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KJZZ finally kicks jazz to the curb

K6JHU said:
One of the advantages of WMBR is that there is WCRB which is full time classical. That allows WMBR to experiment with contemporary classical. If you are the only station in the market with classical, you have to stay with the 'hits'. Almost any station in a 'niche' format (e.g. Country in LA) has to stay with what the listeners want. Having said that, I have observed most classical stations tend to play some contemporary classical in the mid-afternoon time frame just before drive time. BTW, KBAQ in HD is one of teh cleanest sounding stations I've listened to.
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I owned a classical FM and managed another... albeit decades ago. The modern classical pieces were often criticized... quite vocally. And there is nothing like an erudite classical fan to deliver a seething insult!

I found that the more contemporary things were best presented not as full works but just in individual movements. A little goes a long way... it can be refreshing in small doses.

I saw Dudamel conduct concerts that included modern compositions, and the audience of all ages got "fidgety" after too much of that.
 
indieradioguy said:
Well, yeah - that's exactly my point. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of this market. If you can turn a profit being as turn-key and as low-effort as possible...great, I'm happy for KBAQ, but they're seriously part of the reason why Phoenix still isn't a "destination" market for the arts. Gammage and Mesa Arts Center - insert air quote - "should be" sold out whenever the ASU Symphony is there. They're not. What's wrong with expecting more from your listeners?
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Stations, even most in the non-profit realm, are not in the business of educating listeners. They are there to entertain, inform, satisfy. And the amount of modern classical that the bulk of classical listeners who support a station will accept or tolerate is limited.

I have a bit of experience by heredity in this too: my father was on the committee that selected George Szell in 1946 to conduct the Cleveland Symphony, one of America's very highest rated and respected orchestras. So I was exposed to all kinds of classical from an early age, and then went into jazz and R&B at my first radio job.
 
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