ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 23, 1996 TAG: 9611250006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE MILLS
IN RESPONSE to Demetri Telionis' Nov. 1 commentary, ``Please, let's have less talk and more good music''):
Unfortunately, his love for classical music is clouded by a lack of understanding of how a radio station must operate in the marketplace.
The situation that has stirred his anger is the decision, more than a year ago, to replace the evening classical-music concerts on WVTF with a program of jazz and new-age music that has greater appeal to a younger audience. Prior to this time, we had broadcast weekday-evening classical-music concerts since the station's inception in 1973, but they never attracted a significant audience. A year after the changes, the new evening programming already is attracting a slightly larger audience.
Telionis would have us believe that evenings are the only time when most working people can listen to the radio, but this is simply not true. Radio usage in the evening is very weak in most markets because the medium of choice during those hours is television. Anyone in this business can confirm that nearly all weekday radio listening, regardless of format, occurs between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. During this 12-hour period, WVTF provides nearly 7 hours of classical music. The daytime classical-music programs enjoyed two to three times more listeners than the evening classical concerts when they were broadcast.
He thinks that classical music is the real reason public radio exists. And true enough, in our earliest days, that was the principal format. But public radio of today is different, with the primary draw to our stations being the news programs from National Public Radio. This fact is underscored in a recent edition of "M Street," an industry newsletter reporting on actions of the Federal Communications Commission and broadcasting trends.
In a statistical summary of public-radio formats, "M Street" reported that 230 stations listed their format as "classical-fine arts" in 1995. But in 1996, that number had shrunk to 130. The decline by 100 stations is the result of a couple dozen stations dropping classical music entirely, and many others reducing the hours devoted to the music to the point that they no longer consider it to be their primary format.
No one in public broadcasting is cheering on the demise of classical music as a radio format, but we're watching some troubling signs. Most notably is the much older age of most classical-music listeners. At WVTF, the average age is 63. Unfortunately, the younger generations, for whatever reasons, are not growing up with an appreciation for and a desire to listen to classical music.
Telionis would have us believe that is precisely why public stations should broadcast more of it, but the system doesn't work that way. Radio stations cannot create a market for their programming. Instead, they must provide services the market wants and is willing to support. All radio stations enter the lives of our listeners by invitation only, and we can be removed by the mere flick of a switch.
Listeners wanting us to focus on a small niche they personally find appealing fail to understand a basic premise about WVTF: Like any other radio station, we must compete for listeners with all other stations. This is a reality that public radio has been very slow to accept, but we're finally adapting to the way most people use the radio medium. Public radio isn't a museum, art gallery, music conservatory or school set aside for specialty use. Radio is an entertainment and information medium, as defined by its audience. And while public-radio programming has always had an element of education and culture in its mix, it must adapt to the realities of being a radio station.
For years, public radio ignored this and operated in a vacuum, producing programs that interested station staff and a few vocal listeners with little or no regard for whether that programming was actually being listened to. We got away with that because of ample federal and state funding.
The Reagan administration ended that era by seriously cutting federal funding for all arts, including public broadcasting. Suddenly, stations were supposed to earn much of their income on their own, from their listeners. Regardless of the merit of this action, it forced stations to finally ask: "Is anyone actually listening to us?" Extensive research got under way. It measured the public-radio audience, asking how many people were listening, who they were, why they listened, etc. We learned a great deal, which is more crucial than ever today with some in the current Congress wanting to zero-fund public broadcasting.
The most shocking revelation was that many people didn't listen to public radio. Why? Because public radio was ignoring how people listen to radio and why they listen. In the intervening years, we have come a long way toward adapting to the reality of the radio marketplace, which is in fact where we exist, not in some protected, rarified atmosphere where we can do anything we want.
Given all this, WVTF still offers a rich alternative to commercial radio. No other service provides programming like "All Things Considered," "Morning Edition," "Weekend Edition" and Garrison Keillor. And while there are a handful of commercial stations in a few markets that play classical and jazz music, they are few and far between.
No station can be everything to everyone, providing exactly what each listener wants all the time. We have to make choices about what we present, and we must use as our guide in making those choices what the majority of our audience wants to listen to on the radio.
Steve Mills is general manager for WVTF Public Radio in Roanoke.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB