Speed Bump - Togas and Tote Bags

I don't have a lot to say about this brilliant panel Dave Coverly created for his comic strip "Speed Bump." But having just finishing a week of on-air fundraising for WTJU, I found it particularly appropriate, and just had to share. (click on image to enlarge)

Getting with the Christmas Program

My radio program, "Gamut" only airs on Wednesday mornings (on WTJU, 91.1fm), so it isn't often that it lands on Christmas morning -- but it did so today. So with three hours to fill, I had some musical choices to make. And actually, it was a lot of fun to do so.

Choice 1: Sacred or secular?
Because "Gamut" is a classical music program, my choices are already focused (but by no means limited). Should I just pretend it's just another Wednesday, or air music appropriate for Christmas morning?

The latter, I think.

Choice 2: Familiar or not?
Personally, I'm burnt out on a lot of the holiday music that regularly gets programmed. "Silent Night," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," etc. -- pass. And even among just classical programming, I think Praetorius' "Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming" is somewhat overplayed.

So what's left? Plenty. How about some Early American shape-note hymns? Sure, Bach wrote sacred Christmas music for church services, but so did other German Baroque composers. How about a cantata by Telemann, Schutz, or someone else for a change?

Choice 3: Choral or Instrumental?
One can be pretty wide-ranging with classical Christmas music. There's plenty of material from the Middle Ages through to the modern era -- and most of it choral. So while on paper, playing a medieval chant followed by a Benjamin Britten carol followed by a renaissance motet may seem to offer variety, to the listener it's just a whole lot of singing.

So I'll be choosing orchestral works, piano works, and some early music instrumental selections to have some real variety.

Choice 4: Original music or arrangements?
There are plenty of arrangements of popular Christmas carols. And some are quite imaginative. But how many arrangements of "Joy to the World" can one hear before it all sounds the same?

I'll be searching out original compositions written for Christmas. Must be classical, must be appealing, and must be of the highest compositional quality. I have plenty of choices.

Showtime!
I always make a few adjustments on-air, so the program is never 100% set until it's over. Stay tuned. I'll post the playlist tomorrow (Getting with the Christmas Program -- The Results), and you can see how these four choices guided my selections.

And Merry Christmas!

You can hear the program by going to the WTJU archives. It will be available for streaming through 1/7/14. 

Running the Gamut --- A Thousand and One Wednesdays

Since July 11, 1991, I've been hosting a classical music morning program on WTJU, 91.1fm in Charlottesville Virginia.. That statement in itself isn't that remarkable. Despite the turmoil in commercial and NPR-affiliate non-commercial stations, it's still possible to have some longevity as a volunteer announcer.

But I chose to do something different with "Gamut," my three-hour program. Within some structured guidelines each host can select their own music. For a classical music program, the works have to be in the classical genre, they can't be works aired within the past six weeks on other classical shows, one must air the complete work, unless an artsong, or opera air/overture (in other words, if you're going to air a symphony, air the whole thing -- not a single movement).

To all of those, I added an additional requirement for my program -- only air a work once. So once I aired Beethoven's 5th Symphony, that was it -- you wouldn't hear it again on Wednesday morning. Yes, I know that Karajan's performances of the work are different than Furtwangler's, or Klempler's, or Bernstein's, or many other orchestras and conductors, and that each interpretation offers some variety in the listening experience.

Still.

I wanted to do a true survey of classical music, and the only way to do so was to keep myself moving forward. With all the classical music from the early Middle Ages through today to choose from, I didn't think I'd run out of works to air. And twelve years later, there's still plenty to share.

Because each program was unique, I assigned it a number. And coming up on May 22, 2013, I'll be airing program #1,000. It's something of a milestone, and we'll be marking the occasion with some special features and a few surprises.

If you already listen to the show, stay tuned! If not, you can listen to the last two programs from the WTJU online tape vault.

And if you'd like to phone in a message to be aired during the 1000th show, just call WTJU at 434.207.2120

Part 2: A Thousand and One Milestones
Part 3: A Thousand and One Lessons

WTJU and Unreality Programming

I've written quite a bit about the community radio station I volunteer for. WTJU 91.1fm is the University of Virginia's radio station, and it's grown from being a small radio club for students to a radio station staffed local citizens and broadcasting to a large portion of the same.

But in many ways, WTJU hasn't quite grown out of its origins. I've worked in commercial radio and worked extensively with public radio stations across the country, so I have a good feel (I think) for what effective radio programming can be. I do love the freedom WTJU provides in letting me program my own show, and I like not having to do live remotes, engineer ballgames, or babysit syndicated programs as I used to back in the day.

But the fund drives are something else! (as I've written about before) Because WTJU is a multiformat station, the tradition's evolved of letting each of the four music departments (folk, jazz, rock, and classical) take over the station for a week to do special programming as a fund-raiser.

So in preparation to asking our audience for money, we first disrupt their routine. So if you're used to listening to jazz from 10-12 weekdays, there will be a week when it will be replaced by folk music, a second week when it will rock music, and a third week when classical will be played during that time. What are the chances you'll stay tuned during those three weeks?

Right. Our music programming has four distinct audiences. So we start our fundraising efforts each drive by alienating three of them.

Now these marathons usually feature some great and imaginative programming within the featured genre. Just look at this week's schedule! (click on image to enlarge). Lots of live, in-studio performances, some really interesting explorations of folk and world music... and then there's Wednesday morning.

