As usual, it seems to come down to the "bottom line", stations are going
to do whatever it takes with their formatting to survive.  Here in Los
Angeles we are still fortunate to have enough market to support two
full time FM classical stations, KMZT "kmozart" (commercial), and KUSC
University of Southern California (public supported).  My main objection
to the commercial station is over how increasingly unbearable and merciless
the advertising (and it's unrelenting frequency) has become.  In one moment
I might be listening to Vaughn Williams' "Fantasia on a theme of Thomas
Tallis", then immediately following I'm accosted by 10 minutes worth of
blaring jingles from bank and airline Ads.  Their most recent Cardinal sin
has been the interrupting between movements of large symphonies with Ads.

During the 1950's a good friend of mine worked as an engineer at
station KFAC which was an icon for classical radio listeners in Los Angeles
for nearly 40 years.  He told me that 'back in the good old days', all
commercials on that station were simply announced in a calm dignified tone
of voice, and it would have been unheard of to interrupt between movements
of a symphony with an Ad.  I'm sure they are hoping that if they gradually
continue to fit in more and more Ads, we will all gradually come to accept
that standard through conditioning.

By the way, a recent trip abroad caused me to observe classical radio (or
much radio in general for that matter) to be *non existent*.  It happens
that I was in Bosnia and Kosovo....so I guess it's all relative.

Best Regards, Scott Lasky [log in to unmask]