WRTI . . . and all that jazz
By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer
If at least some of the more-nostalgic alumni of Temple University's WRTI radio station had their way, very little might be said about or heard from the station beyond the school's North Philadelphia campus.
By the same token, considering long-running trends in commercial broadcast radio, communities throughout Philadelphia and the tri-state area would be missing out on the kind of programming once considered vital to their cultural health and enrichment.
Broadcasting on 90.1-FM in Philadelphia and 15 other frequencies from the Poconos to the Jersey Shore, and as far west as Harrisburg, WRTI is one of the region's three primary public radio stations.
For 12 hours each day, the primary content is classical music. For 12 hours each night, jazz takes over. It's the only major station in Philadelphia with extensive programming in either format, let alone both.
"It's rare. Nobody else is doing it. It's hard to have two formats," said station manager Bill Johnson. "You'll have one station that does classical and one station that does jazz, or a news/talk station that does a jazz or classical program."
But there's nothing quite like WRTI.
Founded in 1948 as a practical learning lab for Temple's communications program, WRTI has come a long way since its days as a student-run AM station. It began broadcasting on FM in 1953, then dropped AM altogether in 1968.
The following year, much to the continuing chagrin of some student-radio advocates, full-time jazz replaced the programming potpourri and the evolution to a professional station began.
While the official www.wrti.org Web site offers little in the way of that history, an unofficial site (www.wrti.com) created by former student staff members claims a variety of suspicious circumstances surrounding the station's move to full-time jazz.
In one of the more interesting histories, one of the former students concludes that school officials made the change after see
ing relatively high ratings for the station during scheduled Saturday-night jazz programs. However, the jazz program was routinely preempted during the ratings period in favor of popular live Temple basketball broadcasts, the author claims.
Nonetheless, almost three decades later, station officials would experience some more bad feedback when they cut back the jazz programming.
In 1997, Philadelphia's last full-time classical station, WFLN 95.7-FM, switched formats and shipped its library to WRTI, which gladly accepted the new music and potential new audience, although the conversion proved a tough sell at first.
"It was rough for a few months because (listeners) felt their program had been usurped," said Dave Conant, the longtime WFLN program director and host who arrived at WRTI as general manager with the daytime format change.
"I think we had two communities who felt frustrated," Johnson added.
Conant's old station endured several ensuing sales, format changes and name changes. Since 2005, it has had a "variety hits" format and been known as "Ben FM."
Meanwhile, the disruption at WRTI resolved itself. Now, with a state-of-the-art on-campus studio and some 21,000 contributing listeners, WRTI is considered a trailblazer in the industry and has prospered despite the difficult economic conditions, particularly for donor-sponsored non-profits.
Donations are actually on the rise, according to Conant, a Penn graduate who has been on the air locally for four decades.
Johnson thinks that listeners appreciate the value of what they have. "Even with the poor economy, individuals have recognized the importance of supporting the community service that we provide," Johnson said. "Over fifty percent of our revenue comes from individuals who listen to our station."
Meanwhile, just six percent of the operating budget comes from public money administered through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The reason for the station's enduring core popularity is simple, they believe. Certain people can't do without jazz or classical music. And WRTI is one of the few places where they can get it on a consistent basis.
In addition to the FM broadcasts, the station has a simultaneous satellite and Internet-based feed. When classical music is on the radio, jazz is on satellite and vice-versa.
"The Knight Foundation years ago in a survey determined that most people receive classical music by radio and most people are first exposed to classical music by radio," Conant said.
Relatively speaking, opportunities to see live classical music are rare and can be expensive. Perhaps not coincidentally, many classical music organizations — notably the Philadelphia Orchestra — are struggling financially.
Although unaware of any formal studies on the topic, Johnson can see the same dynamics at work in the jazz world.
"(Jazz) clubs are on the decline also," he said, "but we're here and we're doing it all the time for free."
Visit www.wrti.org for information about WRTI-FM.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@bsmphilly.com