Weekday mornings 6-9 WTJU does classical music. The Monday and Tuesday shows are primarily acoustic, and although not classical, should be fairly easy to listen to in the morning hours. Wednesday, though, we'll be doing three hours of yodelling -- and asking for money. 

Our radio club roots are showing. Programming is all about context. It's not just what you present, but when. What will get people to listen long enough to hear our fundraising message and persuade them to positively respond with a pledge? I'm not sure these questions were asked when this grid was assembled. Because when it comes to Wednesday, I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

Ah, well. I'll be there, nonetheless, answering the phone -- should it ring. I'll provide an update later on the results of the drive.

WTJU and SoMe Question

In December we finished another fund drive at WTJU, and by the end of the final day we didn't quite meet our goal. As we were asking for pledges on the air, I was busily typing away, keeping up the bullpen chatter on the station's Facebook and Twitter feeds.

That got me thinking about the quantity -- and quality -- of our Social Media (SoMe) numbers. And if there was any potential for growth in those areas.

Here are the numbers:

WTJU Facebook Page: 1,982 Likes

WTJU Twitter feed: 1,324 Followers

WTJU Online Listenership:
For December (the last complete month of stats)
3,739 Visitors, 6,805 Hours, 16369 Sessions

Our goal for the fund drive was $40,000. We need to raise $158,000 directly from our listeners to fully fund our operational budget for a year.

So what if every single one of those people pledged $10/month ($120/year)?

Facebook Friends: $19,820/month, $237,740/year
Twitter Followers: $13240/month,, $158,880/year
Online Listeners: $37,390/month, $412,680/year

Wow. Any one of those sources would more than fully fund the station for a year.

Of course, it's not realistic to expect that any of those sources will fully come through for four reasons.

1) Online relationships can be pretty casual. It doesn't require much effort to click "Like" or "Follow."

2) It assumes absolutely no overlap of audiences. What are the chances that someone who follows us on Twitter is  also a Facebook friend and/or an online listener? Pretty good, actually. So some of our Twitter/Facebook/Online Listener numbers represent the same person rather than three different people.

3) It assumes all are individuals, and listeners. I think it's safe to assume all of our unique online listeners are real. But SoMe? Not so much. Take our Facebook Friends. A significant amount of them are either station volunteers, bands that have played in our studios (or we otherwise support), or local businesses -- folks who wouldn't be expected to pledge money to the station. The same is also true of Twitter, although there's not an exact correspondence between the two groups.

4) Not every person who listens to non-commercial radio pledges. In fact, the percentage can pretty low.

So given all that, suppose we just assumed 10% as the maximum realistic pledge potential:

Facebook Friends: $1,982/month, $23,774/year
Twitter Followers: $1,324/month,, $15,888/year
Online Listeners:  $3,739/month, $41,268/year

Well, we couldn't fully fund the station from any one of those source,s that's for sure. But look at that online listener number. That would take care of our $40,000 fund drive goal quite handily over time. And 10% of our Facebook Friends get us over halfway there.

So I wonder: are we leaving money on the virtual table by not effectively pitching to these groups?

Pubcasting and the HD Radio Pretense - Part 2

Who knew my premise would be proven so quickly? Just a few days after posting Pubcasting and the HD Radio Pretense, WGCU in Fort Meyers, Florida, announced they were dropping classical music entirely.

According to NaplesNews.com,

WGCU already moved its classical music programming from FM to its HD-2 radio signal in 2008. The limited broadcast power of its HD signal, however, had left classical music fans in Naples and Marco Island no alternative but to stream it online from the station's website.

As I said in my post, the trend is for public radio stations to shove their classical programming onto an HD2 channel rather than kill it to avoid a sh*tstorm of bad publicity. And that's exactly what WGCU did. At the time, of course, it was represented as simply continuing the service.

And now that another station is broadcasting classical music in the same market (sort of)? WGCU dropped classical like a hot potato, and is introducing a new format.

Now keep in mind, this new format will still have the same dismal over-the-air audience numbers that classical did on the HD2 channel. This decade-old technology has never really gone anywhere. And with the available of streaming Internet audio via smartphones in cars, HD Radio's become irrelevant.

According to the article, the new format will be AAA.

XPoNential Radio is produced by WXPN in Philadelphia. WXPN also produces "The World Cafe," heard on WGCU-FM. [Station General Manager Rick] Johnson said the genre, known as adult album alternative, "opens the door of public radio to a new group of listeners from college students to young professionals [emphasis mine] to children of the 1960s and '70s who will appreciate this eclectic blend of music."

Check that Jacobs Media study of core public radio listeners again. Internet usage is growing, and it's growing among the younger demographic. In reality WGCU probably doesn't care if anyone listens to their HD2 channel -- they're looking to grow their online listenership. And WGCU probably be successful.

I just wish they were a little more honest about the whole thing. According to Johsnon, "This summer WNPS began broadcasting the same classical music programming as heard on our HD radio channel. As public broadcasting, we want to provide listeners with variety and we do not want to duplicate services."

Fair enough. WGCU's trying to follow the money, which -- with public broadcasting under siege -- seems like the responsible thing to do. But why not be totally honest about it?

After all, have you ever known a public radio station to drop Morning Edition or All Things Considered just because another station with some coverage overlap also carried the programs? (In other words, duplicate services?)

Me neither.

The Fischer-Dieskau Dilemma

One of the most important performers in the field of classical music died yesterday. And that's going to be a problem for a lot of classical radio stations (at least in the US).

This has been a rough week for recording artists. Donna Summer died, prompting stations that play either light rock, urban, or Top 40 to air her songs in tribute. Chuck Brown, the father of Go-Go also died this week. Although not as well-known nationally, in the Washington DC area, where Go-Go originated, urban stations played and replayed his many recordings.

Now there was a reason for those retrospectives: although Summers and Brown weren't considered current artists (and therefore not usually included in the mix), their music was aired back in the day, and was familiar to audiences.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died earlier today. This German lyric tenor was a giant in the field, and considered one of the all-time greatest performers of lieder. He was also renowned for his opera roles, and (to a lesser extent) for his conducting. I haven't been able to find a definitive list of the original recordings he made, but most sources put it into the hundreds.

Hundreds of recordings, and many of them set the standard for performance of the works (or at least a benchmark other artists measure themselves by). So just as the light rock station is playing Donna Summer, and the urban radio station is playing Chuck Brown, classical stations will be airing Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, right?

Welllll, there's a problem. You see, Fischer-Dieskau sang. And most classical stations avoid programming any type of vocal or choral works -- at all. I started a series called the CE Classical Challenge to examine in a quantitative way how much vocal music was being programmed on a typical day. It usually hovered around 0%.

So how will most classical stations honor one of the most important figures in the classical world? Make that one of the most important figures in the field of recorded classical music?

I think I already know the answer.

But I would love to be proved wrong.

WTJU and the lost benefit

I just finished another fund-raising program for WTJU, (the station I volunteer for) and raised a decent, if not great, amount of money.

For those not familiar with the station, we do things a little differently. Unlike other non-commerical radio station that simply fund raise around their programming, WTJU segments its fund drives (something I’ve written about before). The staff of each of the four musical genres represented at the station (folk, rock, classical, jazz) take over programming for a week. So this past week the Rock Department was in charge, and it was a week filled with special rock shows.

As always, several announcers from other genres helped out (just as some of the rock DJs help out with the jazz, folk, or classical marathons). In this particular case, I was hosting a program entitled “Swinging London, 64-66.” It was aired in my normal Wednesday 6-9am time slot, in place of my classical music show.

 The program was outstanding – and it’s a shame almost no one heard it. Helping me out was Paula O'Buckley, the host of the Thursday morning classical program Classical Cafe, and Steve Myers, the host of the Friday classical music program Classical Comfort. We all were very familiar with the music we were playing (see tomorrow’s post for show details) – we don't just listen to classical music.

We were having a great time – there was real chemistry in the studio. And Steven, remarkably, lived the UK music scene. He told stories about being taken to hear the Beatles in 1964 for his 11th birthday. At 15, he was an engineer at Radio Caroline, a pirate radio station operating off the coast of Britain in the North Sea. He wore Carnaby Street fashion, and had stories for just about every artist we played.

It was great radio – for the few who heard it.

Because, of course, WTJU normally airs classical music from 6-9am. Our regular audiences are used to hearing me on Wednesdays, Paula on Thursdays, and Steven on Fridays presenting and discussing classical music. I’m sure most of them simply tuned out this week. And who replaced them? Our rock audience is used to late-night programming? I’m not sure most of them would be tuning in that early –especially just for one week.

In the right time slot, broadcasting to the right audience, this show should have raised several thousand dollars. It didn’t. It wasn’t a case of casting pearls before swine – we were casting pearls into a vacant lot.

This program will remain one of my favorite radio experiences. I’m just sorry it wasn’t one that was shared.

(If you want to hear the program, it’s available through 2/29/12 at the WTJU show vault.)

Fund Drive Funk

Just finished my first fund-raising shift for WTJU. It's not my first shift ever -- I've been doing fund-raising programs for the station for about twenty years. It's always a rush when I'm on the air, but there's always a let-down afterwards.

Fund-raising is a tricky thing on the radio. You're trying to persuade people who get your signal for free to voluntarily pay for it. You have to walk a very fine line between keeping upbeat enough to encourage the calls, but not get angry or depressed when the calls don't come. You have to encourage folk to make that pledge without hectoring them for being such cheapskates.

The show was pretty successful, and we raised a fair amount of money. So now it's time to come down from the adrenaline high and go on with the rest of the day. I'll have to do it again tomorrow, though. So if you listen to WTJU, do me a favor and pledge already. It will make tomorrow a little easier.

Pledge now: http://wtju.net/donatenow

WTJU - Enough with the stereotypes

A fair amount of ink, both virtual and real, was spilled celebrating College Radio Day. That's fine. But in a Washington Post story featuring a quote from WTJU's station manager, we were there under the broad characterization that's haunted the station for years.

Quirky, loud and unpredictable, college radio has dwelt for a half-century at the left of the dial, a youthful counterpart to public radio. 

Well, in WTJU's case, that's a very small part of the story.

I have hosted a classical music program (albeit, quirky) on the station weekly since 1984. And it's not an anomaly of programming, either. WTJU has aired classical music from 6-9 every weekday morning (and Sundays, too) for over 15 years.

We've air a complete opera every Sunday evening (again, for almost two decades now). And we have aired classical music in the evening for about the same length of time, with one of our hosts, Ann Shaffer presenting "A Time for Singing", an opera singer showcase, for over twenty years.

One quarter of our total airtime has consistently been devoted to classical music, just as one quarter of our airtime has been given to jazz programming. And the jazz programming has been of the same high quality as our classical programming. Ditto with our folk (which also includes world music) programming, which also occupies a quarter of the schedule.

We have had trained professional musicians, musicologists, published authors and recognized experts in the field programming and hosting classical, jazz and folk music on the station on WTJU for over a decade. Classical programming has been running every weekday morning from 6-9AM for decades. Jazz programming has always run from 9-noon every weekday for the same stretch of time.

