Classical Music on the radio in Milwaukee?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

If I want a huge variety of classical I use Pandora radio, great free site.

Pandora does a great job. I was not sure that they were still around with all the various e-mails I have received from the CEO.

[dancywalden]

At the risk of being slammed, I'll say that having no jazz or classical radio in the city makes us look like culture-less red necks.

Having said that, I do listen to all the public radio stations here and found the variety of programming interesting. It almost makes up for not having jazz and classical. There is one segment on Sunday, starting at 4pm, of classical music - WMSE 91.7. Then right after that is Alternating Currents - my favorite! Way out music.

I also use iTunes for most of my music listening.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

The radio business is changing drastically. Ten years ago local stations still had local DJs who did their own shows. It was quite common to have competing "drive time" morning shows with personalities such as "Bob and Brian" and "Rightmann and Mueller." Stations were locally managed and developed their own playlists that catered to their local audiences. And there was a home for classical and jazz on commercial radio.

These days, the consolidation of the media, and the economic realities of the media business, have led stations to take on corporatized broadcast identities with no local DJs or locally produced shows. So WKTI is now "The Lake" or some crap like that. WKLH is "The Brew," etc etc. And the only place you'll find classical or jazz in most markets is public or college radio.

Unfortunately in Milwaukee, those public bandwiths are taken up already with Milwaukee Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, WMSE and Radio Milwaukee. I love all of these stations. They offer variety and local flavor. But they do not offer classical and jazz.

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm not one who often to listens to the radio, but I absolutely love the new 88.9 --- Radio Milwaukee. Definitely has changed my listening habits for the better.

[m_szemborski]

WFMR was my first exposure to classical music. When I come back to Milwaukee I tune to WFMT in Chicago, as I pass through, or do live streaming from WSMC (with no commercials), which is a non-profit based in Collegedale, Tennessee. I live in Chattanooga now and support WSMC because of the quality music with little talk 24 hrs/day. The internet has made it possible to not be limited by local choices.