 years old. It’s the website San Francisco Classical Voice.
The Music Industry and The Web
Ordinarily, I’m super careful to attribute my sources, but I failed to write this one down when I saved the link. I think I got it from ArtsJournal.com. I also haven’t independently checked the facts and figures in this article. Now, after all those disclaimers, here’s a quote from the article that knocked my socks off:
News roundup: WQXR, new classical websites and more
Welcome to the Sweating in a Brazilian “Winter”, Too Many Tabs Open in Firefox Link-dump Edition of Scanning the Dial. Freshness of items may vary.
Mark Ramsey on the future of music radio: “The ‘next big thing’ in radio is the gradual disappearance of music stations to be replaced by non-music stations, whether they are Talk, Sports, or new formulas yet to be devised.”