After 40 years of service as Philadelphia’s Classical Music station, frequent ownership changes in the mid-1990’s and developing business trends led to the demise of 95.7 WFLN. Greater Media Broadcasting donated the WFLN music library to Temple University’s 90.1 WRTI. With Q102 leaning Rhythmic, the Modern AC format of Max was thought to fill a niche between Alternative Y100 and WIOQ. However, it took almost 6 months for Max to put together an airstaff and ratings were never able to get much higher than a 2.3 share. In May of 1999, as ratings were beginning to turn the corner after the addition of the Barsky Show in mornings, Greater Media pulled the plug on Max in order to beat AMFM to the punch with Rhythmic Oldies.
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It’s interesting to hear this aircheck for two reasons. First I had heard that this happened but this is the first time I got a chance to listen to the actual format change and the way it was executed.
Second, a similar situation took place on January 22, 2007. WGMS the commercial classical station in Washington, D.C., dropped the format and became George 104. They transferred the music to WETA one of the two NPR stations in the market and they changed from news talk to classical 24 hours a day.
I think they ended in a similar way to the way they did it 10 years earlier in Philadelphia.
The only difference here is that because of frequency changes in D.C. which had taken place earlier, WETA has a better signal than the former WGMS.
By the way, the WGMS call letters were moved to the translator for WETA in Hagerstown, Virginia.
The only difference between what happened in Washington D.C. and in Philadelphia is that WETA/WGMS airs classical music 24 hours a day.
WRTI broadcasts classical during the day and jazz at night.
We moved away from the Philly area in late 1996, to St Mary’s County MD. Missing WFLN terribly, I could just pick up part-time classical WSCL across the bay in Salisbury. When I drove a few miles closer to Washington, I could just barely pick up DC’s excellent classical station, WGMS.
In 1997, we started our annual trips to Philly to visit family. As I headed north, I switched the car radio to 95.7, but got blasted by rock! Geez, did I forget the frequency? Maybe it was 97.5??? No… Oh no! They sold out!!! I was SO disappointed.
Several years ago, our WGMS changed frequency and transmitter location and, much to my joy, I could now receive it well from home! But only about two years ago, WGMS also sold out, amid misleading promises and outright deception by the owners. With no warning of any kind, one morning it became a rock station.
The news implied that a number of congressmen said no to the possibility of losing classical music in DC. I don’t know whether they made any financial contributions, but the outcome was that WETA public radio took possession of WGMS’s huge CD collection, and also the WGMS call sign to use on its Hagarstown MD transmitter. WETA had been mostly classical some years before, but had switched to all NPR news/analysis. The switch back to all-classical was also without warning of any kind, and a lot of devoted NPR listeners were angered. Many asked for and received refunds of their donations.
Now, I can just pick up full-time classical WETA at home, and reliably when I drive to work. The only deviation to the classical format is weekdays 7-8 PM when they air the Jim Lehrer report. They air “From the Top” Saturday evening, and that of course is classical also. We are subjected to fundraising drives now & then, but even that is kept as painless as possible. The announcers are OUTSTANDING! My fav is John Chester.
So here in the fringe of the DC metro area, I’m happy, but wondering how long it will last. The trend is obvious: advertisers like rock stations better than classical stations. I’m certain it’s because the ad agency employees listen to rock and consider classical to be passé, not “worthy of note”. The only way to keep classical radio seems to be through public radio, but that seems to almost always be part-time. My hat’s off to WETA, hope they can hold on to full-time classical.
Then there’s XM, but there you don’t get hourly local news unless you change stations. I like leaving the radio in one place, and allowing the station to pull me into its family. I only switch when the reception is poor.
For all of you still in the Philly area – well, at least you have WRTI during the day. When I visit Philly, that’s where I tune. At night, jazz is ok sometimes, but it ain’t classical!! My best wishes for the Philadelphia community, and hopes that you can hold onto your classical music.
Jim Macaulay
Ridge, MD
PS: for the live-music fix we all crave: Here in St Mary’s County we don’t have Dell East or the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Wolf Trap is a really nasty drive for us on the opposite side of the city. BUT: we have St Mary’s College and the annual 7-week free River Concert Series with the Chesapeake Orchestra! They are surprisingly excellent and have been critically acclaimed. If you’re in the area in-season, check them out, you won’t be disappointed! http://www.riverconcertseries.com/
PPS: What ever happened to WFLN’s Dick James? He was our favorite weather guy – heh, heh, heh!
PPPS: We still have a beautiful WFLN poster, framed hanging over the piano.