Dual-format station WWNO in New Orleans is going all news/talk during weekdays, according to Dave Walker at the Times-Picayune, though the overnights will remain classical. The change is scheduled to happen July 23rd. Note the spin:
Now carrying a combination of Classical music and news-and-talk, WWNO-2 – available over the air via digital radio and streaming at WWNO.org and on the station’s smart-phone app – will become a full-time home for Classical music, some programmed by WWNO personality Farrar Hudkins. Classical music will still be carried on WWNO’s main over-the-air signal from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. each weekday.
People with HD radios will now be able to listen to full time classical music — all six of them.
G.M. Paul Maassen says the change has been in the works for 3 years, because news/ralk programming has grown and people don’t want the same things from radio anymore.
“People are using radio in a fundamentally different way than they did 15-20 years ago,” he said. “News and information – and I want to say that’s an expanded umbrella for us that includes arts and culture and education and the environment; it’s a pretty broad umbrella for us – (has) seen tremendous growth over the past 20 years. Part of it is NPR coming into its own, and that’s a national trend. We’re seeing it here in New Orleans as well, that the listenership for the news-and-information programming is growing. ”
And as we all know, talk raises more money than classical music does. Sigh.
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“People with HD radios will now be able to listen to full time classical music — all six of them.”
True most people do not have HD radios so it will not reach most people. But at least they are offering 24 hours a day of Classical music on the airwaves so that anyone who wants can buy an HD radio so no one can say they is no longer Classical music on the radio.
I just bought another HD radio by Insignia that is only $50. It is small and portable and has a line out to connect to a home stereo. HD after market car radios only cost a little over a hundred dollars that I have in my car. And I put an HD add-on radio to the existing one in my mom’s van for about $30.
Another comment:
I have had to call my Classical station – WUIS 91.9 HD3 again yesterday and tell them they had been off the air all day. I have had to do this 2 or 3 times recently. Their stream goes down sometimes and has to be restarted. That tells me no one is listening to it at the station to even monitor it. And it makes me wonder if I am the only one listening. That is not good.
From Chatham, IL I have an outside FM antenna in my attic which gets me a good signal in my house for WUIS 91.9 HD3 Springfield, IL about 25 miles away. With the attic antenna I can also get the 24 hour Classical HD2 channel from WILL 90.9 Urbana, IL about 75 miles away. They both broadcast Classical 24 most of the time. But if I use just a wire or rod antenna connected to the HD radio it has to be placed just right and WUIS 91.9 goes in and out depending where I stand and the audio stutters. And a car windshield antenna also loses the signal. A rod antenna for a car is needed for steady reception. So WUIS needs a power increase on their Digital signal because at 500 watts is not good enough for a reliable signal.
Many dual formatted Classical stations only have Classical music on during the mid-days or overnights which does not cut it as well. Classical music needs to be on in the morning and evening drive times and often it is not because that is when Morning Edition and All Things Considered are on. That is why dual formatted stations do not work. Classical needs their own station to be on the air with Classical when most people are listening and driving in their cars. That is why 24 hour HD 2 and HD 3 channels are very nice.
Brian,
I agree that dual-format stations are not ideal. But I fear that HD radio will kill the classical format, not only because people (except for you) aren’t buying HD radios, but because stations aren’t putting real effort and resources into their HD programming.
Is anyone doing full time live classical announcing on an HD channel? I don’t know how much of Q2 in NYC is live, but I think most HD programming is voice-tracked, which means it’s not done in real time, people can’t call in and respond on the spot, hosts can’t really pull requests or respond to inspiration on hearing the music, there’s little high-level production happening, and what about live performances, interviews, concert promotion, arts advocacy, and music education — all the special things announcers do to enhance the programming and support the community? At the stations I know, the HD announcers go into the tracking booth and track 8 hours or more of CD play in less than an hour. It’s definitely not making classical radio better — sez I.
Marty,
Big markets seem to be about the only places that can support a full time Classical station anymore outside of a few regional networks. At least that is what the radio stations seem to be telling us. Most HD 2 and HD 3 stations use Classical 24 or WFMT’s Beethoven service. I think that is fine really with me. Classical 24 is live and can be contacted when they are live by using facebook. I like Classical 24 except for too many violin concerto’s. I have never liked when announcers talk to much like Performance Today.
But at the same time I agree it is concerning too. I Iiked WUIS’s local classical music for 4 hours that is no more and like WILL-FM local 3 hours of classical music although its on in the morning when I almost never listen. At the times I listen from the afternoon to overnight my local stations have always been off satellite.
On message boards there is a great concern about radio not being local anymore. But for me local has never been important only hearing music I like.
I agree that it is a concern that outside of big markets people may stop listening to classical music on the radio. Most new cars are starting to have HD radio so that is a hope. It will take a lot of time before most people get those new cars and most people have HD. I hope Classical music is still around then.