Classical music finally on tap

By: RANDY DOTINGA - For the North County Times | Tuesday, November 20, 2007 3:26 PM PST ∞

Want to send a radio programmer screaming into the night? Just mention that you want to hear a music format that's past its prime.

Like, say, rock 'n' roll oldies (aaaaaah!), golden oldies of the '30s and '40s (eeeeek!) or classical music (aaiiiieee!). If you wander up and own the dial, you'll find that these kinds of music are pretty much impossible to find.

Why? Because the suits who run radio stations figure that listeners who supposedly spend the most money ---- those who aren't yet eligible for AARP ---- won't bother to listen. Advertisers, they fear, will stay away, because they have no interest in older folks, no matter how many tune in.

Consider the plight of classical music. San Diego had a full-fledged classical station about a decade ago, but it went away and now North County listeners only have a couple of options. They can listen to KPBS's sleepy overnight music feed from Minneapolis (specifically programmed not to startle night owls with any moments of actual passion or excitement) or try to pull in L.A.'s KUSC, which reaches some parts of the region at 91.5 FM.

Never fear, libretto lovers and adagio aficionados. You'll soon have a place to find plenty of Mozart and Mahler.

Sometime before the end of the year, commercial-free Mexico-based station XLNC-1, now broadcasting at 90.7, expects to switch to a stronger transmitter at 104.9 FM. That means North County listeners will be able to tune in without interference for the first time and hear a station that's quietly offered classical programming to both sides of the border for seven years.

"This is going to be a big change, a tremendous change," said Lisette Atala, the station's U.S.-based executive director.

XLNC, founded by the late businessman Victor Diaz, has had trouble catching on and gaining enough financial support. The station only has 5,500 paying members, and Atala said it reaches 65,000-70,000 listeners on the U.S. side each week, which isn't a lot. Atala blames the weak signal at 90.7, which makes it hard for the XLNC to reach much of the county.

So what will you hear? Plenty of opera and classical music, although without on-air hosts much of the time. XLNC has long been a low-budget, no-frills operation, and some listeners are sure to hope for more in the way of commentary about the music.

It's also certain that a few will be annoyed by XLNC's international flavor. The titles of selections are read in English and Spanish, and, as everyone knows, some locals prefer to pretend that there's no nation to the south.

As for the future, Atala said the station hopes to beef up its programming and work more closely with local classical music venues, such as the San Diego Opera.

"We believe passionately that this kind of format should not die, and it should be the opposite, especially in these times when we're living with stress and lack of beauty in our lives."

Quickies

KPBS' "A Way With Words" returns on Saturday with new episodes. The show, which will still be hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, was saved by private financing after the station cancelled it a few months ago.

Last week's column reported that now-defunct station KLSD aired one local daily talk show, hosted by Stacy Taylor. Jon Elliott, who hosts a daily nationally syndicated show that aired on KLSD, accused me of neglecting his show, which is produced here. I figured there's a difference between locally focused (Taylor) and locally based (Elliott), but maybe I missed something.

When local news happens, radio should be right on top of it. At least in theory. Last Saturday evening, I happened to be driving around central San Diego in the wake of a police shootout. One person died and a cop was injured; authorities set up roadblocks and shut down Interstate 805 in both directions. Stuck in traffic and unaware of what had happened, I figured KFMB-AM or KOGO ---- which offer newscasts 24 hours a day ---- would provide information about what was going on. I was wrong. When KOGO finally finished coverage of a college basketball game, a newscaster came on and mentioned nothing about the shooting or the traffic mess. KFMB-AM's newscasts didn't either, although it was a bit hard to hear because I was banging my head against the windshield in frustration. A few hours later, I tuned in to the hourly newscast on KOGO, which only mentioned the freeway closure briefly during a traffic report. And that tidbit came after sports, weather and some annoying headlines from Fox News. (Is the case of a missing woman in Illinois really the top news story in the world? Oh yeah, she's young, white and pretty. Never mind.) By contrast, TV stations were right on top of the story during their nightly newscasts even as radio (still!) remained in the dark. In a word: Phooey.

Randy Dotinga is clueless even when he's completely up to date. E-mail him atNCTimesRadio@aol.com.

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