Monday, September 14, 2009
By the Way / Hargrove WPLN: Too Much News, Too Little Classical Edition!
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 12:11 PM
This, of course, is not news. At least not in the sense that it's new. Nashville Symphony CEO Alan Valentine says: "We have too much news." So we're bringing you this news--which, technically, is no longer news--because we here at Pith agree.
There's too much news in Nashville. Less informing, more sight-reading, please. Health care reform, international news...Meh. How do y'all feel about this, Nashville? Is the almighty dollar worth a culturally
NOTE: This post initially indicated that classical music had been removed entirely from WPLN's schedule, which is incorrect. The post has been corrected.
Comments (45)
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No more classical music at all on WPLN, at any time? Let's go the schedule!
http://wpln.org/?p=71
They switched to news only during the weekdays; the schedules on weeknights and weekends do not appear to have changed. The revised schedules were anounced Sept 4 and became effective Sept. 8.
Honestly, the classical music always irritated me. I found work-arounds to listen to stations (WUNC, WNYC) from cities in which I have lived in the past just for the talk. I think it's a good move, if only they would get rid of the call-in sections of a lot of these shows (the only thing worse than hearing Dvorak and Mahler all day long is the incoherent musings of shut-ins from all over the country). Drop the music to an alternate channel (don't get rid of it altogether), but talk is more interesting to me...
I am firmly in the "more news!" camp. It's not that I have a particular problem with Austrian chamber music, it's just that when I go to meet my elitist liberal pals for lunch it's nice to have conversational topics already on hand to be jerks about. "Did you hear that piece about David Foster Wallace on NPR?" "Yes, I was listening on the way over."
Then we have a conversation about irony while we eat sushi.
the change is wonderful and fabulous. the new news is different from the old news, the new talk is smart and civil. give it a chance and get HD if you want Classical. I bet you didn't own an Fm when WPLN was new!
they were tired of the fred thompson flour-hour eating their lunchtime-drive ratings.
personally i think npr should have a sports-talk subchannel geared specifically toward their existing listener base.. they could field calls like "when is halftime?" and "why many home-runs in a touchdown?"
Valentine said "...this is trending in that direction of the same 24-hour news cycle that has killed civil discourse in this country, in my opinion."
I haven't heard much uncivil discourse on WPLN, so I think we can put that particular fear aside.
And yes, Groupie, if classical music is gone during the weekdays, it doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned. I don't listen to public radio during the weekend. Just to and from work. I doubt I'm alone in that.
As a longtime classical music lover and performer, I'm ambivalent about the change. On the one hand, it deprives Nashville of an important cultural alternative [Nashville radio is "baron" enough as it is--Why, for that matter, can't we have a good Americana station like WDVX in Knoxville? And if WMOT follows suit?]. On the other hand, (a) the night and weekend schedule remains, with good, well-programmed music in a variety of genres, from early music to roots, and (b) daytime classical has gotten increasingly blah over the years. Mahler? In our dreams! No way they'd schedule a Mahler symphony in daytime; it would bleed over into NPR at the top of the hour, and would be far too aesthetically and emotionally complex to provide the sedative effect they seem to have been aiming for. Basically we've gotten a narrow range of muzaky classical, defined liberally to include movie soundtracks, basically designed to provide wallpaper if you're put on hold at Vandy.
"They switched to news only during the weekdays; the schedules on weeknights and weekends do not appear to have changed."
No I don't think that's correct.
They used to run that celtic music show "Thistle and Shamrock" on Sunday afternoons at 3:00 PM and when I tuned over there yesterday at that time there was some news/talk jabbering going on. - No "Thistle and Shamrock".
I was first exposed to classical music listening to WPLN piped into my doctor's office waiting room when I was a kid.
Surprisingly, the negative association didn't stick.
My vote: news 5-9 am, noon-1 and 4-6 p.m. weekdays. Music the rest of the time.
WPLN already has an all talk AM station, 1430. Since my crappy car radio can't pick it up, I'm glad of this change. And to the person above who complained about the callers, have you listened to some of the call-in shows on public radio? I'm often amazed at the intelligence and thoughtfulness of many of the callers. It is a far cry from your typical "show me Obama's birth certificate" crap you hear on conservative talk radio.
Hargrove, regardless of the limited window in which public radio exists for you personally, the fact is it keeps on going even when you are not listening. Even at night, even on the weekends. Your claim that there is "No more classical music on WPLN" is flatly incorrect. Factually baron, you might say.
By the way, there are some pretty good shows on WPLN on the weekend. Car Talk, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, This American Life, and Prairie Home Companion come to mind as examples. None of these may happen to be your cup of tea, but they are among public radio's most popular programs.
Radio Station Confusion: A Cautionary Tale
I was out late one night, probably doing something awesome, and was ready to listen to some radio on my way home. Because NPR cellos would have put me straight to sleep, I changed the dial to 105.9 to hear "Ramble On" for the 40,000th time in my fucking life. ANYWAY cut to next morning and I think I've got on NPR because 1. It is always on and 2. An old dude is talking.
But then the guy starts babbling about how hard and confusing life is nowadays: we have to say "chairperson" instead of "chairman," I suppose because bitches be uppity. That was some old dude complaining on John Boy and Billy and he nearly ruined my day.
But the local 105.9 DJs need to be given medals. That they can even pretend to feign enthusiam over shitty shitty Aerosmith songs they've been listening to for thirty-five years is beyond me.
I was told by a college Program Director 3 years ago that all of the NPR stations were moving to news. We dont have enough propaganda, of course and we need more. This really sucks, not only for classical listeners but anyone desiring not to hear whatever shit Clear Channel says is good.
I'm very upset about this decision. There was already an option to hear news 24/7...1430am. The music they played during the day seemed to be heavy on the chamber side of things, which was perfect. Ah well...I was hoping to avoid re-activating my Sirius subscription, but it is looking inevitable.
Yay! This is good for those of us who want to hear other NPR shows in their car. Also, having to listen to the rantings of the folks on 99.7 can be a drag sometimes. Now if WPLN would broadcast the BBC News hour that would be even better!
Oh man, do I ever second some BBC News. Is there a BBC World News radio broadcast in the states? I don't know these things.
I've used a wi-fi enabled clock radio ( http://soundbridge.roku.com/soundbridgeradio/index.php )for the last couple of years. It receives AM/FM/Internet streams & your iTunes library. There are over 6,000 streaming radio channels to choose from.
You can also listen to the streams on your PC at radioroku.com . I mostly listen to BBC World Service. It's available on the BBC's stream or on NPR streams (e.g. WPLN-HD3 or KCRW World News, many others), same programs, different program schedules.
WPLN's music channel, HD2, is also available. You can reach HD2 on your PC directly from WPLN's web site.
It's a good move by WPLN, but now the question is when they will take the even more important step of devoting a little of their precious news/talk airtime to high quality locally produced talk, as many of their peer stations in medium size markets do.
This is an interesting thread, but the big payoff from it is learning that Gilbert Martin listens to Thistle and Shamrock -- a show about music from a country with socialized health insurance! Yikes!
You wrote: "So they're switching to all news, all talk, all the time. No more classical music on WPLN for Nashville."
That's not true. So run a correction. What am I missing?
Can someone ask that Gilbert fellow to stop with the adoring but cranky and long-winded emails to me?
"This is an interesting thread, but the big payoff from it is learning that Gilbert Martin listens to Thistle and Shamrock -- a show about music from a country with socialized health insurance! Yikes!"
Do your homework bb.
Celtic music wasn't (and isn't) confined to one country - and never originated from one specific one either.
The title of Thistle and Shamrock refers to the two countries primarily associated with Celtic music. The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland, the shamrock the national emblem of Ireland.
Why The Thistle & Shamrock?
Fiona originally picked the name for a one-off, radio program on WFAE-FM in Charlotte, NC, and, like a jaggy thistle leaf, it stuck! The plants in the name are the national symbols of Scotland and Ireland, and those are the homelands of much of the music heard in the series.
Gil is just trying to be argumentative. of course celtic music is most identified with Ireland and Scotland. It's a wonder that Gil likes it at all, since some of it (the variety played in Irish bars in America) is based on anger at British Tories, whose policies Gil no dbout admires, despite their unwillingness to outlaw the National Health Service.
"Gil is just trying to be argumentative. of course celtic music is most identified with Ireland and Scotland"
I'm being accurate.
The distribution of the celtic people was all over the British Isles long before any independent countries were ever carved up out of them. They were also in mainland Europe.
