Changes at WVIA radio (Philadelphia, Allentown: appointed, rent, house)

[2nd trick op]

I no longer spend most of my time "upstate" -- a declining economy "encouraged" me to find another job in the Allentown-Reading area and rent out a house I own in lower Luzerne. Still, one of the things I always enjoyed when returning home was the area's long tradition of quality FM radio -- something that began well over half a century ago with Wilkes-Barre's WYZZ, and was taken up when the local PBS was established back in the 1960's.

So it was with disappointment that I discovered that three of what I considered to be WVIA's best offerings -- "Echoes", "Riverwalk Jazz" and particlarly, "Jazz After Hours", have all been "Scotched" --- apparenly for financial reasons. Admittedly, WVIA has attempted to make amends with the jazz buffs via a simulcast of something called the Chiaroscuro channel, but that can't begin to match the insights provided by music educator Jim Willkie -- Chiaroscuro sounds a lot like the over-formatted "Top 40" created back in the Sixties --- a sort of "Jazz Muzak".

So if some others among the regulars here are similarly disappointed, let's raise our voices and see what it might take to get some of the "good stuff" back; regrettably, the smug, pseudo-highbrow "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" escaped the axe.

[theatergypsy]

I'm neither smug nor pseudo-highbrow and when I'm in the car at the right time of day, I enjoy the humor on Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. I also crack up laughing at the wit of the two half-wits on Car Talk. I'm not a big jazz buff, and while I enjoy it in small doses, I'm sorry that your faves are gone.

You can raise your voice but that isn't going to help. It's funds that need to be raised so the station can pay for the particular shows. Maybe there just wasn't enough support for the jazz programming. As close as you are to Philadelphia, I'll bet there's a jazz station out of the city. Good luck.

[Wells5]

I can't say that the area was known for quality music on radio. Back in the 40s and early 50s, the radio networks broadcast some classical music, like the NBC symphony orchestra with Arturo Toscanini and Texaco sponsored the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoon, broadcast over WILK radio in Wilkes-Barre. In the 50s, local radio stations played the top Billboard songs and in 1958, WARM (the "mighty 590"), switched to an all rock-n-roll format, the first in the area.

If you liked jazz, you're only option was WUSV, the University of Scranton radio station, which broadcast from a small antenna with 10 watts of power from atop one of the U's buildings. If you lived on the west side of the Wyoming Valley, you could pick it up with a big YAGI antenna.

WYZZ, the first all classical commercial radio station in NEPA, began in 1958 (I think) and broadcast from the front parlor of a row house at 156 Prospect St. in Wilkes-Barre, albeit with 100,000 watts of power. When WVIA radio came on the air, WYZZ added contemporary music and dumped most of their classical programming. Incidentally, WMGS, which broadcasts on WYZZ's old frequency is owned by an offshoot of Bain Capital, Mitt Romney's wealth vehicle.

[MatildaLoo]

This is what happens when public radio funding is cut. People lose the programs that they like. *shrug* Unfortunately that's just how it is.

Have you tried Jazz Junction on WDIY?

Jazz Junction | WDIY

I only listen to jazz, and most music actually, on my iPod... which of course is part of the problem for the radio industry as a whole.

If it's any consolation, Jazz After Hours streams online:

Jazz After Hours - Stations

[julian17033]

I'm truly sorry to hear this.
I can understand but lament the reality of what program cuts represent in a public radio forum.
My mother always donated to both public radio and public television.
As one that was perusing her PhD in secondary education she understood the value and the need for such outlets.
I've been donating to public radio for years knowing that there is a real need.

The obvious economic crisis in NEPA has implications on donations being made to public broadcasting in the area.

Does anyone remember the nineties when certain GOP factions were attempting to de-fund PBS?
They deemed it Communist television.
Luckily it was thwarted by logic.

It was enough to make Senator McCarthy proud.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by julian17033

Does anyone remember the nineties when certain GOP factions were attempting to de-fund PBS?
They deemed it Communist television.
Luckily it was thwarted by logic.

It was enough to make Senator McCarthy proud.

I want a the government to support a radio station that plays only the nastiest hard core metal you can listen too, what's your thoughts on that?

FYI to suggest the public broadcasting stations are anything but left leaning is absurd. One of the fundamental instincts of human nature is self preservation, that alone cannot be overcome by ethics.

As noted radio is dying, the broadcasting stations cut their own throats in the late 90's by supporting royalty fees on internet broadcasts they didn't have to pay. Instead of embracing a new technology they fought it and now they are going to pay for it.

[MatildaLoo]

Originally Posted by julian17033

I'm truly sorry to hear this.
I can understand but lament the reality of what program cuts represent in a public radio forum.
My mother always donated to both public radio and public television.
As one that was perusing her PhD in secondary education she understood the value and the need for such outlets.
I've been donating to public radio for years knowing that there is a real need.

The obvious economic crisis in NEPA has implications on donations being made to public broadcasting in the area.

Does anyone remember the nineties when certain GOP factions were attempting to de-fund PBS?
They deemed it Communist television.
Luckily it was thwarted by logic.

It was enough to make Senator McCarthy proud.

Julian, there's still a constant outcry from certain factions to defund PBS.

[julian17033]

Originally Posted by MatildaLoo

Julian, there's still a constant outcry from certain factions to defund PBS.

Yes there is, thank God the verbal tirade is currently nothing more than the babblings from neo Luddites to a rapidly aging and diminished constituency.


To those reading that think I am nothing more than a educated liberal you are only partially correct in that assumption.

I'm for single payer universal healthcare.

I'm also pro choice and pro birth control given to teenagers.

I'm for the full funding by the government for Amtrak and it's expansion.

I'm also an NRA member and avid hand gun collector with a very impressive Colt 1911 collection.

I'm for militarization of our southern border and making English the official language of the United States.

I leave you with this thought; To those that wish to de-fund public radio; We must then also remove VOA ( Voice Of America) including any and all official state department bulletins delivered by radio broadcast as well as the elimination of Armed Forces Radio.

All of these communication outlets are taxpayer funded delivered via the United States Government.

Radio has been my forte for a very long time.
I hold all amateur radio licenses including top code endorsements.
I am a volunteer examiner for the FCC concerning administering official tests for amateur radio and radio telephone licensees.
I've taught radio theory and code to new amateur licensees.

I invite any educated opinion concerning radio.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by theatergypsy

I'm neither smug nor pseudo-highbrow and when I'm in the car at the right time of day, I enjoy the humor on Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. I also crack up laughing at the wit of the two half-wits on Car Talk. I'm not a big jazz buff, and while I enjoy it in small doses, I'm sorry that your faves are gone.

You can raise your voice but that isn't going to help. It's funds that need to be raised so the station can pay for the particular shows. Maybe there just wasn't enough support for the jazz programming. As close as you are to Philadelphia, I'll bet there's a jazz station out of the city. Good luck.

This^^^

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by julian17033

I'm truly sorry to hear this.
I can understand but lament the reality of what program cuts represent in a public radio forum.
My mother always donated to both public radio and public television.
As one that was perusing her PhD in secondary education she understood the value and the need for such outlets.
I've been donating to public radio for years knowing that there is a real need.

The obvious economic crisis in NEPA has implications on donations being made to public broadcasting in the area.

Does anyone remember the nineties when certain GOP factions were attempting to de-fund PBS?
They deemed it Communist television.
Luckily it was thwarted by logic.

It was enough to make Senator McCarthy proud.

Yes, I liken the slow death of public tv and radio to that of free, public libraries.