But what is the public's perception of the statiion?

WTJU is an FM free-form radio station licensed to the University of Virginia and operating on 91.1 FM.
 - The CVillepedia

To me, that says I have no idea what the hell I'll be hearing if I tune in -- probably something loud and quirky. It doesn't say that if you tune in any weekday morning, you'll hear classical music. Every weekday morning, always from 6-9.

WTJU, U.Va.’s freeform, volunteer-run radio station, is special to many
- UVA Magazine

And if you read this article, you'll be under the impression that WTJU only does free-form rock programming (they don't mention the other genres). Thanks, guys.

And these are the sources that should know what WTJU is about!

So look. Call us multi-format if you must, or even variety. But do us and yourself a favor. Tune in and listen. We have classical music every weekday morning from 6-9. Jazz every weekday from 9-noon.

I'll be there as I have been since 1984.

And there's nothing free-form about that.

Hunting the NPR gnat with a Congressional cannon

My esteemed Representative Eric Cantor will be introducing a bill on the floor of the House tomorrow. In my opinion, it's a poorly written bill that's nothing more than a ham-handed attempt to kill off a perceived foe that will have dire and immediate consequences for many.

The Bill
H.R. 1076 - To prohibit Federal funding of National Public Radio and the use of Federal funds to acquire radio content.

Right from the start, this bill is a mess. First of all, "National Public Radio" no longer exists. The organization made the change to "NPR" a while ago. Just like AT&T, the initials no longer stand for anything. It's the company name. So the leading luminaries who crafted this, Rep. Doug Lamborn and Rep. Eric Cantor don't even have the name of their target right. Isn't that type of detail important when crafting Federal law?

The Reason
Hard-core conservatives have hated NPR since the First Gulf War. That's when Newt Gingrich tried to kill the organization for not getting on board with the commercial news organizations and only reporting what the government wanted people to hear.

And that's not just my opinion. Bob Edwards in a recent interview said:

“The opponents of NPR are using a fiscal argument when they really want it off, they want it gone, just as Newt and company wanted it gone” when the Gingrich House zeroed out its funding. Why? “So the voices of Fox et al. can prevail,” says Edwards.

The Intended Consequences
It's not enough to just cut off Federal money to NPR. The bill goes further and disallows any Federal funds to be used to purchase radio content. The idea is that stations won't be able to use that money to pay for NPR programming, thereby eliminating any chance that NPR will even indirectly get those funds.

For most public radio stations, the biggest single expense in the programming, and the biggest single payment is to NPR. But there's a reason for that. Listeners expect to hear "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." They enjoy "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," "Car Talk," and "Fresh Air."


I suspect Cantor et al. aren't thinking much beyond the news programs. They want that damn liberal news organization shut down!

The Unintended Consequences
But by saying that NO Federal funds may be used to acquire radio programming, Cantor and Lamborn will be doing much more than just getting that pesky Linda Wertheimer off the air.

Many people (and I suspect our two legal eagles as well) have come to think of the terms "NPR" and "public radio" as one in the same. But they're not. The relationship between NPR and a local station is much like that between NBC and a local affiliate. The local station pays for the privilege of carrying the "Today Show," but has no control over what Matt Lauer says.

But there are several more providers of public radio content than just NPR. Like "Prairie Home Companion?" That's distributed by American Public Media. Ditto "Marketplace." The new law would not allow Federal funds to pay for those programs.

Like "This American Life" or the BBC Newshour? Those are provided by Public Radio International. They also couldn't be paid for by CPB grants under the new rule. It would also disallow programming from smaller distributors and content creators, such as the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, StarDate, as well as programs produced by individual stations.

If you listen to public radio, pay close attention. Any program that has an end credit will be blocked from funding under this new law.

Further Unexpected Consequences
The law's being written with one goal in mind: kill NPR by blocking all funding to it. But that's not the way the law's written. Remember that name change I mentioned earlier? NPR changed its name because it's moving away from radio.  

The restriction applies to using Federal funds to acquire radio programming. But what about streaming audio, like the All Songs 24/7 Music Channel? If it's a feed created expressly for the Internet, then it's not a radio program, is it? What about podcasts? NPR produces several. They're not broadcast over the air, so they're not radio programs. What about Internet-only programs, like the Tiny Desk Concerts? They're not covered by this new law, either. What if NPR began producing video for public broadcasting? The law doesn't say anything about television programming.

The Bottom Line
HR 1076 will fail at its goal. NPR will not go away, nor will it wither that much. One of the reasons NPR hasn't allowed all of its programming to migrate to SIRIUS/XM is that the public radio system that they still rely on would be in open revolt. But if stations can't afford the programming anymore, that's where they'll go. And listeners will follow.

NPR will be just fine, but the local stations could suffer massive damage, as well the other syndicators and producers who never had a dog in this hunt. Even if there was a good reason to kill NPR, this bill is not the way to do it.

I've already asked Rep. Cantor to reconsider (like he ever listens to me). Now is not the time for complacency. If public radio (NOT necessarily NPR) is important to you, you need to speak up now, before we all have to pay for the consequences of this ill-written law that can't even get the name of its target right.

WTJU and Horn Bands of the '60's - Part 1

The show

Wednesday, February 16 from 6AM to 9AM I'll be hosting a program entitled "Horn Bands" on WTJU, 91.1fm Charlottesville VA (and online at wtju.net/stream).

For three hours I'll be playing music by rock groups of the late 1960's who had horn players as their members, as opposed to groups who used studio musicians when they wanted backup brass on their records.

The reason

WTJU, being a community radio station, has to raise a significant amount of money from its listeners to meet its operating budget. The station broadcasts four musical genres: classical, jazz, rock, and folk. For our fund drives, each department takes over the station for a week to celebrate its particular genre in all its diversity. Jazz did their fund-raising marathon in October. The Classical Department (which I'm a member of) did ours in December.

Now it's the turn of the Rock Department. The goal is to raise $30,000 while presenting some of the most diverse and in-depth rock programming anywhere. Programming that only WTJU can deliver.


The goal

My personal goal is to raise $3,000 in pledges. I think it's very possible. I only need 30 people to make a $100 pledge, and we're there. And I'm not buying the theory that only impoverished university students listen to our rock programming. Most of the volunteer announcers are well past their college years, and so are the listeners. I know we have doctors, lawyers, professors, and other professionals listening in, and to them -- and to you -- I say:


Tune in, pony up, and rock on.

We take VISA and MasterCard, and if you pledge online, you can even pay your pledge in convenient monthly installments.

Make no mistake: I intend to have a lot of fun this coming Wednesday morning, but I also intend to raise a lot of money for the station.

That's where you come in. No matter where you are, please tune in -- and be sure to call in. Better still, if you're one of our many online listeners, just open up a new window on your computer and pledge online.

In fact, you don't even have to wait until the fund drive starts. Pre-pledge now and avoid the rush!

The criteria

So what do I mean by "horn bands" anyway? I'm looking at a very small group of bands that flourished ever-so-briefly between 1966 and 1970. I'm staying away from more funk-oriented groups like Earth, Wind, and Fire and Tower of Power. Instead, I'll be playing groups that blend jazz and rock, as opposed to soul and rock.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears is an obvious choice. And so's Chicago (this is when they were still good). But who else fits? I'll provide a partial run down of the groups I'll be playing in Part 2.

#hornbands

WTJU and the Fatal Fund-drive

The big news today (at least in the world of non-commercial broadcasting) is an article published in the New York Times.Waning Support for College Radio Stations Sets Off a Debate profiles two college radio stations on the chopping block: KTRU (Vanderbilt University) and WRVU (Rice University). Why? It's a way to cut expenses, and the perception is that no one listens, anyway.

It's a situation we know something about at WTJU (University of Virginia), having lived through a proposed format change that would have turned us into the third American/Roots station in our market.

WTJU is now entering it's Winter Fund-Drive, with our traditional Classical Music Marathon. For the next six days and nights, the classical department will take over the station (as did the jazz department in the fall, and the rock and folk departments will in the spring) and ask for the financial support of our listeners.

During the summer, when classical programming was on the chopping block, many people stepped forward to show their support for our multi-formatted station. But will they be there with the dollars? That's the question that we'll answer over the next six days.

If you're a listener to WTJU, either through our on-air signal or over the Internet, now is the time to step forward with a pledge. We need to raise $40,000 to make up the shortfall in our operating budget. I'll be on the air fund-raising of course, and even hosting all of the overnight segments!

Will we be part of the New York Times' self-proclaimed trend, or the exception to it? That will be up to our exceptional listeners.

NPR, Juan Williams, and the collateral damage

I've had more than enough of the pundits nattering on about NPR's firing of Juan Williams. What hasn't been talked about, though, is the damage NPR did to their affiliate stations by this reactionary and ill-thought move.

A little background
These days, most people use the terms "NPR" and "public radio" interchangeably. But they're not. Each of the hunderds of radio stations across the public radio system is independently owned and operated -- many still primarily licensees of universities and colleges.

Each independant public radio station (just like your local TV station) runs a mixture of locally and nationally produced programming. NPR is a network similar to NBC or Fox. Your local TV station may identify itself as "Fox 19" or "NBC 12" to make that association stronger. For decades, NPR has been encouraging local stations to do that as well, and so effectively that many listeners think their local station IS NPR.

But just as there are many syndicators that provide programming to television stations (King Features, Viacomm, etc.) there are others that provide programming to public radio. People mistakenly say they like "A Prarie Home Companion" on NPR. Garrison Keillor's show is actually produced and provided by American Public Media (APM) -- not NPR. (APM also produces "Marketwatch.")

If you're hearing "This American Life" on your radio, you're not hearing it on NPR. That feed's coming from Public Radio International (PRI).

But the reality is that virtually all public stations carry NPR's "tentpole" programs -- "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." They're called that because for many stations, their audiences dramatically spike when those two shows come on. And they bring in the most pledges from said audiences. Some stations raise three-quarters of their operating budget from pledges made during those shows.

Which is good -- because NPR programming is expensive. For some stations, carriage fees (primarily to NPR) can account for half their operating budget. But after two decades of careful brand placement, most stations are stuck. They don't dare drop NPR -- nothing from APM or PRI could possibly replace the audience and the cash (although their shows are significantly less expensive).

Left hand, meet right hand
Most public stations are in the middle of their fall fund drives. NPR puts out suggested dates for their affliates to do these drives. They provide special fund-raising breaks and mentions in thier programs to help the stations out (and to further cement the link in the audiences' minds that their local station IS NPR).

So this controversial firing happened in the middle of the mostly-NPR corodinated fund drives for public radio stations across the country. You would think someone at NPR would realise this was the wrong to time do such a thing. Especially because they made this mistake before. When NPR dismissed the popular Bob Edwards, it was also in the middle of an NPR-corodinated fund drive, and the reaction didn't really hurt NPR, but it hammered the member stations.

