About
two years ago Maine Public Broadcasting began building a network of full-time
Classical music stations in the major population areas of the state.
The investment
is now paying dividends.
According to Nielsen Audio’s Fall 2017 survey, weekly
listeners to Maine Public Classical were up 61% from Fall 2016.
Observers
credit three factors for the increase: a new station at 96.7 FM (WBQF) was
added the Classical network in 2017; Ample promotion that has created awareness
of the new service; and, highly focused programming.
The
chart on the left shows the estimated weekly listeners in Maine’s three rated
markets: Portland, Bangor and Augusta-Waterville. Maine Public Classical
increased its weekly listeners by large numbers in all three markets.
Maine
Public’s News/Talk stations were also up in Fall 2017 compared to Fall 2016,
the time of the Presidential elections. NPR News/Talk stations nationwide saw record
growth in the number of weekly listeners before and during the campaign. Mainer
Public News has maintained these gains one year later.
In
Portland, the state’s largest market, Maine Public Classical channel increased
their estimated weekly listeners by 67% over Fall 2016. New Hampshire Public
Radio, which puts a decent signal into Portland lost ground with weekly
listeners down by 21% in the past year.
Maine
Public Classical also increased the number of estimated weekly listeners in
Bangor, the state’s capitol city.
Independent community station WERU also has
listeners in Bangor but they do not subscribe to the Nielsen Audio ratings and
their data is not published.
Both
Maine Public channels gained weekly listeners in the Augusta-Waterville market.
On
the right is a sample of ongoing promotion for both Maine channels encouraging
listening on Smart Speakers such as “Alexa.” Maine Public Classical makes ample
use of syndicated Classical 24
programming. The schedule is focused and free of “speed bumps” that cause
tune-out.
Maine
Public is currently conducting a capital campaign called Charting a Bold
Future. A donor (who did not wish to be named) stepped forward with $100,000
lead gift to facilitate the purchase of 96.7.
WJZP-LP – THE JAZZ VOICE OF PORTLAND – HAS A
POWERFUL AND EASY-TO-LOVE PROGRAMMING
While
doing research for the post about Maine Public, we came across a very
impressive LPFM station in Portland.
WJZP 107.9 FM [link] offers a tasty blend
of Jazz, Blues, Swing, Soul, R&B and Dance music.
 |
| WJZP SERVES THE HEART OF PORTLAND |
The
station’s volunteer hosts are curators of various genres of music that are
familiar and inviting. How can you go
wrong with programs like The Motown Lunch
Hour, Roots: The Beginning
(classic blues cuts) and The Gentle
Sounds of Supernature (chill & Quiet
Storm tracks). Listeners can feel the love in an instant.
WJZP
has a real sense of purpose. They describe their mission this way:
It is the philosophy of
all of us at WJZP that jazz music, in all of its various forms, is a reflection
and celebration of the world’s incredible diversity, and an expression of the
human experience. Our goal at WJZP is to be more than just a radio
station. We use our voice as a local
non-profit organization to promote the ever-growing artistic and cultural
landscape of Portland.
WJZP
offers excellent promotion of local artists and events on-air and on the
station’s website and Facebook pages. WJSP hosts concerts and gatherings such
as a weekly Happy Hour series at Portland House of Music during the summer.
 |
|
Dennis Ross
and his college-age son, Dennis, Jr.
(Courtesy
Portland Press Herald)
|
The
spark plug of WJZP is Dennis Ross, President and CEO of the stations. Ross is a
charismatic individual who moved to Portland from San Diego in the 1990s. Ross said the reason for the move was to
ensure a better quality of life for his son, Dennis Ross, Jr.
Ross
and his now college-age son were featured in a recent feature article in the
Portland Press Herald about communication between fathers and sons about how to
succeed in life [link].
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