"Folk on WGBH" was broadcast Saturday afternoons, noon to 3pm.
"Blues on WGBH was broadcast Saturday nights, 9pm-1am.
The first indication came to me yesterday in northeastfolknroots -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthEastFolknRoots - where Eli Polonsky posted this:
When WGBH 89.7 first announced a couple of
months ago that they plan to drop all of
their weekday classical music programming
and replace it with public radio news/talk
programming (to compete against the much
higher rated WBUR), they first claimed that
their weekend specialty music programs such
as "Folk on WGBH" with Naomi Arenberg and
Brad Paul and "Blues on WGBH" with Brendan
Hogan would remain on the 89.7 air schedule
while all of their weekday classical music
would move to commercial classical station
99.5 WCRB, which is pending for purchase by
WGBH (with plans to turn it non-commercial).
As of a release in today's Boston Globe,
apparently WGBH has changed their minds
about keeping the weekend folk and blues
programming, a spokesperson saying: "blues
and folk fans have other ways to find their
genres of choice in Boston".
No programming changes are planned until the
final purchase of WCRB by WGBH, still pending
final approval by the FCC, goes through as is
expected.
For the Globe story, scroll down to the third
item on their "Something About Boston" page:
EP
Link to Eli's post -
The Globe article -
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2009/11/06/theres_something_about_boston/ - stated
Blues and folk radio programs may be dropped
Blues fans may get the blues when they hear WGBH's plans for programming changes. 'GBH spokeswoman Jeanne Hopkins confirmed to us yesterday that if the FCC approves the station's purchase of WCRB-FM, a classical station based in Waltham, the station will cancel "Folk on WGBH'' and "Blues on WGBH,'' which air on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, respectively. The blues show is hosted by Brendan Hogan, while folk is hosted by Naomi Arenberg and Brad Paul. Hopkins explained that WGBH wants to carry classical music on one station (WCRB's 99.5) and news and information on the other (WGBH's 89.7). She said that blues and folk fans have other ways to find their genres of choice in Boston, and that 'GBH wants to keep its programming unique. "We've carried both of these for many years and we've been proud do it. We're very proud of the contributions,'' she said. Hopkins said there will be no programming changes until the deal goes through.
This morning Eli found confirmation on the WGBH website that the speculation was correct.
"These unfortunate changes are now confirmed on the WGBH website:"
http://www.wgbh.org/listen/goodbyefolkandblues.cfmSchedule changes on 89.7
In December, WGBH is bringing WCRB 99.5 into our family of noncommercial, listener-supported public broadcasting stations, a move that preserves full-time classical radio in Boston.
With the acquisition of 99.5, we are revising 89.7's schedule todevelop a new service for our listeners that focuses on news,information, and analysis. And our classical music will moveexclusively to 99.5, where we will continue the tradition of anall-classical format.
We are proud of the folk and blues programs we have offered and of themany contributions that WGBH and our hosts have made to these genres,so it was a difficult decision to discontinue Blues on WGBH and Folk on WGBH.As we refocus the 89.7 schedule on news and information, it becameapparent that it would not be possible to retain all of the nonnewselements of our schedule. We have chosen to keep a select group ofprograms, like A Celtic Sojourn and A Prairie Home Companion, that serve our audiences well and attract support for WGBH's work.
We are grateful to folk hosts Naomi Arenberg and Brad Paul, and blues host Brendan Hogan for sharing their passion, knowledge, and experience with listeners over the years.
Folk music fans can continue to find options on WUMB 91.9FM Boston, WNEF 91.7 FM Newburyport, WFPB 1170AM Orleans, WICN 90.5FM Worcester, WOMR 92.1FM Provincetown, or New Hampshire Public Radio. Blues fans can tune in to WUMB 91.9FM, WHRB 95.3FM, WZLX 100.7 FM, and WUML 91.5 FM.
We appreciate your support of our work and hope that you will enjoy thenew offerings on 89.7 WGBH and 99.5 All Classical. For the latestinformation about what's on our air, please visit wgbh.org/listen.
As a folk and blues (and Celtic and bluegrass) not-for-profit producer, both programs have been very good to my concerts and artists. I am a loss for words. These six hours served thousands of listeners. I wonder how many are considering discontinuing their financial and volunteer support?
All I can do at this moment is create a Facebook "Supporters of Folk and Blues on WGBH" group -
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=201481030324Discussion also continues at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthEastFolknRoots
