Catching Up On the News

Classical radio is not quite ready to bite the dust just yet! Two brand new 24-hour classical services in three markets are gearing up to go live this fall:

In Columbus, Ohio a new 24 hour classical station is about to start up.  Ohio State University’s WOSU is acquiring an adult alternative rock station and relaunching the frequency in the fall as Classical 101.  WOSU at 89.7, now dual format, will become an all news station carrying mostly NPR programs.  You can read about it here, on the WOSU website.

But wait!  That’s not all.

WOSU additionally plans to turn its station 91.1 FM, WOSB in Marion, into an all- classical music service to better serve Marion County and the northern portion of Delaware County, including the city of Delaware… “I know, on a very personal level, how much our community has missed 24/7 classical music. The launch of this new station is going to be fabulous and so deeply appreciated. I have every faith it will play a critical role in sustaining our community of performing arts. This is wonderful! Lucky Columbus!” said Christine Mortine, Founder of the Columbus Bach Ensemble, active concert soprano and member of the WOSU Friends Board.

And in Sarasota, Florida a new 24-hour classical station goes on air September 15th. It’s replacing a defunct Christian station at 89.1.  Again, this allows dual format WUSF to go to news/talk and jazz, while classical will increase to 24/7.  There’s more in the region’s Herald Tribune.

WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky acknowledged that last week’s $1.28 million purchase of WSMR by WUSF Public Media was… a nod to Sarasota benefactors, who account for roughly a third of the station’s fundraising revenues.  “Sarasota is a key market for us,” said Urofsky, “and we’ve had tremendous support from arts organizations.”

A key move occurred last year when University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus Regional Chancellor Arthur Guilford suggested raising money for a large new on-site performance studio. With so many musicians visiting Sarasota during the winter having to travel to WUSF’s Tampa facilities to perform for radio, Guilford told Urofsky it made sense to eliminate the transportation hassle.

Yet another classical station has popped up this week, but it needs a little more exploration.  It’s an online classical channel from Ravinia Festival in Illinois, but I think it may be all recorded music — still it’s lovely.  I’m listening to Barbara Bonney on-demand at the moment.  Check it out here.  Supposedly this is a webcast of the music and artists that are being featured this summer at the Ravinia Festival, but I’m curious about rights, as I know the Chicago Symphony, for instance, is not likely to release rights for live broadcast.  Anyone have time to figure this out and report back??

Speaking of broadcast rights, in other news the National Association of Broadcasters is pushing back this week on the Performance Royalty Act that is moving inexorably and perversely through Congress.  NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith thinks radio needs to negotiate now or lose big in the fall when Congress gets around to voting.  It’s a bit wonky, but here’s a discussion of the terms the NAB wants (from Radio-info.com):

#1, “A tiered rate of 1% or less for all net revenue (roughly $100 million for the industry) which is permanent and cannot be adjusted without changing statute or by mutual agreement.”
#2, Permanent removal of Copyright Royalty Board jurisdiction over rates for both terrestrial and streaming.
#3, Streaming rate reduction from current rates.
#4, Inclusion of radio chips – FM – in all mobile phones. (That would mean the record industry would support the broadcasters’ campaign with manufacturers and wireless carriers for “FM-in-cellphones.”)
#5, AFTRA issues to be resolved on ads that air on webcasts. (Important since the extra AFTRA fee for streaming discourages many stations from airing ads produced by union talent.)

The “tiered rate” for use of music begins at a maximum of 1% per year for commercial stations with revenue of more than $1.25 million. It would scale down to $5,000 for commercial stations with revenue of $500,000 to $1.25 million. Commercial stations with revenue of $100,000-$500,000 would pay “the lesser of $2,500 of 1% of revenue.” Commercial and non-profit stations with revenue between $50,000 and $100,000 would pay $500. Non-profit stations with revenue of more than $100,000 would pay $1,000. News, talk and sports stations would not pay for the use of music. The NAB’s goal is to head off much more onerous terms from a lame-duck Congress after the November elections.

The record industry is in such trouble they will do anything to grab more income.  Do not be fooled: any performance royalties paid by stations will benefit the record companies as much or more than they will the artists themselves.

As always, your input is welcome.