Here’s the WQXR schedule I think today. Lauren Rico hosts midnight-5:30 AM. Except for Jeff Spurgeon in morning drive, I read the other hosts voice track. But it still sounds less formulaic to me than Classical 24, since hosts are local. I do prefer Classical 24 over Spotify with no hosts. Classical 24 is a good compromise in my opinion. But my 20 something kids prefer no announcers or djs. They remind me of my small town college days when we were told “ Shut up and play the music.” I always found this line funny. Even better, the small town station owner used to say “ Disc jockeys are a dime a dozen.” But I argued with him. Great hosts like Lauren Rico on WQXR and some on Classical 24 like Valerie Kahler make listening more informative and enjoyable for me. I’ll end with my high school journalism teacher who said “ Most smart people don’t care about djs.” I took his comment personally but also thought it was hilarious.
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More Layoffs At WNYC
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
Is Lauren Rico still doing afternoons at WSHU-FM Fairfield, CT? Is that shift live, and from where? WSHU, WQXR or a home studio in parts unknown?
Yes, you're right, the schedule shows Lauren Rico hosting overnight, M-F. But it also shows Nimet Habachy still hosting Saturday and Sunday morning from midnight to 6am. So it's possibly they haven't gotten around to updating the schedule in the website, or maybe the changes haven't kicked in yet.
Here's the PDF version of the weekly schedule. Note that there are no hosts indicated for any overnight shift. (However, Lauren Rico is shown still hosting Sundays, 5-9pm.) The notation at the bottom says the schedule is current as of 5/13/24.
Here's the PDF version of the weekly schedule. Note that there are no hosts indicated for any overnight shift. (However, Lauren Rico is shown still hosting Sundays, 5-9pm.) The notation at the bottom says the schedule is current as of 5/13/24.
Hi, I don’t see the PDF.
Not always. For instance Texas Public Radio’s KPAC in San Antonio uses Classical 24 to fill most of its schedule.
Sure. Same in Minneapolis. My reference was to San Diego, Miami, and Houston.
The link is embedded on the same web page as the "long-form" daily WQXR schedule mentioned/discussed earlier:
I believe she broadcasts from her home on Long Island.
The new schedule will take effect on 28 September.
Sure. Good sales people are gold and keep the station in the black. Why get rid of someone who brings in a lot more money than they cost, unless they have personality or ethics problems? The best ones are super valuable in most businesses.
Thanks for the updated WQXR schedule. I overlooked the earlier posting with the new schedule. Sad to see Lauren Rico’s shifts reduced to Sunday afternoons. A few months ago Annie Bergen who did middays at the station was demoted to weekends. Annie and Lauren are both very good hosts.
But, what if they aren't hitting their numbers because of the advertising downturn? Not every AE contributes equally.
Sorry about that. Overlooked the link, then the afternoon evaporated. (Oh, the joys of repairing a toilet tank.)
Classical24 isn’t cheap at all. WQXR can just load up music and let it rip uphosted overnights and it’ll be minimal cost.
With that said, it is a fantastic service and the hosts are live 24/7
I’ve always thought SXM should just carry the feed of WQXR (well, a custom feed for a national audience) and pay them whatever they’re spending on Symphony Hall, which is atrocious. It’d be additional revenue, use the same playlist and same hosts to voicetrack.
WQXR should have dropped Performance Today which would have saved them $10k+ immediately. Can’t stand arrogant, phony Fred Child. He’s retiring next year anyhow - his ego means a year and a half farewell.
Funny line, though for me Fred makes classical music fun. Good to have cheerful hosts. Growing up in Chicago, WFMT seemed to hire some hosts for their stuffiness. They also used to play way too much opera for my tastes. Fred is almost the opposite. I did always like Peter Van de Graf who hosts their syndicated all night program originating from WFMT. He’s been doing it for about 35 years. His voice never ages.
