READER QUESTIONS & COMMENTS

REGARDING YESTERDAY'S POST: NATIONAL PROGRAM CASE STUDY: "CLASSICAL COUNTDOWN"

I received a couple of nice messages from fans of CLASSICAL COUNTDOWN - thank you.  

Q: What happened to the show - when did it end?

A: CLASSICAL COUNTDOWN ceased production in 1995. There were three reasons why the program ended:

1. Billboard made a major change in their classical music chart, the basis for the "countdown" in CLASSICAL COUNTDOWN. Prior to the change, the Billboard chart was based on an intuitive system that combined retail sales, radio airplay and other factors.  It was a GREAT chart for a countdown show. 

Then, in 1995, Billboard switched all of its charts to reflect only retail sales as measured by SoundScan. This change put cheap classical wannabees at the top of the charts.  The Billboard chart lost its credibility.

2. Format focusing began to change the carriage landscape. Stations were moving away from dual formats such as NPR News and Classical. This trend towards just one type of programming is still happening today.

3. Neither Rich Capparela (the host) nor I owned CLASSICAL COUNTDOWN. It was, and probably still is, owned by California State University – Northridge (“CSUN”). CSUN and KCSN back then had a huge turnover in leadership. Rich and I decided to not take chances on incoming bureaucrats.

REGARDING MY FROM TUESDAY: JARL MOHN, BRIAN WILSON TO APPEAR AT THE “15th Annual NON-COMMvention”

Q:  So, is REAL Brian Wilson appearing at the NON-COMM?

A:  Yes, I confirmed with a conference planner that Brian Good Vibrations Wilson will appearing at the NON-COMM [LINK].  It will happen Friday 5/15 between Noon and 2pm on the NPR Music Stage. 

REGARDING MY RETRO FRIDAY VIDEOS

Q: I liked some of the RETRO FRIDAY history videos but I haven’t seen any new ones recently.  Will there more?

A: I decided to take a break because the quality of my work varied too much from week to week. There were a couple of hundred viewers for some of the RETRO FRIDAY posts but others hardly had a pulse.  I decided to concentrate daily news and commentary. But there will be occasional video posts in the future.