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I am not a curmudgeon nor cynical; far from it.  I just want to share with you, in tongue-in-cheek style, situations I feel that are less than satisfactory in our present day life, both locally and globally.  The following editorials, and the opinions contained therein, are mine alone and I hope you take them in the light they are given...light!

Dance, Trance, Disco, Hip-Hop...
come on, give us just one more station!

The Wit and Tenets of Brad P. Scobey

 

disco_ball8_md_blk.gif (16095 bytes)What a bastion of dance music South Florida has become.   My goodness, all the choices; WPYM, HOT and MIX are just the beginning.  Want to listen to WSKX or WARP?  How about WACO?  Let's get another station that plays nothing but pulsating rhythms, and fight over who has the least commercials.  GIVE US ANOTHER CHOICE, DARNIT!

What am I talking about, folks?  Why it's the South Florida dance war.  You see, station owners here think that all of the revenue to be generated revolves around the 17 to 25 year old market.  Now we know that there aren't that many senior citizens here.  No way.  And who would think that the average person really wants relaxing music during their leisurely drive on the South Florida choke-ways of I-95; the Palmetto and the Dolphin?  Come on, let's put something on the dial that's frantic and fast-paced to sit in traffic and listen to.

PH00870H.JPG (9001 bytes)You see, the ultimate coup-de-gras for dance music came on December 31st, 2001.  South Floridians' who were so inclined held a wake for classical music radio station, WTMI.  We listened to the last broadcast by Lynn Farmer and Dee Silvers saying a tearful goodbye, ending WTMI's 20 years of classical music with The Star Spangled Banner.  Tears welled in the eyes, both of patriotism and loss.   A moment of dead air followed which seemed to last for hours.   No one knew for sure what the new format was going to be.  Rumors of talk radio abounded, but then it happened.  Beating...pounding...thumping...DANCE!  Happy New Year to us!!!

WTMI was the ONLY classical music station in all of South Florida and now it was muerto, dead, gone, nix, null.  Originally owned by Marlin Broadcasting (beethoven.com) they sold it in 1999 to the wonderful Cox Enterprises, owned (98%) by the ever charming and needy Cox sisters.  Cox Enterprises tried, really tried, to return a huge profit on their investment but, alas and alack, were unable to.  What else could they do?

For those of you who don't know them, the Cox sisters are billionaires (among the worlds 20 most richest women*).  A billionaire is someone who was a millionaire but added a bunch of zeros.  Yes, that is exactly what the Cox sisters are.  Obviously, making such a poor showing on "the list" could be embarrassing.  One has to admire such drive.  Don't' get me wrong, I do not go around knocking the needs of little ol' ladies.  I don't even know them personally (wrong crowd).  But it appears that they could provide a bit of culture to what is becoming a cultural wasteland, profits aside.  Don't they need some write-offs?  But I digress.

bach.JPG (14805 bytes)As I said earlier, on December 31st, 2001, WTMI classical became WPYM, the new dance mix, touting more music (subjective) and less commercials.   It is a huge success here in this market of mediocrity; Winner:Cox; Loser:Us.   How can a market of over five million people not support the need for a station of classical music?  Gone are Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, Gershwin, Porter; disappearing into a crevice of who knows where; but it appears that no one is looking for them, either.  Not one station, even the college stations, have taken the banner and waved it calling for some semblance of culture in this locality.  Are we not as cultured as Milwaukee, Seattle, Houston or Philadelphia?  Oops, just a rhetorical question.  We now have an AM station (since September, 02) with little power that broadcasts classical music now.  Some of the hosts from WTMI are there, but forget the signal before 7 AM or after 6 PM, and I can't figure how to get high-fidelity stereo through my AM station.

So, to you deviants who want to listen to classical music, tune into your internet stations, pull out your records, tapes, CD's or just subscribe to a digital radio system and listen to your boring, peaceful music in the privacy of your own home.  As for me, I think I'll just beat my head against the wall!

Brad

*According to Forbes 2001.

Updated, March 26, 2004:  The dance is gone!  It has been replaced by a third "album rock" station.  And I thought we were getting closer.

Updated, June 1, 2008: Well, we finally have classical music back on the radio; albeit from Minnesota (public radio); but I'll take whatever I can get!

Wish to comment on this rant?  Email me!

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