Killing the messenger
Remember: to most people, the local station IS NPR. So the local stations have been forced to bear the full fury of listeners (and Faux News dittoheads) calling and expressing their outrage at NPR's bone-headed move. It's tied up phone lines and interferred with the fund drives.

But it's done something more dangerous. Just like the Bob Edwards controversy, people are voting with their dollars. Pledges are being cancelled, underwriters are pulling their contracts, and as a result, some local stations are taking a serious financial hit.

And whether or not the station makes its goal, when that carriage fee bill comes from NPR it will need to be paid in ful -- or elsel. The local station, which has no input into what NPR does, will have to make due with less money. NPR will receive the same amount from the local station they always have.

The bottom line -- keep pledging!
So regardless of how you feel about Juan Williams and NPR, please support your local public radio station. It needs your help more than ever.

The CE Classical Challange - Public Radio East

The Public Radio Classical Challenge rolls on!  (Please check the link in the previous sentence to get all the disclaimers surrounding this informal survey). We stay in North Carolina and examine a day's worth of classical programming from Public Radio East (serving Eastern Carolina). Like many stations, WTEB has a news/classical music format. It airs classical music overnight using WFMT's service. It has three locally-produced classical music blocks throughout the weekday; mid-mornings, afternoons, and late evenings.

Public Radio East broadcasts in an area that has a large seasonal population (beach-goers), and so I'm not surprised that their programming leans towards the conservative side of what's shaping up to be (as our survey continues) to be a very safe approach to programming.

Based on our one-day survey, the most representative WTEB track would be an orchestral composition from the late romantic/post-romantic period (1870-1910). Something by a dead, male, European composer, of course. That fits in with the 101 Strings-type sound many stations seem to be aiming for (especially during the dayparts). And for the most part, the repertoire's consistent with the offerings of the North Caroline Symphony.

But there were some subtle differences. WTEB aired a very percentage of chamber music. This is good, as it exposes the listener to some of the works they're likely to hear in more intimate settings, such as the local Manning Chamber Music Series and the North Carolina Chamber Music Festival.

What about vocal music? Still no danger of hearing any opera arias or lieder broadcast over the airwaves (at least on the day we checked). But WTEB did play some choral music, which means members of the various choral societies in the listening area can actually hear works they might perform.

Still, some things remained the same. Jennifer Higdon may have won the Pulitzer Prize for music, but it's not likely you'll hear her on WTEB. Why?

1) She's a female composer (0% aired)
2) She's still alive (0% aired)
3) She's writing music in the 21st Century (0% aired)

Three strikes. She's out.

Here's the breakdown for the day's playlist:

Types of Ensemble
68% Orchestra (includes soloist with orchestra)
18% Chamber group
7% Solo instrumental performer (mostly piano)
7% Choral ensemble
0% Solo vocalist

Style Period
50% Romantic
21% 20th Century (mostly works before 1940)
18% Classical
11% Baroque
0% Early music
0% Soundtracks

Composer Demographics
96% European
4% American
0% Other

100% Dead
0% Living

100% Male
0% Female

The CE Classical Challange - WHQR

For the fifth Classical Challenge, we move to North Carolina, and look at a sample playlist from WHQR in Wilmington. WHQR airs classical music mainly from 9am to 12 noon during the week, and uses Public Radio International's Classical 24 syndicated service for overnight.

WHQR carries a lot of news/talk, and they produce a significant amount of strong local programming. And they also use Twitter and Facebook appropriately and effectively. Looking at it from a station viewpoint, they're serving their audience well.

As before, I just looked at a single day's playlist (in this case, 1/11/10)

But if your only exposure to classical music was through WHQR, what would your impression of the genre be? Well, nothing out of line with what we've seen so far. The quintessential WHQR classical track would be an orchestral work from late 19th - early 20th century Europe.

WHQR serves their classical listeners well by keeping things soothing. But as a recent study shows, it's an audience that's not growing. It's declining. So the status quo isn't enough. And that's really what the challenge is all about. If centuries-old orchestral music by dead European males isn't bringing new listeners to classical then perhaps its time to change the mix.

Here's the breakdown for the day's playlist:

Types of Ensemble
71% Orchestra (includes soloist with orchestra)
6% Chamber group
24% Solo instrumental performer (mostly piano)
0% Choral ensemble
0% Solo vocalist

Style Period
41% 20th Century (mostly works before 1930)
35% Romantic
12% Classical
12% Baroque
6% Early music (renaissance only)
0% Soundtracks

Composer Demographics
94% European
6% American (basically Gershwin)
0% Other

100% Dead
0% Living

100% Male
0% Female

Relevant Classics

Part of what I'm trying to do with the CE Classical Challenge is get people thinking about classical music, and how it's programmed on public radio stations.

Does it matter? Very much. According to a recent study, the public radio audience is aging up, and out. And it's happening the quickest in the classical format.

The oldest public radio format is classical music; the median age of its audience has aged seven years over the last 10 years — to age 65. That means half of the classical audience are not boomers but seniors.  There has been no growth in the size of the classical audience over the 10-year period studied, except as public radio has been able to purchase failing commercial classical stations.

So clearly classical programming isn't connecting with (relatively) younger audiences.

But does it mean classical music's dead?

No, because younger audiences have discovered classical music on their own. Music that speaks to them. Music that has points of connection with the other forms of music they listen to.

