I suppose this will have to be a "me too" post: the only successful
classical radio I know of, except for a few one-offs (and even they
sometimes are barely hanging on) like WCNY in Syracuse and WNYC in
New York City for example (both .partially. publicly-funded,
partially listener-funded), is an entirely publicly-funded system
(BBC radio 3, Bayer B4, Sweden's P2, Denmark's Klassisk (sp?),
Hilversum's Concertzender in the Netherlands to give examples I'm
in some way familiar with.)  (And I may be mistaken about the
funding mechanisms for one or more of these- in which case do please
correct me.)  These stations play a wide variety of very interesting
classical music (don't take my word for it- in many cases their
playlists are online; in many cases they can be heard over realplayer
or windows media player, too, P2 being one of the latest additions
to that list and a .very.  welcome one) both "accessible" and less
so, from all periods, and not only classical music, either.  Whatever
they're doing, it seems to be working.  They also play from their
own and each others' archives, play live broadcasts from their own
studios, etc.  (Indeed, I just heard on P2, an hour ago, a very,
very fine orchestral (or operatic excerpt?) work by Felix Weingartner.
The conductor/composer.  Much better known, of course, as a conductor.
Yep, .that. Weingartner.  From a live concert by the Basel Sinfonietta,
broadcast over Swedish radio. (I have a .quite. nice few minutes'
excerpt of a violin sonata of his at my midi site, for what it's
worth, but it would be even better if someone would record the
whole piece- the sonata in f# minor... that's not the work that
was played on the radio, just something else I mention just because.)

As compared, say, with playing from whatever's on the top 40 CD
list right now at the store... which does seem, for reasons I quite
understand but regret, to be SOP.  There may be consequences down
the road, but it's a larger question than just the decisions of a
few programmers at a few stations in the US (where I live,) whose
choices, while not rigidly controlled (I presume,) I imagine are
nonetheless constrained.

-Eric Schissel