WRR survived Laura Miller to eye its centennial

Dallas', and Texas', oldest radio station, WRR, is one I listened to regularly when I lived in the Metromess in the 2000-oughts, but now that I'm close enough to get it on a lucky day on car radio, I'm more likely to want a CD.

Per D Magazine, as the station gears up for the approaching centennial, it is a "unicorn." I knew that it was one of the few commercial classical stations, or one of the few non-NPR classical stations, period. The old one in St. Louis, the FM side of the dial of the paired stations at least formerly owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is now contemporary Christian; a non-commercial non-NPR station of some sort has filled the void there.

More here from NBC-5, which notes it moved to the FM dial in 1948 and became all-classical in 1964. As the second-oldest federally licensed radio station in the country, one that precedes the FCC, ti's one of the few west of the Mississippi to keep a "W" rather than a "K" call sign.

And, I knew it is the almost the only, if not the only, municipally owned radio station, any format, in the US. That said, that almost wasn't the case 15 or so years ago. As I tweeted to D Mag:

.@DMagazine Nice piece about WRR and the approaching centennial. Now, go through the archives and find a story or 6 about how former D Magazine hotshot columnist Laura Miller damn near killed the station when Dallas mayor. https://t.co/EMIsccWUEo

— I come to Bari Weiss, not to praise her 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) August 28, 2020

This is true.

As mayor, Laura Miller made noises about selling the station on more than one occasion. Laura Miller the mayor was a bit diff than Laura Miller the D Mag columnist and a LOT different than the Dallas Observer muckraker.

Speaking of, Jim Schutze roasted her (and her "connections") over this. (This was also when Jim Schutze was a real curmudgeon, not one who gave bad cops a pass and other things.) In a second piece, Schutze noted Miller was trying to have her cake and eat it too on the original deal, backing away from half of it. Surprisingly, Schutze didn't note that WRR also broadcast Dallas City Council meetings and the tower swap idea would have meant Dallas south of the Trinity couldn't have heard Laura Miller's mayoral shenanigans in live time.

That said, per a great long piece by Texas Monthly that covers the history of the now-nonexistent AM station as well, the council meetings (a coverage requirement added in 1982) are "ratings suicide."

Now, classical stations may not have huge listenership. On the other hand, they are parties of one in their fields, unlike rock, country, easy listening, rap, etc., where there's half a dozen or more of each in a city the size of Dallas.

And, generalizing but not stereotyping, they have older, wealthier audiences that will spend for certain things, like luxury cars, Persian rugs, etc. And well-off Miller and well-off hubby Steve Wolens should have known this. (Schutze noted the station was in the black.)

And, speaking of demographics? The station's listenership is one-third under 35, Texas Monthly said.

Anyway, the station survived.

But the programming, and even more the announcers, have gone downhill since Scott Cantrell, classical music freelance critic and formerly of the Morning News, decried some issues there, with which I totally agreed, 15 years ago. Still plays "blue haired lady" music even more than the DSO, though I did hear Schnittke on there once relatively recently. (Back in the 2000-oughts, when Sundays were listener requests in the afternoon, I phoned in and got one of his "tamer" pieces played.)

Classical is being hollowed out less by syndication and web broadcasting than other genres of FM radio, but it is being hollowed out somewhat. The station has one less announcer and more canned music than before. What its long-term future holds, I don't know.