Milton Scheuermann replies to me:

>Strange, I really don't know what station Steve Schwartz is referring to
>in New Orleans that "didn't make it" as a classical station in his recent
>post on public radio stations.  I am a native of the city and a weekly
>co-producer of an hour long program of early music, Continuum, for the
>past 27 years on the NPR affiliate, 89.9WWNO-FM.

Strange, that's the station I was talking about.

>The station has been in existence for over 30 years, broadcasting
>classical music all day (except for the NPR news bits, Prairie Home
>Companion & Car Talk), all night, 7 days a week.

I particularly like the "all day (except" -- and you forgot the jazz (which
I consider a genuine service on at least one night of the week).  You've
also left out the expansion of NPR news.  Sean Duggan left, but where's the
replacement? I admit that WWNO is by no means as horrible as some of the
stations I've been reading about (for example, it still programs complete
symphonies and operas), but it seems to me to be heading in that direction.
Furthermore, if this is the best public radio can do, then it does worse
than the commercial classical station I grew up with, particularly in the
range of the classical music it programs.  I had yet to hear, for example,
a Bartok or Schoenberg string quartet in all the years I was listening,
and these things are hardly off the beaten track.

I should also say that I was a regular listener of Mr. Scheuermann's radio
program until I stopped listening to the radio altogether.  It would thus
be ungracious of me to carp about it.

Steve Schwartz