Globe: the new WCRB

[raccoonradio]

tnx again to bostonradio's twitter for link

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/12/18/a_new_wcrb_and_a_shrinking_classical_dial/?page=1

>>So ironically, one group that has lost big in this saving of a classical music station is the classical listening audience itself...Overshadowing the larger transition has also been the critical issue of signal strength. WCRB-FM 99.5 has a much weaker signal than WGBH-FM 89.7 does

 

[CTListener]

tnx again to bostonradio's twitter for link

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/12/18/a_new_wcrb_and_a_shrinking_classical_dial/?page=1

>>So ironically, one group that has lost big in this saving of a classical music station is the classical listening audience itself...Overshadowing the larger transition has also been the critical issue of signal strength. WCRB-FM 99.5 has a much weaker signal than WGBH-FM 89.7 does

Eichler moans long and loud about the loss of the Friday night Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcasts, even when someone from 'GBH tells him that the BSO often duplicates music on the Friday and Saturday programs and that 'CRB will be carrying more Pops and Tanglewood concerts and keeping the Saturday performances. Add to that the greatly expanded playlist for regular programming and the loss of one Friday show seems rather insignificant to me.

The big problem is signal reach; the South Shore is especially hard hit by the shift from 89.7 to 99.5. I could see Eichler centering his story around that and getting a lot of people to agree with him, on the record. Instead, the story is basically a rant about how a "musical institution" (One weekly program, the contents of which were often duplicated in the same time slot the following night?) has been lost. I don't get it.

 

[raccoonradio]

And while it doesn't involve classical music (other than possibly Corky Siegel's "chamber blues" projects),
I can add two other musical institutions got wiped out: the long running WGBH blues and folk shows.

 

[raccoonradio]

And:

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/12/18/public_radio_war_is_on/

It's mentioned that "In the mid-1980s, former WBUR station manager Jane Christo jettisoned classical music and converted the sleepy Boston University station to an all-news-and-talk format. Within just a few years, ’BUR owned the upscale NPR demographic..."
I do remember something like that. (btw does anyone remember if WBUR used to have a show called Firesign World on Sunday nights which featured comedy such as Firesign Theater?)

Also: as far as I know neither WGBH nor WBUR (nor WCRB) runs a syndicated show called
Weekend Radio. Originated at WCLV in Cleveland with host Robert Conrad (no, not the actor),
the show mixes comedy bits by the likes of The Goons (Peter Sellers, etc.), Flanders and
Swann, Bob Newhart, and Jean Shepherd with light classical pieces. Enjoyable; but as far as I know it has not aired in Boston. Wonder if WCRB might consider it...?

http://www.wclv.com/page.php?pageID=98

 

[aaronread]

The big problem is signal reach; the South Shore is especially hard hit by the shift from 89.7 to 99.5. I could see Eichler centering his story around that and getting a lot of people to agree with him, on the record. Instead, the story is basically a rant about how a "musical institution" (One weekly program, the contents of which were often duplicated in the same time slot the following night?) has been lost. I don't get it.

Because to focus the rant on how "classical has been shunted to a smaller signal" is a total load of hooey. The exact same feed of 99.5FM is available on 89.7FM-HD2. Granted, the HD2 signal isn't as receivable quite as far as the analog one theoretically is, but to say that the South Shore is being deprived of the classical format because it's "only" on 99.5 just isn't true. All you need is $40 for an HD Radio folks (the Insignia portables are on sale at BestBuy.com) and that's not asking much. You'd pay for a decent analog tuner that you'd need to listen to WGBH on the fringe anyways.

Eichler also bemoans the loss of a cultural institution but he doesn't delve at all into the actual ratings, which might tell a more illuminating story since classical, on the whole, is apparently plummeting in listenership when measured under the PPM. It's all well and good for people to say that Boston needs a classical outlet but if only a very small subset of the population listens to it then it doesn't belong on a BROADcast medium like radio - it belongs on the niche medium like webcasting/podcasting.

I found Eichler's entire article to be rather disingenuous. Strikes me that he set out to write a hatchet job and then had to figure out how to pretty it up enough that it didn't reek too badly. Notice how he makes a very brief, passing reference to HD Radio - just enough to acknowledge it's there but not enough to explain that it effectively makes up about 90% of the supposed "lost" listenership.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

I'm not sure "plummeting" is the right word to use when comparing diary-to-PPM ratings for classical. For a few months while it was still operated by the NY Times AND rated with meters, WQXR moved from slightly above 2.0 to slightly below 2.0, where it registered again on a reduced facility. Classical music listeners (and I do mean LISTENERS) behave a bit differently from other people. Just Wednesday (as I reported elsewhere), right after WCRB played a great piece to which Ilistened in full, I turned off the station because it didn't seem right to try to follow up the experience with a lesser piece. This does not happen with "Me So Horny". One thing you're not taking into account: the chances are you never attend any live classical performances of any kind. I represent an outlier, attending everything from solo recitals, choral concerts (my girl friend majored in voice, and very oftern we go to choral concerts of pieces she herself has sung in the past), orchestral concerts and fully-staged full-length operas. Every kind of music performance I attend occurs before a nearly-full house, ranging from smaller venues like Seully Hall at the Boston Conservatory of Music on The Fenway, to Symphony Hall and the Schubert Theater. Maybe in January, you could try getting a "rush" seat for the BSO on Thursday afternoons, not necessarily to hear the performance, but to get the feel of a live, classical performance in Boston...or a Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (not to be confused with the BSO) perrformance at Symphony or Jordan Hall. These cost $$$$$$$, but there are FREE concerts the first Monday of the month at the New England Conservatory.

