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Cuts at WNYC today

What was so bad about the original setup of talk and news on 820 and music on 94FM? I still think that's what they need to return to. WNYC-FM classical/cultural, and keep 105.9 FM as a repeater for WNYC 820.

The music programs on the more powerful FM might result in increased donations from music lovers.
Doubtful. If "music lovers" donated, WNYC-FM wouldn't have dropped classical music in the first place (same with other public radio news/talk stations that used to have the so-called "tent pole" format). In my experience, "music lovers" (i.e., classical music lovers) tend to have a sense of entitlement and don't think they should have to donate (or listen to commercials as aired on the old WQXR when the Times owned it).
 
Unfortunately, that's not been the case. It wasn't when classical was on 94 either. That's why they expanded the news there, and why they did the deal to get 105.9, and put it on its own station. They don't need to experiment. They know what the results will be. News & Talk are the driving force for public radio. That's what the membership wants, that's where corporate donations are, and that's why the stations are the way they are. You see the same thing in Boston with WGBH and WCRB. They used to do classical on WGBH, but they discovered more membership wanted news & talk.
Funny enough, in Cleveland, they ended up putting the classical music on the bigger FM signal that used to be news/talk (formerly the Cleveland Board of Education station).
 
Doubtful. If "music lovers" donated, WNYC-FM wouldn't have dropped classical music in the first place (same with other public radio news/talk stations that used to have the so-called "tent pole" format). In my experience, "music lovers" (i.e., classical music lovers) tend to have a sense of entitlement and don't think they should have to donate (or listen to commercials as aired on the old WQXR when the Times owned it).
Times have changed from when we had three full time classicals in NYC, two commercial and one non. Perhaps the more consolidated audience will support it now? If they enploy some network programs (there is a classical network out there), it can further cut local operating costs.
 
Funny enough, in Cleveland, they ended up putting the classical music on the bigger FM signal that used to be news/talk (formerly the Cleveland Board of Education station).

Correct, and even on that bigger signal, WCLV gets a 1.7 share, while news/talk on WKSU gets a 3.3. So who's winning there?

Times have changed from when we had three full time classicals in NYC, two commercial and one non. Perhaps the more consolidated audience will support it now? If they enploy some network programs (there is a classical network out there), it can further cut local operating costs.

Or perhaps the audience for classical isn't what it was 25 years ago and is best suited where it is. Perhaps.
 
Funny enough, in Cleveland, they ended up putting the classical music on the bigger FM signal that used to be news/talk (formerly the Cleveland Board of Education station).
But the heritage of WCLV goes back to the earliest 1960's and it is sort of an "institution" in the city that has long had one of the best symphony orchestras in the country.
 
But the heritage of WCLV goes back to the earliest 1960's and it is sort of an "institution" in the city that has long had one of the best symphony orchestras in the country.
And WNYC's heritage goes back even farther. And ditto WQXR - in the city that has the NYC Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the American Symphony....and that's just the tip.
 
And WNYC's heritage goes back even farther. And ditto WQXR - in the city that has the NYC Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the American Symphony....and that's just the tip.
Those were not on WQXR. The Metropolitan Opera was on NBC Blue and ABC radio, sponsored by Texaco. CBS Carried the Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Symphony from WGAR. At one point, the announcer on those broadcasts was WGAR's Jack Paar.
 
Those were not on WQXR. The Metropolitan Opera was on NBC Blue and ABC radio, sponsored by Texaco. CBS Carried the Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Symphony from WGAR. At one point, the announcer on those broadcasts was WGAR's Jack Paar.

That's all ancient history. Once the networks went away, those orchestras became syndicated shows that were carried either on WQXR or WNCN. Robert Conrad syndicated the Cleveland Symphony from WCLV. Right now, all three are on WQXR. Even the Cleveland. The Met is on Saturday afternoons, the NY Phil on Thursday nights.
 
And WNYC's heritage goes back even farther. And ditto WQXR - in the city that has the NYC Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the American Symphony....and that's just the tip.
But that was expected of New York.

