In Monday’s (6/25) Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Dave Walker reports, “New Orleans National Public Radio outlet WWNO FM-89.9 has announced a change to its weekday programming lineup that increases news-and-information programming—both national and local—but largely displaces classical music to one of the station’s digital subchannels. Introduced in a Wednesday mailing to station donors, the changes take effect July 23. Paul Maassen, the station’s general manager, said that the move is the result of a three-year study of listening trends. ‘People are using radio in a fundamentally different way than they did 15 to 20 years ago,’ he said. ‘News and information—and I want to say that’s an expanded umbrella for us that includes arts and culture and education and the environment … [have] seen tremendous growth … that’s a national trend.’ Now carrying a combination of classical music and news-and-talk, WWNO 2—available over the air via digital radio and streaming at WWNO.org and on the station’s smart-phone app—will become a fulltime home for classical music … ‘We will continue to have classical music in the evening on the main signal,’ Maassen said.”
Posted June 26, 2012