It's what I've been saying all along, but it's not just me. Flavorwire recently posted Indie Rock's 5 Favorite Classical Composers. It's well worth reading -- and listening to. The article provides examples of not only the composers, but also of the indie artists they influence (or resemble).

The list consists of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Claudio Monteverdi, Steve Rich, Arvo Part, and John Adams. Notice that four of the composers come from the late 20th Century -- and three of them are still alive, and still creating music.

Want to attract the next generation of classical listeners? Why not start with playing the composers people are already listening to?

The CE Classical Challange - WMRA

For the fourth Classical Challenge, I looked at WMRA/WEMC in Harrisonburg, VA. For a representative sampling, I used their playlist for Monday, 11/02/09. (If this is your first Classical Challenge post, I strongly encourage you to read CE Classical Challange Revisited to fully understand the nature of my somewhat unscientific survey).

WMRA and WEMC used to be separately run stations, each serving the same population. When WMRA took over WEMC, most of the classical programming was shifted to the smaller station, and WMRA moved to a news/talk-heavy format, which has proven to attract more listeners and bigger fund-raising returns for most stations.

There weren't many surprises in the type of classical music WEMC offered. All the composers were safely dead, and all safely male. The repertoire was almost exclusively European, save for a little Gershwin (American, but dead).

Over two-thirds of the music was orchestral, with most of it coming from the Romantic and late Classical periods (and some post-romantic 20th Century works thrown in). No choral works were aired, nor any tracks by solo vocalists.

Now there's been some misunderstanding about why I think this is a bad thing. I'm not saying that we need to establish quotas for types of music, or composer gender or anything like that. But what I do want us to think about is this:

Muzak played familiar tunes in soothing orchestral arrangements, designed to provide a pleasant, ambient background and nothing more. When we only air familiar orchestral classics by tried-and-true composers, are we not doing basically the same thing?

Understand, I'm not advocating a lunchtime Xenakis retrospective. But within the realm of accessible music that would be radio-friendly, there are plenty of works that would add freshness to stations playlists' and perhaps more active engage (but not distract) the listener.

That's why I look at women composers. Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's piano works are similar to those of her brother Felix, but they have a slight difference that I think makes them interesting. Clara Schumann also wrote works that are both note-worthy and radio-friendly.

It's why I look for American composers. These are our countrymen expressing themselves through music. If there's any audience that should connect with their music, it would be an American one. Germany celebrates Beethoven, Austria celebrates Mozart, the Czech Republic celebrates Dvorak. And we celebrate -- ?

It's also why I look for choral and vocal music. The bulk of amateur musicians can be found in choirs. It seems to me a healthy selection of choral works injected into the mix would only help bring this under served part of the potential audience into the fold.

So is WEMC's programming good or bad? Well, like every other public radio station, they're programming the best they can with the resources they have to get the results they want.

All I'm challenging are the results. Is classical music really only about the orchestral works of Europeans who've been dead for a hundred years or more? If it is, then why should I care whether it stays or goes away?

Types of Ensemble
69% Orchestra (includes soloist with orchestra)
18% Chamber group
13% Solo instrumental performer (mainly piano, and some classical guitar)
0% Choral ensemble
0% Solo vocalist

Style Period
36% Romantic
28% Classical
21% Baroque
15% 20th Century
15% Early music (renaissance only)
0% Soundtracks

Composer Demographics
97%European
3% American
0% Other

100% Dead
0% Living

100% Male
0% Female

The CE Classical Challange - WHRO Responds

Dwight Davis, the program director for WHRO responded to my recent Classical Challenge posting about his station. I think his comments are worth a look. Here's what he had to say:

Thanks for the mostly positive review of our radio station, WHRO-FM. I do have a few comments, however. I tell the staff that we're striving for listenability, whatever else may characterize the music. What matter if the composer is dead, female or blue-eyed? As to the educational component, we educate every time an entry-level listeners hears Vivaldi and decides to stay around. We don't educate by offering the Bartok quartets, as important as they are, because they'd be no listeners to educate. We do, by the way, broadcast concerts by the Virginia Chorale, the Virginia Opera and the Virginia Symphony. Finally, WHRO-FM operates another full-time classical station that addresses some of the concerns of your article. Connoisseur Classics is available on-line at connoisseurclassic.org

Below are some highlights of recent programming:


Sunday 2/28/10 – Peter Cornelius’s Stabat Mater; duo-organists Bartelink and Kramer in Boellmann’s Suite Gothique; Carlo Maria Giulini conducts the Beethoven Mass in C; Johann Rolle’s Der Tod Abel; the Missa Brevis of William Mathias

Wed 3/3/10 – SYMPHONIC – William Walton’s Viola Concerto and Symphony No. 2; Eduard Tubin’s Ballad for Violin and Orchestra; Szymanowski’s ballet Harnasie; E.J. Moeran’s Cello Concerto; Mahler’s 7th with Rattle and the Concertgebouw in concert

Thurs 3/4/10 – The British Grenadier Guards; the Sellers Engineering Band plays Redhead’s A Pastoral Symphony and James Curnow’s Legend in Brass; Stanley Drucker plays Leonard Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata; Julius Rudel conducts the Amadeus Winds in an arrangement of music from Beethoven’s Fidelio

Fri 3/5/10 HISTORICAL – Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic in Beethoven’s 5th and 7th symphonies; Leopold Wlach plays Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto; Eileen Joyce performs the Piano Concerto by John Ireland; Beecham and the LPO in a suite from Bizet’s Carmen; Sir Adrian Boult and the Concertgebouw in Elgar’s Enigma Variations