 

[carmen]

You'd pay for a decent analog tuner that you'd need to listen to WGBH on the fringe anyway

dont all Classical listeners have some Sansui thing on a bookshelf alongside some Psychology manuals that havent been touched since 1983?

 

[4CX1000A]

Also: as far as I know neither WGBH nor WBUR (nor WCRB) runs a syndicated show called
Weekend Radio. Originated at WCLV in Cleveland with host Robert Conrad (no, not the actor),

Weekend Radio was Bob Conrad's answer to the late Richard Kaye's WCRB Saturday Night, and in fact the two shows ran each other's segments.

WCRB Saturday Night lasted until Richard's retirement in the mid 1990's. Richard died in 2006 as the sale of WCRB to Greater Media took place; his funeral was on December 1, the very day of the frequency swap between WCRB and WKLB.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Because to focus the rant on how "classical has been shunted to a smaller signal" is a total load of hooey. The exact same feed of 99.5FM is available on 89.7FM-HD2. Granted, the HD2 signal isn't as receivable quite as far as the analog one theoretically is, but to say that the South Shore is being deprived of the classical format because it's "only" on 99.5 just isn't true. All you need is $40 for an HD Radio folks (the Insignia portables are on sale at BestBuy.com) and that's not asking much. You'd pay for a decent analog tuner that you'd need to listen to WGBH on the fringe anyways.

The Insignia is basically an HD FM "walkman"-type portable, though. I have one, it's a pretty good little radio, but it costs at least twice as much to purchase a home or car HD radio.

Of course, if you have a home or car stereo with input jacks, you can get the proper adapters to play the Insigna through it. Doing that sounds pretty good at home, I've done it, but HD reception with the Insignia inside a moving car without the capability of using an external (outside the car) antenna is not good.

I bought an iLuv HD stereo clock radio for my mom for ~$100 so that she could continue to listen to classical on the HD2. That was the lowest priced HD home radio I could find. WCRB reception is poor where she lives due to a hill directly behind her house blocking signals from the north.

 

[kc1ih]

The Insignia HD Radio tuner is $99.99 at Best Buy, though it frequently goes on sale for less than that.

 

[Don Juan]

Because to focus the rant on how "classical has been shunted to a smaller signal" is a total load of hooey. The exact same feed of 99.5FM is available on 89.7FM-HD2. Granted, the HD2 signal isn't as receivable quite as far as the analog one theoretically is, but to say that the South Shore is being deprived of the classical format because it's "only" on 99.5 just isn't true. All you need is $40 for an HD Radio folks (the Insignia portables are on sale at BestBuy.com) and that's not asking much. You'd pay for a decent analog tuner that you'd need to listen to WGBH on the fringe anyways.

The Insignia is basically an HD FM "walkman"-type portable, though. I have one, it's a pretty good little radio, but it costs at least twice as much to purchase a home or car HD radio.

I think home and car prices will come down (they already have a bit).

I bought a "Mighty Red" for 35 bucks! Super little radio!

http://mightyredhd.com/mightyredhd/welcome.asp

The web site says sold-out...but I hear that "Mighty Red" is just a makeover of another model.

Can't go wrong for $35! Smooth Jazz and 70's are my favorite HD channels in Boston.

http://mightyredhd.com/mightyredhd/welcome.asp

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I think home and car prices will come down (they already have a bit).

I bought a "Mighty Red" for 35 bucks! Super little radio!

http://mightyredhd.com/mightyredhd/welcome.asp

The web site says sold-out...but I hear that "Mighty Red" is just a makeover of another model.

It looks exactly like my Insignia, even identical display graphics, but with a red case instead of black. I'd bet it's the exact same circuitry inside.

That's $10 less than I paid for my Insignia at Best Buy, though (and that was on sale $5 off).

 

[Don Juan]

I think home and car prices will come down (they already have a bit).

I bought a "Mighty Red" for 35 bucks! Super little radio!

http://mightyredhd.com/mightyredhd/welcome.asp

The web site says sold-out...but I hear that "Mighty Red" is just a makeover of another model.

It looks exactly like my Insignia, even identical display graphics, but with a red case instead of black. I'd bet it's the exact same circuitry inside.

Probably. A great little radio. I was pleasantly surprised!