Roger Hecht relays this news:

>Ending a performance that has lasted longer than the "Ring" cycle,
>WCRB-FM (102.5) has terminated its 33-year association with the
>Metropolitan Opera in New York.  ...
>
>It seems likely that a college radio station, Harvard University's
>WHRB-FM (95.3), will pick up the classical music institution.

Exactly parallels what happened in Philly.  When the long-time commercial
CM station WFLN went into its final fatal spiral of revolving owners, one
of them dropped the Met.  It is now being broadcast by Temple U.  (also a
smaller station than the late commercial one, but it covers most of the
area).

>Bill Campbell, CEO for Charles River Broadcasting, WCRB's parent
>company, says the decision was prompted by inflexibility on the part
>of the opera company.

The execrable, temporary WFLN owner justified its decision in much the
same terms.  Lost his temper with them because they insisted on being
carried live on Sat. afternoons.

>It's a wonderful worldwide institution, but they are - in my opinion -
>as radio broadcasters operating as they did 30 years ago.

Now there he does have a point.  Their format and style certainly haven't
changed since I listened to them as a kid, as far as I can remember.  I'm
of two minds about this; on the one hand, I kind of like the atmosphere
of hoary tradition, but on the other hand one could argue that they have
gotten stale and a shake-up would do a lot of good.  I wonder what others
think -- especially those who have not been listening to the program for
decades.

>All of which leaves the little WHRB the likely host in the fall.
>The Cambridge-based station, which can be heard within Interstate
>495,

I assume that the problem here is the same as in Philly:  around large
cities, the FM spectrum is so crowded that the signals of some stations
must be severely limited so that they don't interfere with others, which
are presumably deemed more deserving by the powers that be.  And of course
university and college stations get the short end of the stick because they
are considered to be "only" training institutions for students, I presume.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]