Requiem for the classics

[resqgeek]

The nation's top rated classical music radio station, WGMS-FM, appears to be on the verge of being silenced. The profitable commercial station, currently owned by Utah based Bonneville International, was recently moved from its longtime location on the dial at 103.5 FM to the weaker signal at 104.1 FM to make way for an all-news station. Now it appears that Dan Snyder, the billionaire owner of the Washington Redskins, has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the station to add to his collection of sports-talk stations.

WGMS-FM is currently the only classical music station remaining in the Washington, DC market, since WETA-FM, a local public radio outlet, dropped classical music from its format to adopt a news-talk format. The sale of WGMS to Snyder would leave Washington without any classical music stations. Why would Bonneville sell a profitable station? Possibly because Snyder has offered about 50% more than the value of the station.

I listen to this station regularly, and it's my daughters' favorite station(!!), so I'm less than pleased with this news. Luckily, I have a nice collection of classical CD's and there are lots of online listening options, but it still doesn't seem right that a guy with more money than he needs can dictate my radio choices.

[via Marc Fisher's column in today's Washington Post]