WQED fm89.3 Goes 'Back To Basics'

WQED fm89.3 Goes 'Back To Basics'

Improved programming lineup emphasizes classical music and well-known local hosts

PITTSBURGH, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- WQED fm89.3 will unveil an improved programming lineup on August 14 that will keep the best of its current schedule while strengthening its commitment to classical music, local arts and culture, and favorite radio personalities.

"We are going back to the basics," said Susan Lyons, executive director of WQED fm89.3. "When people turn the dial to 89.3, they will hear the classical music they love and the hosts they know and trust. Arts and culture news will be expanded and integrated within the new WQED Morning Show with Jim Cunningham, and we will feature select syndicated shows on the weekend."

The strategy for tweaking the schedule was to make sure that WQED fm89.3 - one of only 30 top classical stations in the country - serve its whole core audience, that it speak with a contemporary voice, that it be primarily music with limited talk, and that it fit the all-classical mission of the station.

The weekday lineup remains essentially unchanged, with Jim Cunningham, one of the area's favorite morning hosts, at the helm Monday through Friday from 6:00 to 11:00 a.m. with classical music, arts and culture news, and daily features from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Anna Singer hosts mid-day from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. live from the Carolyn M. Byham Studio in Katz Plaza in the heart of the Cultural District, followed by Ted Sohier from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., also live from the Byham Studio. Listeners can stop by and see their favorite hosts through the windowed studio.

Highlights of the back to basics changes:

- A kick-off to celebrate the new lineup will be held on Monday, August
14 at 7:00 a.m. in front of the Carolyn M. Byham Studio in Katz Plaza,
Seventh Street and Penn Avenue, in the Cultural District. Listeners
are invited to drop by on their way to work to meet WQED personalities
and enjoy coffee and bagels.

- Because arts and culture features will be expanded into Jim
Cunningham's morning show and will now reach a larger audience, The
Bayer Arts Magazine will be discontinued. Arts Producer Stephen Baum
will continue to produce arts and culture features that will air within
the morning show. Also, Baum's Performance in Pittsburgh program
expands to three hours a week (Friday evenings from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.)
from the Carolyn M. Byham Studio.

- Listeners Choice becomes Saturday Night Requests with Jim Sweenie, from
8:00 to 9:00 p.m., where listeners go on the air to request classical
favorites. Included will be personal reflections from Pittsburghers,
famous personalities and national artists sharing their stories.
Listeners can also ease into the weekend with Sweenie's refreshing new
Saturday morning mix of uplifting classics.

- Alan Chapman hosts and produces the contemporary music program, Modern
Masterpieces, at 10:00 pm every Saturday night. Chapman has a
multifaceted musical background and is a producer, writer, lecturer and
host of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's national broadcasts.
Modern Masterpieces features music by acknowledged classical masters as
well as emerging composers of merit. Chapman will be sharing exciting
new recordings of world premier performances and prize-winning
compositions, as well as occasional artist perspectives. Throughout,
his commentary will help link modern music turning points to their
historic and artistic lineage.

- Opera lovers will appreciate two places in the new schedule:
Metropolitan Opera Saturdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. from December
through May, and World Class Sundays from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

- Charles Andrews will continue to unearth musical gems every weeknight
at 8:00 pm on Buried Treasures, a showcase of less-familiar but worthy
music. He is a longtime public radio veteran and has been sharing his
love of classical music with listeners since the 1970s. Andrews
maintains, "For all kinds of reasons, but mostly because performers
just have too much to learn, too much to remember and too much to do,
there is a truly enormous amount of great classical music that is
obscure at best, and simply invisible and inaudible at worst. The point
of Buried Treasures is to share the best of this music with more
people."

- Exploring Music, hosted by former Pittsburgh Symphony musician Bill
McGlaughlin, will air Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Exploring Music is an exciting series of daily one-hour programs that
celebrates classical music. McGlaughlin has served as an educator, as
a performer, and as a conductor. He was trombonist with the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra.

- Overnight will be syndicated programming hosted by Lauren Rico, Bob
Christiansen, Valerie Kahler and Monica Vischer from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00
a.m. Lauren Rico is well-versed in classical music, both as a
performer and researcher/musicologist. Bob Christiansen has been an
announcer and program director for nearly 30 years and hosts programs
on Minnesota Public Radio. Valerie Kahler's musical interests are
wide-ranging and include many classical genres. Monica Vischer has
been surrounded by music since she was a child.

- Sacred Classics with Stephanie Wendt will air every Sunday morning,
from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. Wendt's core repertoire each week is choral
music, with accompanying instrumental works, all selected for their
power to speak to the emotions. The music on Sacred Classics speaks
with many voices, from many eras and traditions, but the message is
always a timeless one of reflection, transcendence and ultimately,
affirmation.

WQED Multimedia provides quality products and services to engage, inform, educate and entertain the public within its community and around the world. It is the parent company of WQED tv13, WQEX - your America's Store channel, WQED fm89.3, WQEJ fm89.7/Johnstown, a publishing division that includes PITTSBURGH magazine, local and national television and radio productions, www.wqed.org and the WQED Education and Community Resource Center.

Source: WQED Multimedia

CONTACT: Rosemary Martinelli, +1-412-622-6433, or rmartine@wqed.org, or
George Hazimanolis, +1-412-622-1366, or ghaziman@wqed.org, both of WQED

Web site: http://www.wqed.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: DETAILED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON ALL PROGRAM HOSTS CAN BE OBTAINED BY E-MAILING GEORGE HAZIMANOLIS, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, AT ghaziman@wqed.org

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