Justin Rollheiser asked:

>What are your opinions on radio stations selling-out to pop?  How often
>does this happen in other cities?  How can this be stopped from happening?

In the UK there was Radio 3, strictly purist (OK, one jazz record requests
on a Saturday), run and funded by the BBC which in turn is paid for by a
license scheme. (In the UK we pay about?100 per year for the combination of
BBC TV and Radio). No advertising, naturally.

Radio 3 had a relatively limited but very loyal audience. Then a few years
ago Classic FM, a commercial radio station with advertisements was started.
I was one who poo-poo'd the idea, thinking it would end up with the worst
of classical music interrupted by jingles.

I am glad to say I was not entirely right; more to the point, its
popularity keeps growing (get the latest audience research figures from
them -- www.classicfm.com); and of course with Internet allowing broadband
listening, that audience reaches some far-flung places.

So not all radio stations have to go pop to survive - but at least something
like Classic FM had a chance at a national (55m) audience rather than just
local (1m) audience.

CR