Milwaukee loses classical station to smooth jazz

Just what the world needs…….more smooth jazz. How about some Yanni DVDs and Kenny G albums while we’re at it?

Milwaukee loses classical music radio to fill void left by station shuffling

Classical music disappeared from Milwaukee radio today as WFMR-FM (106.9) flipped to smooth jazz.

It’s part of a chain reaction that started with WKTI-FM (94.5) dumping its morning show to target younger listeners, which led WJZI-FM (93.3) to drop smooth jazz to target disenfranchised WKTI listeners.

Now it’s WFMR’s turn. General manager Tom Joerres explains that the switch came because of the “opportunity” presented by WJZI’s format flip.

“We gave it a 10-year run,” says Joerres of the classical music format, a rarity for commercial stations. “The average audience on ‘FMR is 60-plus.”

Older listeners are harder to sell to advertisers, and most Milwaukee stations target some part of the 25-to-54 demographic.

Read the complete Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal article here.

One can see internet radio filling a void left by classical stations, but proposed royalty increases (and guess who’s proposing these? Not the artists…) are likely to shut down the majority of internet radio stations if this legislation passes.

What’s next for classical music? One could guess that I might propose a solution involving podcasting. One would be correct in that assumption.

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