WETA's Mistake??

[Joseph_Gallant]

Earlier this year, there was considerable controversy in the Washington area when WETA-90.9 eliminated classical music to broadcast a 24/7 news/information format, even though much of WETA's schedule was also heard (and often in the same time slots) on WAMU-88.5.

This article on the Washington Post's website reports that so far, the move has not paid off either in more listeners or more donors (the latter being the reason WETA made the change).

The article reported that WETA's audience is down one-third since the change, and that during it's most recent fund drive, WETA raised about $35,000 less than in a comparable pledge drive a year earlier.

But it is still early. And for WETA, if they raise far more pledge $$$ from listeners with a 24/7 news/information format than they did as a (mostly) classical-music station, even if their total audience is considerably smaller than it was with the old format, then the new format will be considered a success.

Perhaps most telling to me was a quote from WETA general manager Dan DeVany, claiming that if Washington didn't have a 24/7 commercial classical station (WGMS-103.5), his station would not have dropped classical music.

But what happens if Bonneville (or another subsequent owner of the station) decides to flip WGMS away from classical music??

 

[radiophile]

> Perhaps most telling to me was a quote from WETA general
> manager Dan DeVany, claiming that if Washington didn't have
> a 24/7 commercial classical station (WGMS-103.5), his
> station would not have dropped classical music.
>
> But what happens if Bonneville (or another subsequent owner
> of the station) decides to flip WGMS away from classical
> music??
>
Then they'll have to subscribe to XM or Sirius, load I-pods with classical music or find classical music streaming stations on the Internet.

OR - with the arrival of HD radio, could we actually see classical radio return to more major markets, especially with the announced "cooperative" effort among big owners, which included Infinity, CC and Bonneville?

I'm not a regular classical music listener. I'm guessing that many of these
HD-2 stations will be variations of the main station. Example: Country station has an HD-2 that is either "outlaw country" or "classic country."

But for people who like classical, contemporary jazz, adult alternative, Americana, etc. and can't find those formats in a large market, I'd be really fed up with terrestrial radio if HD amounts to a bunch of "one-off" stations. For example: The rock station plays an all-metal HD. The soft rock station's
HD-2 plays soft rock from the 60s and 70s. The CHR has an HD station that plays only the current top 40 hits over and over, etc.

 

[Timothy]

As someone who has engineered a similar change, I have to say it takes time for this kind of thing to pay off. The claim that listenership is down is somewhat inaccurate. The first book out of the gate, the overall cume was up, while the share was down, which means a lot of new listeners were sampling. The most recent book, cume and share both went up, which means a lot of those samplers became loyal listeners.

I don't know what all WETA did to prepare for this change, but a smart thing to do would have been to precede it with a capital campaign based on people who favor the change. That way, you have funds to cover what most likely would be a fundraising dry spell.

No matter how this kind of change is made, it's always a nightmare.

 

[Spruceman]

It's a waste of bandwidth for two full power stations (actually WETA is grandfathered with more power & HAAT than any other Wash area station) broadcasting virtually the same exact thing -- endless blather, gibberish, and more of what's on the AM band. To add insult to injury, WETA does not intend to broadcast classical on a digital subchannel; and WAMU does not plan to broadcast bluegrass on one of their subchannels. Leaving 2 of my favorite formats totally 86'ed. Washington area broadcast stations get none of my listenership as I'm totally satellite : DMX, XM, Dish's Muzak channels, etc. Even what little talk I might want --local traffic and weather -- is readily available on XM -- and news? -- provided better on the Internet. As far as I'm concerned the Wash DC area broadcast stations can all go to hell!

#############################################################################


> As someone who has engineered a similar change, I have to
> say it takes time for this kind of thing to pay off. The
> claim that listenership is down is somewhat inaccurate. The
> first book out of the gate, the overall cume was up, while
> the share was down, which means a lot of new listeners were
> sampling. The most recent book, cume and share both went
> up, which means a lot of those samplers became loyal
> listeners.
>
> I don't know what all WETA did to prepare for this change,
> but a smart thing to do would have been to precede it with a
> capital campaign based on people who favor the change. That
> way, you have funds to cover what most likely would be a
> fundraising dry spell.
>
> No matter how this kind of change is made, it's always a
> nightmare.
>

 

[Timothy]

> It's a waste of bandwidth for two full power stations
> (actually WETA is grandfathered with more power & HAAT than
> any other Wash area station) broadcasting virtually the same
> exact thing -- endless blather, gibberish, and more of
> what's on the AM band. To add insult to injury, WETA does
> not intend to broadcast classical on a digital subchannel;
> and WAMU does not plan to broadcast bluegrass on one of
> their subchannels. Leaving 2 of my favorite formats totally
> 86'ed.

You are aware that there's a station that airs classical music 24/7 in DC? It's one the highest rated stations there.

 

[Spruceman]

I know about WGMS...but I like to listen to classical selections that are more than 5 minutes long WGMS is to classical music as WJZW's "jazz" is to real classic jazz.

The real, real loss re classical music was when WGTS 91.9 ditched their classical format---the only place ever, where you could hear a Bach cantata during AM drive time. They outshone the old WETA even.
#############################################################################

> > It's a waste of bandwidth for two full power stations
> > (actually WETA is grandfathered with more power & HAAT
> than
> > any other Wash area station) broadcasting virtually the
> same
> > exact thing -- endless blather, gibberish, and more of
> > what's on the AM band. To add insult to injury, WETA does
>
> > not intend to broadcast classical on a digital subchannel;
>
> > and WAMU does not plan to broadcast bluegrass on one of
> > their subchannels. Leaving 2 of my favorite formats
> totally
> > 86'ed.
>
> You are aware that there's a station that airs classical
> music 24/7 in DC? It's one the highest rated stations
> there.
>