Let WRR stay classical

Dallas’ historic guardian of classical music on radio airwaves, WRR-FM (101.1), faces two potential outcomes after a Dallas City Council vote on Wednesday. In one, the city-owned station will proceed to fill the airwaves with classical tracks for the foreseeable future. In one other, the station may very well be put up on the market to the very best bidder, probably erasing one of many final classical-only music stations within the nation. The council ought to select the previous.

There’s no purpose town ought to stay within the music enterprise if it doesn’t wish to. But metropolis employees have discovered a path to protect this cultural treasure that’s on the extent of the Dallas Museum of Art or Dallas Summer Musicals. We urge the council to approve a partnership with KERA, North Texas’ public radio nonprofit, to take over the administration of the oldest station within the state and preserve classical programming.

WRR attracts a loyal following of greater than 200,000 weekly listeners who tune in for current Dallas Symphony performances or the melodies of composers from world wide. It is true that these residents might entry classical music on-line, however not all of it’s free. And WRR has promoted greater than 170 native artwork teams via on-air interviews and mentions, serving to metropolis arts thrive.

The most important impediment to a takeover by KERA is cash. For 9 out of the final 10 years, WRR ran a deficit and at occasions wanted money infusions. The city-managed station has a web deficit of $5.6 million.

If the KERA proposal fails, town is anticipated to maneuver to an outright sale of the station. WRR has an estimated worth of greater than $13 million. The metropolis might pocket $7.5 million after paying off the deficit. But a sale means town wouldn’t have a say over the programming of WRR, which might rapidly morph into one other “top 40″ hits playlist to attract a wider audience and thus increase advertising revenue.

If the city retains ownership of WRR but transfers management to KERA, the nonprofit would reimburse all city expenses associated with WRR and would convert the classical music station to a noncommercial group, which allows for donations. The public media organization would also give the city more than a dozen prime-time slots to broadcast announcements for art programs and city initiatives.

When presented with a solution that cuts losses and saves a cultural asset, the city should embrace it. Dallas has good reason to promote the fine arts — a responsibility, in fact, given that the arts are a part of a flourishing city.

While the KERA option would yield fewer dollars for Dallas, at least in the short term, the city sometimes accepts less revenue for the sake of learning, history and culture. Libraries do not make money, but their educational value makes them a city staple. The city should regard its classical music station similarly.

We urge the city to keep its commitment “to nurturing the wide diversity of creative culture” as a substitute of narrowing it.

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