[BC] The separation of WGN and WFMT

[Rich Wood]

------ At 04:10 PM 2/20/2007, Gordon Carter wrote: -------

>It would have been interesting if WGN had kept 
>WFMT.  They had repeatedly promised that they 
>had no intention of changing the format, even 
>though the listeners group didn't believe it.
>
>I may be na?ve, but I think they really did not 
>intend to change the format.  Besides being a 
>major black eye, doing so would have cut off the 
>hand that fed them.  OTOH, ratings and money are 
>the key to broadcasting, and classical doesn't 
>do ratings well, even though it can be 
>self-sustaining given the right circumstances (no heavy debt load).

I very strongly believe they would not have 
changed the format. Of course, the listener group 
might have looked at the history of WPIX-FM, New 
York. Still, during that time the "PIX Penthouse" 
format had been running for a long time. I was 
offered the Program Director job twice. I finally 
accepted the second offer 17 years later. By that 
time it had earned the slogan "format du jour" 
thanks to Rick Sklar in his book.

I think most of the format change pressure was 
within the station and not dictated by Chicago.

Rich


Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-454-3258