• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Anything We Can Do for Classical Music Radio in Boston?

R

Romy The Cat

Boston Musical Intelligencer will be presenting a panel discussion at Old South Church, Copley Square, Tuesday, January 5, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. The panel intends to address the overwhelming response of dismay at the diminution of classical music programming in the greater Boston area.

Moderator: William M. Bulger, former Massachusetts Senate President and President, University of Massachusetts, board member of the Boston Public Library and Boston Symphony Orchestra

Panelists: Richard Dyer, former classical music critic, The Boston Globe; Christopher Lydon, Radio Talk Host; Dave MacNeill, for many decades announcer, then general manager at the old WCRB; and John Voci, general manager, WGBH

Respondents: reviewers for The Boston Musical Intelligencer: Mark DeVoto, John W. Ehrlich, Brian Jones, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Tom Schnauber.

http://classical-scene.com/2009/12/24/anything-we-can-do-for-classical-music-radio-in-boston/

The Issues:

• Friday afternoon broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra are cancelled.
• In Boston’s Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and areas south of Boston, listeners are unable to receive a clear signal from “all-classical” WCRB.
• Much of the music on WCRB is programed by a Minneapolis syndicate.
• Area listeners have lost fifty hours a week of quality classical music.
• Do we really need more talk radio and duplicative NPR programming?
•Are WGBH contributors pleased with the changes?
•Are WCRB listeners pleased?
•Will the administration at WGBH reconsider?
 
The Issues:

• Friday afternoon broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra are cancelled.

oh well so were many Blues genre programs, get used to it.


• In Boston’s Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and areas south of Boston, listeners are unable to receive a clear signal from “all-classical” WCRB.

WCRB is licensed to the City of Lowell, It's responsibility is to provide signal coverage to Lowell, per F.C.C. technical specifications. Too bad huh. We already have one group of disgruntled radio listeners complaining about the lack of liberal radio in Boston ( Not that WBUR, WGBH, et al are not liberal huh) so now the "classical" people are chiming in, the same people who up until last month were saying WCRB was "classical lite" and not playing "real" classical music.

• Much of the music on WCRB is programed by a Minneapolis syndicate.
And you have never heard of the current trend in the radio business called syndication, or even worse VOICE TRACKING. Welcome to the world of radio!

• Area listeners have lost fifty hours a week of quality classical music.

Buy an XM or Sirius radio, Buy CD's, go see live performances, listen to internet streaming, etc.
I miss hearing the Hog and farm report in the morning. I remember fondly Jack Chase reading the price of eggs at the crack of dawn on WBZ TV. How do you think the people who miss the format known as " standards" and "Golden Oldies" feel? How about a HD radio ever thought about buying one of them? F

• Do we really need more talk radio and duplicative NPR programming?

Do we really need NPR programming at all?

•Are WGBH contributors pleased with the changes?
I hope so I can't take any more Beg-A-Thons

•Are WCRB listeners pleased?
Why don't you ask the 5 of them! If WGBH didn't step in with deep pockets and pay more than market value for a rim shot station, Goldman-Sachs, (the people who ended up owning 99.5 after it became financially unviable under Nassau's ownership) would have gladly sold it off to the highest bidder and you'd have hip hop on 99.5, or ethnic language programming.

•Will the administration at WGBH reconsider?
NO


Billy Bulger and Christopher Lydon being involved doesn't help the cause.
If Bulger wanted Classical Radio he could have made sure WUMB wasn't relayed on a bunch of stations that otherwise could have been used for non com Classical programming, Heaven forbid WUMB doesn't apply for every vacant frequency in the market.


The Classical folk have no idea how radio works. Sounds like the Progressive Talk group.
 
I am sorry, MRBIboredop, you are a completely clueless about the subject. I do not what to give a credit to your so-called “thinking” by replaying to your stupid comments.

For the others, I would like to note that in contrary to many others who just run mouths about their sadness regarding loosing the Friday’s Broadcasts the Musical Intelligencer took an action and made a stand for the interests of the sane community of listeners. I find it is very commendable and hope to see the people who care about FM Classical Radio in Boston visiting the discussion next week.

Rgs, Romy the Cat
 
Romy The Cat said:
Panelists: Christopher Lydon, Radio Talk Host
• Area listeners have lost fifty hours a week of quality classical music.
Click to expand...

