Globe articles on WCRB, WGBH

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 18 Dec 2009 at 11:51, raccoonradio@mail.com wrote:

> Today's Globe has articles on the "public radio war" between WBUR and
> WGBH, and WCRB's new identity. Note the comments on the latter; many
> complaints about the WCRB signal. Had the deal not been made to switch
> freqs with WKLB, classical fans might be enjoying "All Classical
> 102.5" today. As I noted, for many now it's "All Static 99.5"
 
I guess it depends on where you are.  No queston the WCRB signal 
doesn't reach as far as WGBH, but neither did the old signal on 
102.5.  Back when the changeover took place, someone posted 
comparative maps of the coverage areas of the two signals, and it 
seemed to me that there wasn't all that much difference.  99.5 
reaches a little farther to the north, 102.5 a little farther to the 
south.  The west was almost the same, as I ascertained on a drive to 
Amherst, switching back and forth between WCRB and WKLB.  The article 
also doesn't mention that, west of about Route 128, WFCR in Amherst, 
which has a lot of classical programming, is audible.

> It's mentioned that "In the mid-1980s, former WBUR station manager
> Jane Christo jettisonedclassical music and converted the sleepy Boston
> University station toan all-news-and-talk format. Within just a few
> years, ´BUR owned theupscale NPR demographic..." I do remember
> something like that. 

I remember when WBUR had really good classical music programming.  I 
used to like to listen to it in my office, especially when I had 
trouble with the WCRB signal.  Trouble was, it stopped at 4:00 PM to 
carry All Things Considered, even though that was already on WGBH.  

I've been listening to WCRB the past couple of weeks, and I do think 
that it sounds better.  They've dropped the "Top 40" programming 
philosophy

It is too bad they are dropping coverage of the Friday afternoon BSO 
concert.  I believe those concerts were also recorded for some 
archive.  I hope they will continue to be.  

Probably the most eventful Friday afternoon concert took place on 
Friday, 22 November 1963.  I didn't hear it at the time, but I heard 
a rebroadcast of it a few months later.  The radio announcer 
announced the next scheduled piece, obviously not knowing about the 
big news of the day.  The conductor, Eric Leinsdorf, came to the 
microphone and announced that "The President of the United States has 
been the victim of an assassination."  This was followed by an 
audible gasp from the audience.  Leinsdorf then said that the 
orchestra would play the funeral march from Beethoven's third 
symphony.  This was followed by another gasp from the audience before 
the music began.

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax 617.507.7856
Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         http://www.attorneyross.com