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Nashville Public Radio to flip 91.1 to Local Music format later this fall

Great idea. Very expensive to do, if they plan on covering rights fees. They might be able to get a non-profit discount.

In a way, this kind of duplicates what WMOT is doing at MTSU.
 
TheBigA said:
Great idea. Very expensive to do, if they plan on covering rights fees. They might be able to get a non-profit discount.

In a way, this kind of duplicates what WMOT is doing at MTSU.
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Actually, it sounds more like Louisville's WFPK with some Lightning 100 elements to me.
 
It looks like they gave up a decent college/community station with a lot of connection to local music for an unsuccessful classical format, and now they want in on the trends and sounds that Lightning (and to some degree WMOT) have already offered. That linked report calls it a "local music" format but what the actual quotes are saying is "local curation" and "more of Nashville's music" and "vibrant soundtrack of Music City" which could be a Triple-A styled format with a lot of local music. Don't be surprised if it sounds more like a noncommercial version of WRLT.
 
I'm going on memory on this, so please correct any incorrect info. It seems the frequency was once a college station that had a very small audience, so the station went to the NPR/Public Radio entity. When that happened, the classical played in non-drive times on the NPR affiliate went to it's own frequency while the NPR affiliate opted for News/Talk. Wasn't the college station turned classical the former Vanderbilt college station?

From the description is sounds much like Radio Lightning. Perhaps they will be more like Radio Lightning in the earlier days, the pre-Radio Phoenix days.
 
b-turner said:
It seems the frequency was once a college station that had a very small audience, so the station went to the NPR/Public Radio entity.
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The story is actually even worse. That's why I mentioned WRVU in my previous post. Vanderbilt University decided that college students don't listen to FM, so they sold it to Nashville Public Media. The fact is that college students listen to FM, but professionally run stations, not student stations. So they sold WRVU, NPM flipped it to classical, and now they're trying to attract a younger audience. The problem is that audience is already being served by other stations in town.

Andy Travis said:
It looks like they gave up a decent college/community station with a lot of connection to local music for an unsuccessful classical format, and now they want in on the trends and sounds that Lightning (and to some degree WMOT) have already offered.
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Yes that's exactly what I'm saying.
 
I wish if they were going to jump on the non-com Triple A bandwagon, instead of a rootsy/Americana lean they’d instead do an Indie rock format like Indie 102.3 in Denver (ran by Co Public Radio).
 
TheBigA said:
Isn't that already being done by Lightning 100?
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To some extent, & I do like Lightning 100. Although Lightning’s format is still a bit more “rootsy” leaning than what CPR is doing in Denver with Indie 102.3. But then again, Nashville is ground central for rootsy/Americana type stuff, so any format such as this would probably have that lean as a significant part of it. If you’ve ever listened to SiriusXM’s indie rock channel (SiriusXMU), it’s pretty similar to what Co. Public Radio is doing on 102.3.
 
From today's press, in an article about their selection of Jason Moon Wilkins as PD of the "Music Discovery" format:

"Working with Wilkins on the new station's launch is Mike Henry of Paragon Media Strategies who has helped launch or re-launch some of the top music discovery stations across America including WFUV/New York, KUTX/Austin, WXPN/Philadelphia, "The Current"/Minneapolis among many others."

https://news.****************/artic...blic-Radio-Names-Jason-Moon-Wilkins-as-911-PD
 
Andy Travis said:
From today's press, in an article about their selection of Jason Moon Wilkins as PD of the "Music Discovery" format:
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It all reads very good, but he still has a lot of work to do to differentiate the station from the other stations in the market that aim to do the same thing. "Music discovery" is not an original concept. iHeart and Cumulus are even doing it. My suggestion would be to utilize the city's great music resources to originate nationally syndicated shows, the way we've seen with World Café, Fresh Air, and Jazz Set.
 
I feel some sympathy for WRLT. They've done an excellent job at being locally involved and musically unique. Between the economic damage from the pandemic, and a new competitor on the horizon that isn't reliant on advertising, I wonder how they navigate this.
 
Andy T

So is your name really Andy Travis. Or is that a reference to a show probably only those of us over 50 would have seen? (First run anyway) Not that many tv shows about radio. Probably not that many radio shows about tv, either so-
 
Andy Travis said:
I feel some sympathy for WRLT. They've done an excellent job at being locally involved and musically unique. Between the economic damage from the pandemic, and a new competitor on the horizon that isn't reliant on advertising, I wonder how they navigate this.
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Good comment. RLT is and has been a labor of love for many years. The addition of a non-comm on top of another non-comm (91.1 and 89.5, respectively) makes no financial sense for anyone, but my guess is 91.1 will attempt to align with local venues and artists and attempt to ride the door. That could reduce Lightning's sales. I think this will be a defining moment. If Lightning were to make "a change" we know it what probably become.
 
The sad part is the near-total loss of Nashville's only classical music radio station. This follows the loss of the area's only jazz radio station WMOT. Both of those stations are now basically chasing after the same audience.
 
TheBigA said:
The sad part is the near-total loss of Nashville's only classical music radio station. This follows the loss of the area's only jazz radio station WMOT. Both of those stations are now basically chasing after the same audience.
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Why is it sad? Those formats have long faltered and faded away and times change.* (*just being BigA-ish. :))

Actually, I agree. It was and is still truly sad to see WMOT move away from jazz. WPLN was a very good classical station for many years. WFCL was a bit hollow and I guess the old Vanderbilt crowd living here has aged up and out of any music on this planet or the old 91Rockers refused to accept the station being sold by Zeppos and the Disneyization of Vanderbilt has certainly not gone over well with alumni. The new fraternity row area is pretty nifty, though. These stations are a business and have to meet obligations. I cannot imagine the last few years of Nashville's Public Radio have been fun. IF someone could figure out a way to properly transform 91.1 into a "Nashville" version of WWOZ, then maybe (big "maybe") there is a chance to make this work. If they think they are going to just throw on a mediocre attempt at playing follow the leader against WMOT, WRLT and even WXNA, then heads are gonna roll.
 
Tibbs4 said:
If they think they are going to just throw on a mediocre attempt at playing follow the leader against WMOT, WRLT and even WXNA, then heads are gonna roll.
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The guy they've put in charge has all the bona fides it takes to do the job. So it probably won't be mediocre. My question is how do they distinguish themselves from stations that have heritage and relationships? Is there something they can do differently? I don't know. A Nashville version of WWOZ is an interesting idea.
 
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