Classical music stations are rapidly disappearing from the United States
and most other countries.

The existence of classical music broadcasting requires more than just
financial support to operate.

Radio Stations are now being taken over (purchased) by chains that want
the market. They close some, or reduce their output, then feed the rest by
satellite. The only local aspect remaining is the advertising staff. Even
the engineering staff is regionalized so they can serve huge geographic
areas. New electronic gimmicks now allow stations to meet the FCC
regulations without much of a staff.

Classical stations can exist, but as the people who own and love them
die off, they are being sold for huge profits.  I know of little spots in
the southwest that served just a few hundred listeners of classical music.
These stations have been sold for $900,000 to $1,500,000 and converted to
country music or religious stations where they made their money back in no
time.  These are in very sparsely populated markets.  I assume the dollars
go up where the population is greater.

Advertising guru's tell me Classical Music buffs spend very little money.
They have numbers to show the advertising dollar spent on a classical music
station is a wasted dollar.

Public Radio stations are rapidly getting out of the classical market as
their listeners are no longer interested in classical music.  NPR news and
other news and views programs are still holding up. But the fund raising
dollars don't come from Classical Music listeners. They come from news,
jazz, folk, and "world" listeners.

I know of very few classical music stations that exist without university
or college support.  Even that support will wane sooner than you think.

Members of this list don't help much, it seems to me. They buy the one
"best" recording, then rarely buy another. There are few people on this
list that admit to making contributions to their public radio classical
station.

I know of very few "arts and letters institutions" that are fading faster
than classical music or classical music stations. Just in the years since
CD's became available, classical music as a percentage of sales or of
broadcast hours has dropped so rapidly it is hard to track.

Hopefully, somebody will come along and find a way to make classical music
profitable.

Ray Bayles