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TO LISTENERS OF THE FORMER CLASSICAL WFMR

G

gosox

Guest
I wanted to take a moment to thank the listeners of Classical 106.9 WFMR, whether long-timers or occasional tune-ins. This station, over three frequencies, served Milwaukee for 51 years. Today, June 26th, would have been WFMR's 51st birthday. For all the years this station served Milwaukee, I am thankful. I'm also thankful that I worked at WFMR for 10 years. Like I said in Tim Cuprisin's column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, if you want to hear classical, get it in any way you can, and especially by going to concerts and performances. The arts are still strong, but they need your support.

I worked for a great company in Saga Communications. They treated me well, and I thank them for the opportunity. This is a great place to live, and I hope to find another opportunity here, classical or otherwise. Thank you, Milwaukee!

Steve Murphy
Former WFMR PD/Morning Host
 
gosox said:
I wanted to take a moment to thank the listeners of Classical 106.9 WFMR, whether long-timers or occasional tune-ins. This station, over three frequencies, served Milwaukee for 51 years. Today, June 26th, would have been WFMR's 51st birthday. For all the years this station served Milwaukee, I am thankful. I'm also thankful that I worked at WFMR for 10 years. Like I said in Tim Cuprisin's column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, if you want to hear classical, get it in any way you can, and especially by going to concerts and performances. The arts are still strong, but they need your support.

I worked for a great company in Saga Communications. They treated me well, and I thank them for the opportunity. This is a great place to live, and I hope to find another opportunity here, classical or otherwise. Thank you, Milwaukee!

Steve Murphy
Former WFMR PD/Morning Host
Click to expand...
Steve, You sound like a great guy. I hope Saga extends your employment to their new Smooth Jazz station. I do have one question however Steve? I listened online and it was just a simple chaneover from Classical to Smooth Jazz. Why didn't Saga do some sort of farewell to the listeners? Like a brief history of Classical in milwaukee and the various stations that aired Classical over the last 51 years?
 
Sadly, Madmansam, that's the nature of the beast. I always knew from day one that the corporation (Saga) could do what they wanted with the station, and I was under no contract. I worked at their pleasure. I am grateful they gave me ten years to do the job I love doing - being on the air, playing classical music.

I was told on Monday that WFMR was changing format at midnight that night and I was being let go, and that was that. No goodbyes, no historical retrospectives (unlike WNBC in New York before they flipped to all-sports WFAN in 1988). What it is is what it is. If I had the chance to say goodbye, I would have done so in a heartbeat just to say thanks. But it wasn't meant to be. Que sera sera. :'( Thanks for the kind words, Sam.
 
hey Steve, what does "out-of-wc" mean in your occupation on here? It seems the 106.9 frequency format is always changing here :( From smooth jazz to modern AC to rhythmic oldies to classical to now smooth jazz again. Will there ever be a format that works and is here to stay?
 
What this inquriing mind wants to know is...

which non-commercial station is going to flip to classical?

WYMS? WUWM? WHAD?

(if forced to bet I'd say WUWM either joins WPR's news/classical service or does something similar locally)
 
That would be a sucker's bet. No way WUWM adds classical music or becomes an affiliate of WPR. They have no interest in either of those at all. WYMS ditto.
 
I was told on Monday that WFMR was changing format at midnight that night and I was being let go, and that was that. No goodbyes, no historical retrospectives (unlike WNBC in New York before they flipped to all-sports WFAN in 1988). What it is is what it is. If I had the chance to say goodbye, I would have done so in a heartbeat just to say thanks. But it wasn't meant to be. Que sera sera. :'( Thanks for the kind words, Sam.
[/quote]
Hi Steve,
I echo what has already been stated. I'm sorry to hear about the end of WFMR and what that Means for you, Craig and Alison. I have fond memories of being out in the shelter of your tent from the rain last summer at Gathering On The Green. What I can't figure out for the life of me is why in those last few hours were they still running promos for your 4th of July programming, as well as the web site talking about the Milwaukee Symphony's upcoming programs? I wrote to GM Tom that what should have been done, although wildly unpopular, would be to move classical to 1340 AM. They would, in theory, be trading one satellite for another, and they could still run their brokered weekend sows. In fact, the German audience would probably hang on for the classics! Then, they could still have the Milwaukee Symphony, the Met and whatever else. What do you think will happen with the MSO concerts? I did get an email from Tom, and he graciously invited me to call him back on this, which I plan to do tomorrw.

Anyway, I wish you and the WFMR staff all the best.
 
Hey, icycool7227!

I think my occupation says "Out-of-work DJ/PD" (hopefully not for long).

As far as the format flips at 106.9 are concerned, they happened primarily because the frequency is a rimshotter and other, more powerful stations caught on with what 106.9 was doing. WFMI's smooth jazz was copied by WJZI and was flipped to modern AC WXPT (WPNT), then WKTI picked up on the music formula and 106.9 became rhythmic oldies as WMJO (WJMR). JMR and FMR swapped freqs in Dec. 2000 because the 98.3 antenna was moved to Milwaukee and would serve the urban area better, and JMR has done very nicely there, thank you. When the 106.9 antenna moves to Milwaukee as well, it will serve the immediate Milwaukee area better, but with a bit of a null to the south to protect a first adjacent in Chicago. I anticipate the signal will be about the same as it is now in the Falls. It'll be interesting to see if the same interference problems 106.9 has had in recent years crops up after the move. As for your question about if a format will have staying power at 106.9, icycool, time will tell. It's what the market will bear.
 
Brian Stevens said:
Hi Steve,
I echo what has already been stated. I'm sorry to hear about the end of WFMR and what that means for you, Craig and Alison. I have fond memories of being out in the shelter of your tent from the rain last summer at Gathering On The Green. What I can't figure out for the life of me is why in those last few hours were they still running promos for your 4th of July programming, as well as the web site talking about the Milwaukee Symphony's upcoming programs? I wrote to GM Tom that what should have been done, although wildly unpopular, would be to move classical to 1340 AM. They would, in theory, be trading one satellite for another, and they could still run their brokered weekend shows. In fact, the German audience would probably hang on for the classics! Then, they could still have the Milwaukee Symphony, the Met and whatever else. What do you think will happen with the MSO concerts? I did get an email from Tom, and he graciously invited me to call him back on this, which I plan to do tomorrow.

Anyway, I wish you and the WFMR staff all the best.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Brian. I remember you from that Gathering on the Green rainstorm. Interesting to note that the MPTV Friends will take over the WFMR tent at this year's Gathering - and I serve on the Friends board of directors. I, however, had nothing to do with getting the tent.

The management decided to move quickly on the change, and I had no say in the matter. I am sad that everything ran as normal on Monday night with liners, promos, etc., then at midnight...BAM! The change happened. I'm sure this was in the works for at least a week when WJZI dropped any remaining smooth jazz that was left there. I feel badly for the listeners who were jolted when they tuned in on Tuesday morning and there was no classical. ???

I don't know if any Milwaukee outlet, non-com or otherwise, will pick up the MSO radio series. I'm sure the MSO will lobby hard for someone to carry it. The Met will likely be on the WHAD-HD2 channel.

Thanks for the kind wishes, Brian. The best to you as well.
 
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