The Deal
WQXR 96.3FM, New York’s long standing classical radio station, will be sold by the New York Times Company pending FCC approval. The rights to the WQXR name will be sold to WNYC Public Radio, and its 96.3 spot on the dial, including broadcasting equipment, will go to Univision. Univision plans to transition its Spanish-language programming to 96.3 from 105.9, which in turn is also being purchased by WNYC for use as WQXR’s new frequency. The sale comes during an economic slump that has taken its toll on an already struggling newspaper industry. Check the link for the good and bad news.
The Good News
As part of the deal, WQXR will remain a classical only station, though it will exchange places on the FM band with WCAA 105.9—a large Spanish-language station. Its new owners—WNYC public radio—purchased the 105.9 broadcasting equipment and license, as well as the rights to WQXR’s letters, for a grand total of $11.5 million. WNYC says that it intends to keep a classical program, and will likely ramp-up musical content for the new WQXR while reducing music programming on its regular NPR station. All things considered, it looks like WQXR is simply moving down the block.
The Bad News
But with that move comes a smaller apartment. When Univision bought 96.3’s equipment and license for $33.5 million, they upgraded from WCAA’s current 600 watt broadcasting equipment to WQXR’s 6,000 watt equipment. While the performance difference is not literally tenfold, the move to 105.9 will cause WQXR’s signal to lose approximately 12 miles from its effective broadcasting radius, leaving it with 105.9’s current radius of about 30 miles from the antenna.
And unfortunately, my comic sub-headline is in fact not very comical—all WQXR employees will need to apply for their own jobs—this time under WNYC. However, WNYC has started a campaign to raise $15 million to cover the purchase of WQXR as well as some operating costs. And already $5 million deep thanks to the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the campaign is well underway.
Congratulations for getting this posted even without the use of your own computer!
I got the biggest laugh from the “all things considered” line! You are slyly clever.
Keep up the great work.