Wow. Want to read a gazillion words about WFPK Radio? Velocity’s ambitious cover story this week examines the station’s playlist with a giant 
microscope, questioning the decision-makers at the city’s only broadcast option for music that’s not controlled by some giant corporation far away from here.
Credit where it’s due — the writer, Peter Berkowitz — knows a lot about music, dropping names of artists into the mix of interviews with listeners and the station’s management. He sets up a “radio clash” of old farts like me, who want to hear artists like Lyle Lovett and John Prine — with a younger audience the station needs to attract to thrive, who want to hear new music from unknown artists.
Berkowitz takes a few potshots at the station’s managers and DJ’s — two weeks after it was released, the new Moby CD hadn’t entered the consciousness of DJ Marion Dries — but concludes that it’s kind of hard to try to appeal to two generations. Ultimately, you lose a lot of listeners in each group trying to please the other. It’s also a nice primer on the history of the station.
The idea that there’s a ton of listener Moms out there who can listen to the station with their teens in the car — well, I can almost buy it, except that my teen-agers’ first act upon entering my vehicle is to change the station.
Of course, we love WFPK for what it is, but it’s just not as cool, or important, as it used to be. Either that, or I just don’t listen to music as much as I used to. And when I do, I want to hear stuff I know, not necessarily new artists.
The Velocity story is a pretty intense and positive overall look at the station, though it’s balanced with the station’s challenges and critics. It probably won’t land in a spot on the walls at Louisville Public Media’s HQ.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Bat of Moon // May 14, 2008 at 8:05 pm
“new music from unknown artists.” — Not unknown to the younger audience, but unknown to old pharts, who need to open their minds and ears.
WFPK has to do a delicate balancing act, but to thrive over the long run, it has to skew toward a younger audience, and that means mixing in a lot of new music. Louisville doesn’t need another oldies station, even if they’re “hip” oldies.
2 cary stemle // May 15, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Rick-
A gazillion words? That’s funny. I’ll grant that it’s longer than a typical V-puff story, but it’s not that long. I read it in one sitting.
I give Velocity credit for raising a relevant issue. It’s kinda interesting to me that the folks at WFPK have gotten pretty upset over the piece, which seems pretty gentle overall.
I think I’ll riff on it in my next column for LEO.
Cary Stemle
3 louisvilleobserver // May 15, 2008 at 12:31 pm
When I first arrived in Louisville a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised that this city had 3 public radio stations. WFPK is definitely unique, regardless of whether music purists believe its playlist is “diverse” enough. When I don’t have the iPod on shuffle, its the only station I’ll listen to.
I really love their jazz programming on Sundays. Nothing better than cranking it up on the home stereo, sipping a cup of coffee, and reading the paper.
4 Leslie Stewart // May 15, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Outside of a few factual errors (we changed the format in January of 1996 and I didn’t hire Dan Reed until late 1997), I found the Velocity piece to be pretty well-balanced and I’m not sure why anyone at WFPK would be upset with it. The A-3 format in general has struggled for identity since its inception, and has evolved significantly from the early days when it was just a mix of everything public radio stations were already doing successfully in block programming form. Of course, not all changes have been positive - the “album” in Album Adult Alternative quickly gave way to the standard industry focus on singles, and it’s not easy to find a balance between “Adult” and “Alternative.” The most frequently heard joke about the A-3 demographic is “That’s not a demographic, it’s a family reunion!” And although I’ve not seen any recent fundraising numbers, I’m guessing the the mom-jeans listeners are still contributing more to the station that the skinny-jeans listeners. Membership numbers for the partnership now known as Louisville Public Media have historically been below the national average (fortunately offset by the fact that corporate sponsorship for the stations are way above the national average). The best thing WFPK does isn’t necessarily what’s on the playlist at any given moment; it’s the way the station connects with its listeners, which it does better than pretty much any other station on the dial. I’m proud to have been a part of that, and am just glad that people still care enough to write about it!
5 Cary B // May 15, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Pretty fair story if you ask me.
I hosted The Flipside on WFPL from 1988 to 1993, and then was invited back to “The New 92″ by the incredible Leslie Stewart in 1996. Leslie really got this whole party started, ya know. (THANKS, LESLIE!)
But things changed, and by 2002 I left WFPK in a bit of a huff because I could no longer play pretty much whatever I wanted to. And I still wish FPK would play more cutting-edge new music and less, I don’t know, Sting, for example. God, that guy bores the crap out of me.
But I still listen to WFPK. I complain about it because I care about it. It’s the only game in town if you give a hoot about music, and still one of the best stations I know of anywhere. Travel the country and tune in to its hippest radio stations, and you’ll see what I mean. FPK’s deejays are witty and knowledgeable, and they connect to their listeners in a way that other stations can only dream of. Satellite, online radio, cable - they all have their place, but when I want to get a feel for Louisville rock radio, with a human touch, the mighty fine 91.9 is the only serious option.
The battle between art and commerce has been with us since culture began, and it won’t be going away anytime soon. There has to be a balance between the familiar and the avant-garde. I’d like to nudge FPK a little more youngish myself, but you know, you cain’t always git what you wont…
6 Cary B // May 15, 2008 at 6:35 pm
One other thing - nothing wrong with trying to be “all things to all people.” That’s what made WAKY and WKLO so great back in the glory days of Louisville AM radio. Rock, country, soul, and “other” all mixed into one tasty stew. That’s why I’m so open to variety still.
7 Joel // May 16, 2008 at 8:22 am
“And although I’ve not seen any recent fundraising numbers, I’m guessing the the mom-jeans listeners are still contributing more to the station that the skinny-jeans listeners.”
It’s also fair to say that more “mom-jeans listeners” buy more music in Louisville than “skinny-jeans listeners.” Anecdotally that’s definitely the case at the record store where I work (yes, there are a few left), and was true when I worked at a record label in New York, as well. Soundscan numbers probably back that up as well (though Louisville’s sales figures are accounted for in a weird way because of the small size of the market — usually one sale translates to more scans).
There’s definitely a case to be made for having a radio station that does a bit more in terms of promoting new music, but WFPK isn’t (and probably could never be) a WFMU, for example. Louisville, despite all of the great music from here, is still a pretty conservative town, culturally.
Lastly, one thing I found strange about the article (though I did agree with a lot of it) was the lack of discussing specialty shows on WFPK. A lot of the regular FPK playlist would never be played on Matt Anthony’s or Woodrow on the Radio’s shows, for instance.
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