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I suggest a re-write: "classical music on life support in DC"

Posted by Bruce from DC (B) on January 23, 2007 at 08:36:47

In Reply to: classical lives on in DC posted by jokekajr on January 22, 2007 at 12:34:56:

American FM radio continues its power dive to the bottom, driven by a lax FCC, focus-group assisted targeting of particular demographics, and advertiser ignorance of demographic trends.

Oddly, lots of people who don't listen to classical music are saying the same thing about other kinds of FM radio program formats . . . and they're buying satellite radio or they're not listening to radio at all.

I would be perfectly happy with that -- the price is fairly nominal -- except for the fact that classical music suffers most from the lossy compression that the satellite radio guys use in their transmissions.

I would say that an 8:00 p.m. time block for classical is hardly worth the bother.

Oddly, WETA's (and "public" broadcasting's generally) claim on the public fisc is justified by its argument that it provides programming that would not be viable on commercial radio. Yet what WETA (and NPR generally) has become is talk radio for liberals. WETA's abandonment of classical music several years ago was justified by size-of-audience considerations. That was probably true; compared to WGMS its programming was rather uninspired.

But if NPR was really about what it claims to be about -- preserving formats that are not viable commercially -- then there still would be jazz and classical on the radio. And, in the last 10 years or so, both have disappeared from the Washington DC airwaves.

As for advertisers consigning those over 55 to oblivion . . . I guess all that proves is their ignorance and stupidity, given the demographic trends of increasing numbers of people in that age group, with lots of disposable income.

I just abandoned the idea of picking up a tuner for my system . . . what would I do with it?

On the larger scale of things, this raises the question of the long-term viability of classical music. How is it supposed to find an audience?

Compared to the boomers' time in public school -- when, as I recall, the National Symphony came and performed at my high school and where I went with my classmates on "field trips" to NSO concerts held just for school kids, there appears to be none of that happening in public school. To be sure, some music students will sing and play some classical pieces in high school . . . and their fellow students will get to hear them.

But that's it. Nothing on the radio. When I was a kid, the radio was a gateway to all kinds of music that I had never heard before or been exposed to, including classical, jazz and "folk music." Happily, at the time, FM radio was kind of a "loss leader" for the industry, so FM carried a lot of non audience-driven programming and often relatively little advertising (because the broadcasters couldn't sell the time on FM, given the relatively weak penetration of FM receivers, especially in cars). Most FM stations were paired with the profitable AM stations, and the FCC allowed simulcasting some of the time.

But, I don't see how today's American 12-year old is ever going to be exposed to classical music.

Maybe it's different elsewhere. Let's hope so.

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