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The latest round of radio musical chairs will be wrapped up on Wednesday morning as WOSU launches Classical 101 on 101.1FM. Over the summer, CD101 announced that their station would be migrating to 102.5FM and have been dual-broadcasting on both stations ever since. The new WOSU station will broadcast all classical music in a noncommercial format.
“Classical music has had a long and loyal following in central Ohio, dating back to our founding in 1922,” said General Manager Tom Rieland in a press release. “We believe Classical 101 and its affiliated stations will strengthen the sustainability of all of the performing arts in the region and help develop a new listener base for classical music through broadcasts and online.
Additionally, WOSU will be changing the format of their 89.7FM station on January 6th to remove existing classical music programming and become an 24-hour news station. All WOSU radio stations can be streamed online at wosu.org.
More info can be found at http://www.wosu.org/blogs/classical/.
Great,
WOSU, which depends on listener contributions for most of its budget, wasted over $6 million to buy 101.1FM from WWCD displacing them to a weaker, more remote transmitter (102.5FM Baltimore, OH). For all that money, WOSU is just going to broadcast the same classical and NPR News content that is already available at their 89.7FM and 820AM frequencies, respectively.
I would think twice before donating to WOSU if this is what they choose to spend their precious fundraising cash on. CD101 should use this opportunity (and money) to re-brand.
@Jeftrokat that’s not completely accurate. WOSU will be launching a new, all classical service on 101.1 fm and then re-launch 89.7 fm as an all news station on January 6, 2011.
WOSU has given a lot of consideration to what our listeners want in making this switch and the opportunity to acquire 101.1 fm was a great opportunity to give classical listeners what they’ve been asking for (an all classical service) while expanding our commitment to local and NPR news, by re-launching that service and moving it to FM.
Adam Schweigert
Director of Digital Media, WOSU
“opportunity to give classical listeners what they’ve been asking for (an all classical service)”
Something about this sentence is funny to me…this just in, 100% of meat eaters what to eat more meat.
I cannot get AM in my car, so I have been listening to 90.5 for about 5 years now, I will be happy to have another choice (not that I don’t love 90.5)
@aschweig: Thank you for the clarification. I contend that acquiring 101.1FM seems unnecessary given your existing outlets. I can only afford to support one public radio station, so my decision has been made that much easier. Best of luck in the transition.
@melikecheese: I prefer 90.5FM WCBE for their balance of local, contemporary music and NPR programming.
Jeftrokat — your comment about “existing outlets” is the key. It is common knowledge that AM 820 is on the market. AM listening to NPR programming is nearly non-existent nationwide (something like 3-4% of NPR listeners are listening to an AM station), which is why WOSU has been seeking an FM alternative for years.
well I am disappointed. Listening to classical music on 89.7 has been a favorite of mine for years while I work in the kitchen and hang out at home. Now I cannot get 101.1 in on my radio at all. :(