Chris Lydon--now THERE's someone who can really help your cause--NOT. He may have talent, but look at his track record, for heaven's sake. With friends like him, I can guarantee that you don't need enemies!

Remember, the alternative was losing classical music programming entirely! ENTIRELY! What part of entirely don't you understand?

For listeners on the South Shore, WGBH-FM HD2 89.7 transmitting from Milton duplicates WCRB 99.5 100%. Yeah, you have to buy an HD radio to hear it, but methinks what you _really_ like to listen to is the sound of your own voice--complaining.

Maybe you can get the Friday broadcasts back. Good luck with that, but I'd suggest not holding your breath until it happens, unless your friends have advised you that you look especially good when your skin is a nice shade of blue.
 
Edit... thanks Dan, you confirmed my opinion while I was typing this reply.

Romy I have worked in radio, in the Boston market for over 30 years.

I have seen every downhill slide this business has taken.

IF the Entercom/ Nassau LMA had gone through, you would have had Sports programming of the highest caliber on 99.5.

If the economy had not tanked, and the WEEI personalities who were at the end of their contract 15 months ago had gotten Nassau to start their own sports formatted station, Classical on WCRB would have been gone.

I know your gripes are mostly with the shows booted off GBH, and GBH management, but the reality of radio, even non coms is that they need dollars to run, and they saw this as an opportunity to siphon some listeners and pledge money away from WBUR, and still corner the classical format in the market.

Formats change, even evolve. Look at what is now considered "oldies", music from the mid 1970's including dance music that was the earliest of the Disco genre. When was the last time you heard Doo Wop music on broadcast commercial radio. Gene Pitney?

Country music went from goat roping to Shania Twain, et all, and those female country artists gave us the Kelly Underwood's who have impacted both country and popular music.

Just think, in a couple of hundred years Tone Loc will be considered "Classical"
 
DanStrassberg said:
Romy The Cat said:
Panelists: Christopher Lydon, Radio Talk Host
• Area listeners have lost fifty hours a week of quality classical music.
Click to expand...

Chris Lydon--now THERE's someone who can really help your cause--NOT. He may have talent, but look at his track record, for heaven's sake. With friends like him, I can guarantee that you don't need enemies!

Remember, the alternative was losing classical music programming entirely! ENTIRELY! What part of entirely don't you understand?

For listeners on the South Shore, WGBH-FM HD2 89.7 transmitting from Milton duplicates WCRB 99.5 100%. Yeah, you have to buy an HD radio to hear it, but methinks what you _really_ like to listen to is the sound of your own voice--complaining.

Maybe you can get the Friday broadcasts back. Good luck with that, but I'd suggest not holding your breath until it happens, unless your friends have advised you that you look especially good when your skin is a nice shade of blue.
Click to expand...

DanStrassberg,

HD radio is absolutely out of questions – it is a stupid format that shall not be invented to begin with. The HD is god only for a transmitting a transcript of telephone conversions…..

I do not know who Chris Lydon is and what his truck record. I am not an organizer of the panel. I am glad to have anybody aboard who is willing to stand up.
 
In Boston’s Back Bay, Beacon Hill,

Good heavens, Beacon Hill reception problems? The best course would have been Classical on 89.7 and a power boost to CRB (for NPR progamming). Was this not possible?
 
MRBIboredop said:
I know your gripes are mostly with the shows booted off GBH, and GBH management, but the reality of radio, even non coms is that they need dollars to run, and they saw this as an opportunity to siphon some listeners and pledge money away from WBUR, and still corner the classical format in the market.
Click to expand...

I do not think that GBH management ever demonstrated that cutting Friday Live broadcast has anything to do “with economic reality of radio” or a “need dollars to run”. The only reason was ever given was that Friday and Saturdays broadcast are duplicates, that is so stupid reason that do not even what to argue it. Mind you that BSO do not changes for Friday broadcast and as I understand the Friday broadcasts need no tech recourses besides the announces. The meeting will be exactly for the GBH management to explain their view.
 
Blackroc said:
In Boston’s Back Bay, Beacon Hill,

Good heavens, Beacon Hill reception problems? The best course would have been Classical on 89.7 and a power boost to CRB (for NPR progamming). Was this not possible?
Click to expand...

99.3, WBACH also a Nassau station there are interference issues first adjacent, WFRD Dartmouth College Hanover NH, first adjacent, Second adjacent WPLM is a real issue, as is Nassau WNNH also on 99.1 practically on top of the 99.5 signal as it is, forget a power upgrade without a pattern change, WXRG on 99.9 second adjacent is close enough that there may be technical prohibitions.
 