I assume over time the less effective sales people are let go I saw it happen at small town stations in the 70s. I assume Kelly has a lot more recent information. Than me. Sometimes innocent people who did nothing wrong are let go. Most of us including me have lost jobs, both fairly and unfairly. Having worked long ago in radio sales and announcing, it’s changed a lot, but most radio selling has always been stressful. The upside is that when successful, in most markets sales pays better than the often more fun hosting jobs.
That’s interesting, as back in the day I never considered the WFMT presentation as being stuffy. But most of my listening was during their satellite superstation days in the 1980s and 90s. Mel Zellman, Don Tait, Jim Unrath, Kerry Frumkin, Steve Reeder, Carl Grapentine and Mace Rosenstein are the voices I remember, as well as Ray Nordstrand and Norm Pellegrini pulling some airshifts along with their management duties.
I understand WFMT has suffered quite a bit of turmoil in recent years, and perhaps it is amazing they are still around.
Success in sales depends on the product you are selling and the management style. Having been in management, I hated sales goals because the salesperson is not the decisionmaker. The client is the decisionmaker. They may love your pitch and want to go with you but the timing is off and you are looking a month or two until they will start. Instead I made sure I knew my salespeople well and would go on calls with them and try to help them get that sale. In my book, honesty and integrity create a good salesperson. Skills can be taught but honesty and integrity cannot be taught. And such a salesperson only offers the client what is the best option for the client, not just what the management wants you to sell.
Being in New York City, I am not sure about the cost to voice-track the overnights, but I'd shoot for that if the budget allowed. I doubt Classical 24 or The Beethoven Network/Peter van de Graf would cost less to affiliate with. If the budget is dried up, unannounced is best. Announcers are quite important in Classical radio, not just for back announcing but sharing knowledge (even if from the CD insert) and creating the 'feel' or 'personality' of the station. I'm an not a big fan of either Classical 24 or Beethoven Network because, more often than not, you don't hear an entire work. Sure that seems to be getting a bit more common across the board but still a good number play a full symphony hourly, maybe two given some composers. As for the announcer, I welcome any info and many times don't know the work, conductor and orchestra. I actually like stations that will play beyond the 'classical top 40' from time to time and frequently you learn a bit like X composer who was popular in his home country but almost unknown elsewhere, studied under 'famous' composer in Munich and you can hear 'famous' composer and Munich's influences in his style.
Being in New York City, I am not sure about the cost to voice-track the overnights, but I'd shoot for that if the budget allowed. I doubt Classical 24 or The Beethoven Network/Peter van de Graf would cost less to affiliate with. If the budget is dried up, unannounced is best. Announcers are quite important in Classical radio, not just for back announcing but sharing knowledge (even if from the CD insert) and creating the 'feel' or 'personality' of the station. I'm an not a big fan of either Classical 24 or Beethoven Network because, more often than not, you don't hear an entire work. Sure that seems to be getting a bit more common across the board but still a good number play a full symphony hourly, maybe two given some composers. As for the announcer, I welcome any info and many times don't know the work, conductor and orchestra. I actually like stations that will play beyond the 'classical top 40' from time to time and frequently you learn a bit like X composer who was popular in his home country but almost unknown elsewhere, studied under 'famous' composer in Munich and you can hear 'famous' composer and Munich's influences in his style.
The problem with those syndicated formats is that they are locked into one-hour program blocks, which prevents playing long works, such as many symphonies. You won’t hear a complete Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, for example.
There are also internal breaks. Classical 24 has two 60 second floating avails between :06 and :59 after the hour that can be locally filled (only one break during overnights.) There are also hard times at :59 and :00 which are options for TOHID and local announcements, and an optional five minute block :01-06 that can be used for news or other local material. So a lot of constrictions for longer musical works.
You have a good memory of WFMT hosts. Many of These announcers seemed too formal to me compared to the more cheerful and lighthearted approaches of KUSC and WQXR. But my taste might be weird. I do like the Midnight Special folk and comedy show on Saturday night. Ray and Norm were both good as are recently retired Rich Warren and Marilyn.
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