It was not expected of a town full of ore boats and steel mills with a much smaller population. In the 20's, a group of Clevelanders got together to give the city something no town its size had: a world class symphony orchestra and a hall good enough to attract the Met and renowned ballet troupes. I'm quite proud that my father was part of that small group.

WCLV was a successful, albeit moderately so, station right from the start. They were in cheap studios way out on the East Side of Cleveland, but had a very dedicated owner and staff. The station, even for the musically uneducated, was good to listen to; I used WCLV, WDBN and HJED as the stations I'd do homework to back in the earliest 60's.
 
But that was expected of New York.

It was not expected of a town full of ore boats and steel mills with a much smaller population. In the 20's, a group of Clevelanders got together to give the city something no town its size had: a world class symphony orchestra and a hall good enough to attract the Met and renowned ballet troupes. I'm quite proud that my father was part of that small group.

WCLV was a successful, albeit moderately so, station right from the start. They were in cheap studios way out on the East Side of Cleveland, but had a very dedicated owner and staff. The station, even for the musically uneducated, was good to listen to; I used WCLV, WDBN and HJED as the stations I'd do homework to back in the earliest 60's.
Cleveland was the 6th City. 🥺
 
Yeah, a century ago. But it was as dirty as burnt coal and as sophisticated as LooneyTunes.
Hey, don't knock Looney Tunes, they're plenty sophisticated. The humor, the animation, the storyboards, all advanced the art forward. Watch a few hours of MeTV Toons some evening, compare the output of Termite Terrace to most of the other animation they run there. It's night and day.
 
Hey, don't knock Looney Tunes, they're plenty sophisticated. The humor, the animation, the storyboards, all advanced the art forward. Watch a few hours of MeTV Toons some evening, compare the output of Termite Terrace to most of the other animation they run there. It's night and day.
Sophisticated? No. But I can't get enough of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Tweety and Bugs are pretty good, too.

 
↑ WCLV commenced production of the nationally syndicated Adventures in Good Music in 1970. The station continued production for the remainder of the program's run. ↑
 
You've pretty much named most of the primary stable of Looney Tunes characters. The ones that I'd add are Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. And anyone who can't appreciate the humor in those cartoons has no soul.
My favorites were Sylvester the cat and Speedy Gonzales. Along with Yosemite Sam and the Roadrunner/Coyote.
 
Question from a Californian about WNYC that possibly fits within this thread's subject:

I don't listen often, but WNYC used to have several 24/7 online streams I enjoyed: Classical, New Standards, Holiday Channel, Holiday Standards, and New Sounds. New Standards was offloaded to WBGO late last year, but now I'm discovering that Holiday Channel apparently vanished some time since I last tried listening to it -- and I cannot find anything online about where it went.

Do any of you regular listeners know? Is someone else running it? Did it merge with Holiday Standards? Or is it just plain gone for good?
 
Question from a Californian about WNYC that possibly fits within this thread's subject:

I don't listen often, but WNYC used to have several 24/7 online streams I enjoyed: Classical, New Standards, Holiday Channel, Holiday Standards, and New Sounds. New Standards was offloaded to WBGO late last year, but now I'm discovering that Holiday Channel apparently vanished some time since I last tried listening to it -- and I cannot find anything online about where it went.

Do any of you regular listeners know? Is someone else running it? Did it merge with Holiday Standards? Or is it just plain gone for good?
Answer from one of your Cali "neighbors". I can only speak to New Sounds. Go back to the original post on page 1 of this thread, it's directly addressed there. If you read through the subsequent posts you might get some or all of your questions answered.

FWIW -- admittedly not much -- I met New Sounds host John Schaefer when I volunteered one night in the WNYC phone room during their winter pledge drive. It was early 1989, so 36 years ago. At that time Schaefer had been hosting his program for at least the previous couple of years. So it may have been time for him to retire, irrespective of any NYPM financial problems or loss of CPB funding.
 


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