Wow...reading this thread, I was wondering about the annual Christmas window displays at Jordan Marsh. How did they look this year? Was everyone able to see them OK? Even the folks on Beacon Hill? Because it wouldn't be Christmas in Boston without the window displays at Jordan Marsh.
 
MRBIboredop said:
99.3, WBACH also a Nassau station there are interference issues first adjacent, WFRD Dartmouth College Hanover NH, first adjacent, Second adjacent WPLM is a real issue, as is Nassau WNNH also on 99.1 practically on top of the 99.5 signal as it is, forget a power upgrade without a pattern change, WXRG on 99.9 second adjacent is close enough that there may be technical prohibitions.
Click to expand...

The WNNH-FM 99.1 MHz has very low-power, under 3KW, transmitter. Yes, for a Boston listener (I am from Back Bay) with a directional antenna the WNNH is in the same direction as CRB. Still, it is not a problem as the signal is very weak. The WPLM from Plymouth, sitting on the same 99.1 MHz and with 50KW transmitter is a bitch. In addition it is located fright in the tail side of a directional antenna. I was defeating 99.1 MHz with 48dB notch, was trying to get CRB with a narrow 150K IM bandwidth but I still was not able to get a clear signal with CD level of noise. With the old GBH, when whether behaved, the live Fraser Studio broadcasts, I had noise level that was restricted by the noise of internal GBH equipment. With the new GBH at the 99.5 MHz location I can’t get them without noise, regardless what I do.

The Cat
 
>>Just think, in a couple of hundred years Tone Loc will be considered "Classical"

"By the year 2006, the music known as the blues will be relegated to the classical music
section of your local library..." --Announcement by Dan Aykroyd at the beginning of
the Blues Brothers' "Briefcase Full of Blues" album, 1978
 
Romy The Cat said:
With the old GBH, when whether behaved, the live Fraser Studio broadcasts, I had noise level that was restricted by the noise of internal GBH equipment. With the new GBH at the 99.5 MHz location I can’t get them without noise, regardless what I do.
Click to expand...

Were you listening on 89.7 or on 96.3, the translator in Cambridge that simulcasts 89.7 to Beacon Hill?

It appears that "regardless of what you do" is not quite telling the whole truth. Based on your little diatribe against HD Radio a few postings ago, I'd wager that you haven't tried that. If you can get 99.5 in HD, it would probably be a better choice for an audio purist than 89.7 HD2 because I believe that 99.5 is using the the full available HD bit rate for the simulcast of analog 99.5, whereas 89.7 is dividing the bit rate among its main HD stream and at least one other HD stream (two other HD streams--classical on HD2 and Celtic on HD3--if I'm not mistaken).

Anyhow, I'm no fan of AM-band HD Radio--a misbegotten technology if ever there was one. But the FM-band version, though probably less than ideal, is not nearly as pernicious, unless the boost in sideband power turns it into a similar noisemaker to its AM-band sibling.
 
Would it be possible to put WCRB on the 96.3 translator or no because 99.5 is lisenced to Lowell?

If so, could they possibly upgrade, even just by a few watts, the 96.3 translator so more people could hear it?
 
99.3, WBACH also a Nassau station ---99.3 is no longer WBACH.It is now 99.3 the Wolf simulcasting 99.9 the Wolf. WBACH up in that area is now on 104.7.
 
it could have been worse. 89.7 news/talk and 99.5 some other format with different owner. WCRB was "Clasical Lite" under Nassau.If Peter Mitchell was still with us; 99.5 is an example of the need for an outdoor antenna connected to a good FM tuner. Give credit to GBH Technical staff for trying to broadcast with just overmodulation protection on 99.5
 
ned also predicted WEEI to FM on 1/10; we'll see if either comes true. I would be more inclined to believe the WEEI rumor...WGBH goes through the big switch on 12/1 only to flip flop with 99.5 at the end of next month?
Nope, GBH would rather have their news/talk operation on a station more centered to Boston area like 89.7

What other predictions... "WEEI will move all ESPN to 93.7, keeping local sports talk on 850. 'We see AM
as the future of radio,' said program director Hokey Wolfe*" :) (About as likely!)

*--for those too young; pun with "Jason Wolfe":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_Wolf
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom