The MSO: an orchestra with a radio station?

The CBC’s decision to shed its radio orchestra has generated plenty of controversy. But across the border in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a story is playing out that is precisely the opposite of the CBC hubbub: an orchestra that wants to start its own radio station.

Last fall, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra took a step toward making history when it applied to the Federal Communications Commission for an FM radio license. If it succeeds, the orchestra will, to my knowledge, be the first in the United States to run a radio station. The orchestra hopes to use the station to air selections from its archive of recorded performances and promote its concerts to the Milwaukee community.

I worked with the MSO on the application process as part of a temporary job with the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that advocates on behalf of musicians in the realms of technology and public policy. We scoured the country looking for arts and cultural groups that might want to apply for radio stations, taking advantage of a rare opportunity presented by the FCC. It had been more than seven years since the commission accepted applications for noncommercial FM stations, and the demand for new licenses was high. We wanted to make sure that deserving would-be broadcasters didn’t miss out.

Finding willing recruits was a tough sell, however. Working through the complicated application process was no simple task. It involved filling out forms, getting legal help, commissioning engineering studies and navigating the FCC’s byzantine rules. That required time and money. And once a nonprofit applied for a station, there was actually the chance that they’d get one — which meant a sudden entree into the radio business. No wonder many organizations, including most orchestras, quailed at the thought.

But the MSO was another story. Milwaukee had recently lost a commercial classical station, and no other station in the city, public or commercial, offered classical music. The orchestra’s leadership saw a rare opportunity to fill that gap and provide a service that could both raise their profile and enrich the cultural life of their community. To their credit, they seized it.

“The possibilities that are represented by this license are just too good to pass up,” says Martin Sher, who as an Orchestra Management Fellow with the American Symphony Orchestra League coordinated the MSO’s efforts to prepare the FCC application. His job also entailed enduring my nagging phone calls on at least a weekly basis, as I ensured that the orchestra was on track preparing every last detail of their application. One slip-up could prompt the FCC to dismiss their request. What’s more, the application process was highly competitive. Not only would the FCC be scrutinizing the MSO’s application, but potentially any number of hopeful broadcasters vying for a nearby frequency.

But Martin and the MSO overcame all the challenges that popped up, and they crossed the finish line. Along the way, Martin reported, he was pleased to find that the orchestra was already tapping a wellspring of community support. The president of Norlight Telecommunications, which owns the broadcast tower that the MSO hopes will host its transmitter, “expressed real concern over the lack of classical programming” on the airwaves, Sher says. And staffers at the library in Saukville, Wisconsin, which is now hosting MSO paperwork required by the FCC, also shared encouragement, Sher says.

“We found cheerleaders throughout this process,” he says, “and I found that personally very gratifying.”

So how does this story end? Well, we don’t yet know. Like most of the hundreds of organizations who applied for stations last fall, the MSO must now wait while the FCC sorts through the applications it received. Many of the applications vie for frequencies that, if granted, would interfere with each other. The FCC will apply a so-called point system that favors localism and diversity of ownership to determine which applicants will prevail, and the MSO’s fate is not yet clear. But I’m rooting for them — and, if Martin’s experiences are any indication, maybe the city of Milwaukee will be, too.

You can read more about the kinds of groups that applied for licenses in a series of posts I’ve been writing for the Future of Music Coalition’s blog. This article in Current, the trade newspaper for public broadcasting (where I’m a contributing editor), gives more detail about the FCC application window.