A quiet revolution in NYC music radio took place this week: the almost eighty-year old station WQXR vanished from its place at 96.3 on the FM dial and reappeared at 105.9.
This up-dial change was due to the sale of WQXR from The New York Times Company to the public radio empire of WNYC earlier this year (I blogged about it at the time). Although WQXR retains its call letters, it is no longer a commercial station operating in the service of the Grey Lady. Instead, it is the 24/7 classical music subsidiary of public radio -- so that means no commercials! Just lots and lots and lots of music. And since the economic pressures have been alleviated from it, this move assures that classical music and the rich culture of music radio in NYC will continue indefinitely.
In recognition of this fact, I have updated WQXR's info and place on the right-hand side panel.
The only somewhat sad thing about this change is that the quality of the signal at that end of the dial is a bit weak. 96.3 was a piece of prime radio real estate and WQXR's residency at it was central to its identity. Now that's over. It remains but in a different form and at a different place -- so it's not the same station really. I remember that my dad use to listen this station all the time ... so this is just one more thing that makes Mr NYC feel old.
P.S. In case you were wondering, the following pictures are: an old-fashioned radio microphone, a conductor's baton, and a picture of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Somehow including them here felt appropriate.
This up-dial change was due to the sale of WQXR from The New York Times Company to the public radio empire of WNYC earlier this year (I blogged about it at the time). Although WQXR retains its call letters, it is no longer a commercial station operating in the service of the Grey Lady. Instead, it is the 24/7 classical music subsidiary of public radio -- so that means no commercials! Just lots and lots and lots of music. And since the economic pressures have been alleviated from it, this move assures that classical music and the rich culture of music radio in NYC will continue indefinitely.
In recognition of this fact, I have updated WQXR's info and place on the right-hand side panel.
The only somewhat sad thing about this change is that the quality of the signal at that end of the dial is a bit weak. 96.3 was a piece of prime radio real estate and WQXR's residency at it was central to its identity. Now that's over. It remains but in a different form and at a different place -- so it's not the same station really. I remember that my dad use to listen this station all the time ... so this is just one more thing that makes Mr NYC feel old.
P.S. In case you were wondering, the following pictures are: an old-fashioned radio microphone, a conductor's baton, and a picture of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Somehow including them here felt appropriate.
You wouldn't know it but all the way out here on the other side of the country, there is a really great classical station KDFC San Francisco. You can stream them online at KDFC.com They feature wonderful live performances by the San Francisco Symphony and have an enormous play list. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know. I'm not surprised that a great cultural town like San Francisco has a good classical station.
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