Posted by Jerome on October 10, 2009 at 10:28:31:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A Long Good-Night, to WQXR posted by D Schertz on October 09, 2009 at 08:41:38:
>>What I find amazing is that the NYC metro area can't/won't support a commercial fine arts station...you would think that a radio institution for the fine arts could find support and endorsement from the business community...I am from the Midwest and am used to stations such as WFMT in Chicago.<<
The business community supports the arts in absolute terms, but will never be able to make commercial classical the *best and highest* use of an FM channel in NYC. Even if it could attract listeners in pop-comparable numbers, the music itself is long form, and audiences would not tolerate the interruptions and fragmentation that pop-comparable revenue would require.
WFMT is a hybrid model owned by the Chicago PBS operator; it lives on tax-deductible contributions and syndication revenue as well as commercial sponsorship. It does not run on the counterproductive model you pose as the ideal, where listeners patronize businesses they otherwise wouldn't, and businesses advertise to a low relative return, as a roundabout way of supporting a radio station.
WQXR enjoyed the Times' aesthetic patronage for decades, but has now lighted upon the optimal business model for classical broadcast radio, in NY as elsewhere. Businesses will have every opportunity to support WQXR through less intrusive underwriting, while listeners pay directly for the arts programming they seek.