Mike Leghorn wrote:

>Chicago recently was reduced to just one classical station (WFMT) when
>WNIB sold out to Rock'n'Roll about a year ago.  This is a scary trend.
>Why is classical music so unpopular?

It is not just classical music that is disappearing from radio in the U.S.,
whether commercial or public..  Jazz, alternative pop (for want of a better
term) and creative programming of any kind is disappearing.  On the public
stations, the trend seems to be toward all-day public affairs programs of
one kind or another.  In Phoenix, Arizona, the public radio station, KJZZ,
now serves up jazz only in the evenings after 16 hours of programming shows
such as Morning Edition (6 hours of it!), the ever-tedious Diane Rehm Show
and the equally tedious Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, All Things
Considered, Market Place and BBC News.  Jazz gets the 7 p.m.  to 3 a.m.
time slot.

Or you happen to like pop music or country and western? Well, try and find
anything other than this week's top 40 on your radio dial.  OTOH, if you
like evangelical programming or right-wing talk shows, you're still in
pretty good shape.

In Tucson, where I live, there remains, miraculously, a 24-hour classical
station (interrupted only by Prairie Home Companion and an hourly news
break) with relatively imaginative programming, but music on its sister
jazz station continues to get squeezed between ever-expanding public
affairs prgramming.

Classical music lovers often seem to think that they are the only victims
of the increased homogenization of the recording industry and of radio
programming, but really I think that the situation stinks for just about
everyone who enjoys some variety of non-commercial.

Regards,

John Parker