Saturday 3/6/10 GRAB BAG – Film scores to “Elizabeth,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro;” “Jefferson in Paris;” “The Lion in Winter;” “Mary, Queen of Scots;” and “Braveheart” plus Ezra Laderman’s Piano Sonata 3 and Harold Banter’s Fairy Tale Pictures

Sunday 3/7/10 – American Boychoir Songfest; Rogier’s Missa Ego Sum Qui Sum; Bruno Weil conducts Schuebrt’s Mass in A-flat; Josepf Flummerfelt and the Westminster Choir in Barber’s Agnus Dei and Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden

Monday 3/8/10 CHAMBER – Martin Jones plays Turina’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin; Gorecki’s String Quartet 3; the Amadea Ensemble in Herzogenberg’s Quintet in E-flat; Shura Cherkassky in Chopin’s Variations on ‘La ci darem la mano’


Monday 3/1/10 CHAMBER – More Haydn piano trios with the Beaux Arts Trio; Schubert’s String Quartet 15; the Prague Quartet plays Dvorak’s String Quartet No. 1; music from the 2008 Library of Congress concerts

Tuesday 3/2/10 OPERA – Pierre Boulez conducts Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande; Norman Triegle is featured in Boito’s Mefistofele with Julius Rudel conducting; Adolphe Adam’s Le Toreador; John Eliot Gardiner conducts Handel’s Jeptha; Carl Loewe’s The Three Wishes; Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with Sir Colin Davis conducting

Keep up the good work.

Dwight Davis
Program Director
WHRO-FM

As you can see, online WHRO is the bomb. (BTW - I couldn't get the connoisseurclassic.org link to work, but if you go to WHRO's website, you'll see a link on the left that will open a window for the Connoisseur Classic service.)

And they have an interesting strategy: let the on air signal be the entry-level classical programming, and let those that want to dig deeper go to one of their more specialized online streams. It makes a great deal of sense.

I agree with Mr. Davis: there shouldn't be any kind of quota for women composers, or living composers, or any of the other categories I've been measuring. But there's one point I still want to make.

I think there's a lot of music being written today that is very much listener-friendly, even to novices. And wouldn't it be nice if entry-level classical music listeners got the message that there's tuneful, appealing, moving works being written by folks just like them (at least age-wise)?

What do you think?

(I think I'm tuning in to Connossier Classics).

- Ralph

The CE Classical Challange - WHRO

For the third Classical Challenge, I looked at WHRO in Norfolk, VA. For a representative sampling, I used their playlist for Monday, 11/02/09.

Assuming this snapshot of WHRO's regular programming is typical, what would someone whose only exposure to classical music is WHRO's broadcasts might think about the genre?

As with the other stations I've looked at to date, classical music would seem to be an exclusively male form of expression -- no works by women composers were aired. Most were European (95%), with the other 5% being a mixture of composers from the Americans (North and South). And although no music by living composers were aired, at least WHRO doesn't dwell as far in the past as other stations -- 37% of the works aired were written in the 20th Century, most before 1950, but a goodly number after World War I.

About a quarter of WHRO's music came from the Classical era, and the same amount from the Romantic era, with only a small amount of Baroque music (8%). And there were some renaissance works as well (2%).

Although WHRO stayed with deceased composers, they played many more of them during the broadcast day than the other stations I've sampled, which is a plus. Our hypothetical listener will hear more than much more than the Three B's on WHRO.

Unfortunately, some things remain constant from station to station. Orchestral music made up over two-thirds of the music aired, keeping the sound closer to the 101 Strings side of the street. Solo instrumental works (25%) were mostly solo piano, leavened with mostly classical guitar. Chamber music was heard least often (8%), with a good portion of that also accounting for the Baroque era selections.

And although musicians played all throughout the day and night, not one of them opened their mouth. No choral music, and no vocal music. Although WHRO explores the classical repertoire more thoroughly than any of the other stations I've looked at, there are still lines that weren't crossed.

So what about people going to hear their regional ensembles? What's the correspondence between what they hear on stage and what they can hear on the radio?

Certainly nothing by the Virginia Chorale. They're singers.

On the other hand, most of the works of the 2010/2011 Virginia Symphony Orchestra concert season could be aired on WHRO. Repertoire mainstays such as Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Schumann are no problem. And WHRO's adventurous enough to air Barber, Schmitt, Glazunov, and Bantock -- they could even air the same works the Symphony's performing.

But there's an issue with Michael Torke and Lowell Liebermann, who will both have works performed by the Symphony. Is their music too wild for the radio? Nope. Both composers write compelling, imaginative, melodious and accessible works. And their recordings sell very well and in Torke's case, even have appeal outside the traditional classical market. In any other genre, that would help one's music get on the radio.

Michael Torke and Lowell Liebermann are both male, which is good -- so were 100% of the composers aired on WHRO. But they're also Americans composers (only aired about 5% of the time). And they have an even bigger strike going against them. Torke and Liebermann are both still alive. And during our sample broadcast day, 0% of the composers aired shared that condition.

Types of Ensemble
66% Orchestra (includes soloist with orchestra)
25% Solo instrumental performer (mainly piano, and some classical guitar)
8% Chamber group
0% Choral ensemble
0% Solo vocalist

Style Period
37% 20th Century
25% Romantic
24% Classical
8% Baroque
2% Early music (renaissance only)
0% Soundtracks

Composer Demographics
95% European
3% American
2% Other

100% Dead
0% Living

100% Male
0% Female