Classical Music domination violates the founding purpose of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting:

This table shows that out of 35 stations with complete data, 
26 were rating over a one share.

• There are often well over 10 stations in any decent sized market that survive (and provide significant programming for their niche market) on less than a "one share" (less than 1% of those over the age of 12 who were surveyed in radio listenership questionnaire).
• Most classical stations are coming in at well over a one share in spite of taxpayer funded no-commercial competition via the CPB affiliated radio stations. This is like the Discovery Channel successfully competing against/alongside PBS TV stations.
• These facts show that classical-dominated Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) radio stations are avoiding the actual mission statement of the CPB.

"From its beginnings in 1967, the mission of public [broadcasting] has been to … reflect the diversity of the American public. The Carnegie Commission Report, which led Congress to pass the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, argued that public [broadcasting] programming ‘can help us see America whole, in all its diversity,’ serve as ‘a forum for controversy and debate,’ and ‘provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be
unheard.’" [Pg 139 "By Invitation Only: How the Media Limit Political Debate"]
• WGMS in Washington DC regularly clocks a "four share" (four percent of surveyed listeners) and is the 6th most popular station in a market of 42 commercial radio stations. WGMS has to compete with nine noncommercial stations that are not even listed in the Arbitrons. Eighteen of the commercial stations in Washington survive on less than a one share. The records show this is the norm.
• Furthermore, Classical Music has the wealthiest audience. WCLV in Cleveland OH claims that its Commercial Classical audience is "298% times as likely as the average American to have an income over $100,000" and "216% as likely to own $10,000+ in stocks". The WCVL listener is twice as likely to be an executive as the Cleveland market’s overall listeners. Does this sound like the bunch of folks who need your tax dollars to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard"?

• "Call" = "Call Letters" as registered with the FCC.
• "Format"= is either the Commercial Classical station studied ("ComClas") or the Number One station in that market for this book. The reason for this is to show what the share is for the best station in the market compared to the commercial classical station. You may note that it is not common for even the number one rated radio station to get more than 12% of a radio listener market.
• "Market" refers to the ADI or "Area of Dominant Influence" (also matches closely with the Census Bureau's MSA, Metropolitan Statistical Area) that the radio station competes in.
• "Rank" means that that station is the number one rated, or 9th highest rated station in that market.
• "# of com stations" refers to the number of commercial radio stations to be competed with. This  number does not include all the stations that compete for a listener's time! The Arbitron intentionally deletes any noncommercial listening that is reported for this ranking exercise. So for example, in Richmond, Virginia, the roughly 90,000 listeners for WRVA1140AM news and talk should rank right above or below the public radio station WCVE88.9FM's 90,000 listeners of Morning Edition and All Thing's Considered ... but WCVE doesn't show in the Arbitron ratings rankings at all! In other words, when you listen to any noncommercial station, religious, college or "public" broadcasting, your listening literally does not count!

The unfortunate effect of this is when some program director is looking to increase listenership, he looks at the other equally inane and hideous commercial morning shows ... and the large listenership for more spiritual and "life of the mind" programming has no influence on his programming calculus!! (not if he goes by the Arbitrons, anyway.) No wonder most commercial programming never makes it out of the gutter!!
• "Su98" etc. refers to the rating quarter that that column displays for the percent of the surveyed listeners who claimed to listen to that station.
• "#<1share" refers to the number of radio stations in that market that survived on less than a "one share" (1% of surveyed listeners). While perhaps not something the stockholders would love, from a listener's point of view, a market must have a certain number of these struggling stations in order for the competitive pressures to create a need to reach out to new audiences.
• "Comment" ends up displaying mostly what station was just below the commercial classical station. You can look it and its format up in the B&C books if you would like to see what context the niche market for classical music is.

• Interestingly, National Public Radio opposes the Low Power Radio Service even while continuing to push the classical music myth.
• "Billy" Tauzin, Chair of the US House of Representatives Telecom Subcomittee has openly stated that the LPRS stations would "reduce the advertising revenue of struggling minority stations and undercut the donations to public radio stations." (2/12/99 Reuters)

WHAT AN ADMISSION that PBS [aka "PetroleumBroadcasting Service"] stations are doing such a lousy job that a little competition would wipe them out!

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