HOW CAN CLASSICAL MUSIC SURVIVE IN NEW YORK?

[kevinsealy]

This is a question of How, not Can because there is a market out there for Classical Music.

Rumors have been floating in the newspaper and has been posted on the NYRMB about the beloved WQXR being sold because the New York Times isn't profitting from the adverrtising revenue from the station.

If the New York Times decides to lease or sell WQXR, who would the buyer be? Would ESPN turn 96.3 FM into an all sports station which was rumored? Does Citadel have any interest? Does Emmis have any interest?What would CBS Radio do with WQXR? Clear Channel legally can't purchase WQXR because they've reached the limit of five FM stations in New York.

This is all speculation. But anything coud happen without notice. Remember four years ago no one expected Oldies CBS-FM to become JACK-FM.



Thanks,

Kevin L. Sealy

 

[nd2023]

On a non-com station.
94.7, 96.3, and 99.5 are all stations that could be generating more revenue with their signals, but aren't because of the limited appeal of their format. Heck, Pulse 87 could find more dance fans in the New York metro than all 3 of those stations combined. Dance, country, and alternative rock would be good to fill format holes.
WQXR and its format appeals to high-income folks, and so advertisers were willing to spend big bucks to reach those people. Now, the advertisers are cutting back on their radio budget. That hurts stations like WQXR most, and helps stations in the bottom half of the ratings more, as those would be considered a "bargain". Advertisers could probably spend less to reach 700,000 people through WNYZ than they would spend to reach only 330,000 people through top-biller WMGQ.

 

[K6JHU]

When this discussion was held on the Boston and LA boards it was concluded that the demographics of the Classical music listener were such (mostly 55+) that it was not worthwhile to advertise on the station. But at the same time these listeners have enough wherewithal to support a non-comm classical music station out of their own pockets. Having said that for KDFC in SF. And having just driven up the center on the country (Texas to Minnesota) I can say that non-comm classical music is alive and well in the heartland.

 

[pqgeorge]

If by any chance WQXR (96.3) were to be sold, there's no doubt that any suitor for WQXR more than likely dump the Classical Music format, faster than you can say "New York Times". If that were the case, I would think that WNYE-FM (91.5) would be a choice spot to go Classical 24/7. This is a full-powered Stereo FM with a nice market-wide coverage area that would easily equal, if not surpass the current WQXR signal, to serve the five boroughs, New Jersey and Connecticut. Since WNYC-FM (93.9) is basically using more and more NPR talk programming (and since the City no longer owns it), the Classical music would be better off if it were to be moved to 91.5. The City of New York has a real "diamond-in-the-raw" in WNYE-FM (and WNYE-DT for that matter).

The Classical music audience is very upscale and I think it would be very supportive if The Times were to move the format, call-letters (and intellectual property) down to WNYE. While I admit that Classical music is not exactly my "cup-of-tea", I do think that this timeless music DOES deserves a world-class place to call "home". I think WNYE-FM would fit the bill.

The New York Times blew it when they sold out WQEW to Disney. That was a great sounding station. I hated to see it go so quickly. Let's hope the "powers-that-be" do something right (for a change) to either keep WQXR and the Classical Music on 96.3, OR do something like move everything (except the commercials) down to 91.5 and to financially support the City Of New York's FM station, WNYE-FM.

Just a thought.

 

[kevinsealy]

The purpose of me starting this thread is that, although the Classical Music format may NOT have the CUME numbers it is said that this music appeals to an uopscale demo that have a higher expendible income. They attend Broadway plays and concerts.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[fybush]

The New York Times blew it when they sold out WQEW to Disney. That was a great sounding station. I hated to see it go so quickly. Let's hope the "powers-that-be" do something right (for a change) to either keep WQXR and the Classical Music on 96.3, OR do something like move everything (except the commercials) down to 91.5 and to financially support the City Of New York's FM station, WNYE-FM.

The idea of moving classical to WNYE has been percolating for a while, going back to the aftermath of 9/11 when WNYC-FM replaced most of its daytime classical programming with news/talk. At the time, the WNYE license was still held by the city schools, and there was apparently some serious talk of WNYC buying the license to create a second FM service.

That didn't come to pass for whatever reason, and now that the WNYE-FM and WNYE-TV licenses are in the hands of the city itself, I think it's extremely unlikely, for several reasons.

91.5 is actually coming into its own as a viable and interesting radio station in its own right over the last year or two. The programming deal with KEXP in Seattle is bringing some unique sounds to the city's airwaves, and the transmitter move from Brooklyn Tech to 4 Times Square is bringing the signal to a larger audience. (It's still only a B1-equivalent, though, and hardly the equal to the full B WQXR signal on 96.3.)

Even if the KEXP-produced programming were to be replaced by classical, that's only part of the 91.5 programming day - there's also ethnic programming that's been a staple of the signal, and those listeners probably won't just roll over and quietly tolerate losing "their" station in favor of a format that's perceived as catering to the city's elite.

There's also a very real question of whether the current demographics for classical radio can be sustained by listener support. WQED in Pittsburgh, which is all-classical, recently had to suspend its pledge drive due to lack of response - and that's in a market where listeners are accustomed to paying for their classical radio. New Yorkers are accustomed to getting it for free on WQXR, and I'm not convinced they'd come forward with enough in membership money to make the city change the direction in which it's now steering WNYE.

As for several of the potential suitors for 96.3 that Kevin mentioned in his original post, you can pretty much rule out Citadel and Emmis; neither has the cash to make such a deal happen, even if they had the interest.

My hunch is that if the Times does in fact put 96.3 up for sale - which I think is far from certain, since the potential profit from such a sale would be barely a drop in the company's bigger financial picture - you might see classical and the "WQXR" brand continue on one of the Bronx move-in signals, either 96.7 or 103.9. But that's very, very hypothetical right now.