Bill Hong wrote:

>But instead of the more usual instance of the classical station going
>away entirely, Bonneville has announced that WGMS will now move a slight
>distance down the dial to a spot currently occupied by rock station WWZZ
>(Z-104), which it seems will be the sacrificial lamb in this wavelength
>swap.
>
><So for once, a (presumably redundant) rock format will give way
>to classical music, which against all odds retains a foothold in the
>Washington radio market. No one is saying what the NPR stations here
>are thinking of all this.....

One thing you're leaving out of the equation is the fact that WGMS is
not only moving to a different FREQUENCY, but that facility is in a
somewhat distant suburb, Waldorf, MD 22 miles from the center of DC.
There's a website called v-soft.com that contains a feature that allows
one to ascertain the actual signal strength of AM and FM stations in a
given Zip Code.  I entered the zip for the White House (even WGMS's
watered-down fare may be too advanced for the current incumbent of same,
but this was a search for data).  The FM at 103.5 provides a dominant
signal but the signal at 104.1, WGMS's new home, hardly registers at
all.  WGMS's reception in the City and environs can be expected to be
seriously compromised.  If it slips below the waves in terms of ratings,
even this namby-pamby incarnation of classical may disappear eventually.

Laurence Glavin
Methuen, MA