No, you're just being argumentative. Of course they were all over Northern Europe. They didn't even originate in the British Isles. But today, they are most closely identified with Ireland and Scotland, the original premise that you argued against.
No that is YOUR version of the "original premise".
The actual original statement made by bb what that the show is about "music from a country..."
But thanks for playing anyway.
The show - as indicated by the title - primarily features music from Scotland and Ireland. Not totally (which is where Gilbert is making his brave but doomed stand), but primarily. If bb erred, it was in saying "country", by which he was probably referring only to Ireland, and thus excluding Scotland. That said, his main point is accurate and valid.
Both Scotland and Ireland - again, the countries referred to in the title of the program itself - have universal health care.
But hey, Gilbert, thank YOU for playing.
Well, just because I enjoy some Celtic music, which in indeed most closely associated with Ireland and Scotland, doesn't mean I have to admire their socialized health care systems.
That's all I have to say about it.
Take your ball and scram, Gil. You lost. Everybody knows you lost. You know you lost. There's a reason for that: you're a loser.
G.M. probably is also unaware that the Boston Celtics as a team are in favor of single-payer health insurance. (And I don't even need to mention that Massachusetts has government-mandated near-universal health insurance.
I fail to see a single reason in the whole world why I should care what a bunch of libs definition of Celtic music is. I KNOW what it is and nothing YOU say will ever change that in the whole history of time!
As for Massachusetts, that's where Kopechne-killer lived and thankfully died, so what do I care what goes on there.
Anon, YOU are the loser. Suck on that, punk.
All Democrats are commies.
IF you want real acurate news go to the indy alternative news sources that are not owned by some global mega corporation or the DNC & RNC
Heh heh heh.
Looks like Gil got his feelings hurt and got mad.
Can we say: Mission Accomplished!
As a former WLAC talk show host and a former WPLN, announcer, reporter, Pointe 3 host and traffic director (I did it all during the early '70s), I have mixed feelings re: this format change.
My preservationist instincts kick in, since I strongly believe that there are too few outlets for classical music. Yet I am not an avid listener.
On the other hand, I got my start in talk radio while still a high school student in suburban Minneapolis.
By contrast, Nashville's early (local) talk formats were nothing short of bland. The culture was such that the hosts were afraid to offer opinions. They were mainly facilitators who manipulated the audiences when calls fell off by deciding to talk about hot button issues such as gun control and abortion.
With the advent of (the other) Michael Jackson and Rush Limbaugh, local talk followed the national trend of becoming polarizing. (Think Dan Hoffman, Bill Steensland, Victoria Jones etc.)
Unlike AM-1430, WPLN, talk lineup seems to be following the syndication formula. What the station needs is a LOCAL voice of reason: Someone whom conservatives will find too liberal and whom liberals will find too conservative, depending upon whether we're talking economics or social issues; someone who values reasoning above shouting and who is able to navigate the waters between that which is polarizing and that which is boring.
I'm available...
Stacy Harris
Publisher/Executive Editor
Stacy's Music Row Report
http://www.geocities.com/stacy.harris/
As a former WLAC talk show host and a former WPLN, announcer, reporter, Pointe 3 host and traffic director (I did it all during the early '70s), I have mixed feelings re: this format change.
My preservationist instincts kick in, since I strongly believe that there are too few outlets for classical music. Yet I am not an avid listener.
On the other hand, I got my start in talk radio while still a high school student in suburban Minneapolis.
By contrast, Nashville's early (local) talk formats were nothing short of bland. The culture was such that the hosts were afraid to offer opinions. They were mainly facilitators who manipulated the audiences when calls fell off by deciding to talk about hot button issues such as gun control and abortion.
With the advent of (the other) Michael Jackson and Rush Limbaugh, local talk followed the national trend of becoming polarizing. (Think Dan Hoffman, Bill Steensland, Victoria Jones etc.)
Unlike AM-1430, WPLN (FM)'s talk lineup seems to be following the syndication formula. What the station needs is a LOCAL voice of reason: Someone whom conservatives will find too liberal and whom liberals will find too conservative, depending upon whether we're talking economics or social issues; someone who values reasoning above shouting and who is able to navigate the waters between that which is polarizing and that which is boring.
I'm available...
Stacy Harris
Publisher/Executive Editor
Stacy's Music Row Report
http://www.geocities.com/stacy.harris/
