I’m nervous about even passing on the rumor, because I don’t think there’s any real information, but various sources are speculating that WQXR is not making enough revenue. Thanks to Mike Dorner in Albuquerque for calling our attention to an article Wednesday in the New York Daily News.
The trade sheet Inside Radio this week raised the possibility, not for the first time, that The New York Times might sell WQXR (96.3 FM).
It’s not a happy thought, since anyone who bought the station almost surely would drop the classical format.
The Times confirms nothing.
There are only a couple dozen commercial classical stations left in this country, and WQXR has the largest audience. We at Scanning the Dial hope they can hang in there.
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How dreary!
Radio is approximating, or even surpassing, TV in wretchedness. In my last 60 years of listening AM/FM/SW in several continents one can easily note the ‘dumbing down’ of media. Technically often supurb, culturally beneath contempt.
I have lived in the New York City metropolitan area since 1949. I grew up with WQXR on in our house. It was, for so many years, a great station. But so was WNCN, and when I lived near Philadelphia during a three year hiatus from 1964-67, so was WFLN.
WFLN and WNCN are gone, and my opinion is that so should WQXR be gone.
I think that if it were not supported by the New York Times Company, which is itself in dire straights, WQXR would have been gone long ago. I do tune in once in a while, always in the car at various times of the day and evening, never at home, and I am always disappointed.
oh no! I hope not…WQXR was my first classical radio station (and why I associate classical music with drinking Veuve Clicquot Champagne;)
When I was visiting my parents in NJ over Christmas, I listened to some WQXR and didn’t always care for the many short light pieces, often not identified. On the other hand, it was around the holidays and I only really got to listen at some odd hours. It may be different at other times. Has it changed? It may have been like that when I was younger, and I just didn’t notice…
-Mona
WV Public Radio/Classically Speaking
http://www.wvpubcast.org/blogs.aspx?blogid=312
(still reading/enjoying your blog, just often too swamped in making radio (and right now raising money for the radio) to comment. looking forward to seeing you guys at AMPPR…oh! do you have an RSS feed for comments yet?)
Dear Mona, as the tech admin for the blog I wanted to let you know that yes, each article at this blog has its own comment feed which you can utilize by clicking the rss icon at the top of each article’s respective comments box. For example, this article’s feed URL is http://www.insidethearts.com/scanningthedial/2009/01/28/marty-ronish/751/feed/
If you’re looking for a feed to all comments, that is availalbe as well. You can find the link in the “meta” box located toward the bottom of the left hand navigation column. The direct URL is http://www.insidethearts.com/scanningthedial/comments/feed/
Dear admin,
Thank you!
-Mona
I’ve always heard from classical music aficionados in New York that WQXR is seen as a “lite” classical station, but I haven’t listened to it much myself.
Drew, thanks for fielding that question. And Mona, I don’t think I’ll be going to AMPPR, unfortunately, but Marty will — in fact, she says she’ll even be on a panel about blogging.