Classical Music Moving in Houston

KUHA 91.7 FM Moving To HD Radio

Houston Public Media (HPM) announced that classical programming is moving to HD2. The announcement says the programming will be moving from KUHA 91.7 to 88.7 HD 2. Classical Music will also be available at HPM's website, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and TV 8.5...a digital TV channel.

Digging Further

All Access and Houston Public Media is reporting that KUHA is for sale. Houston Public Media bought KUHA from Rice University in 2010 for over $9 million. Economic trouble became evident when HPM laid off eight full time staff at the station in 2013. The move cuts expenses further and will unload some debt for HPM.

American Public Media recently cut its losses by selling off the three stations that made up Classical South Florida. In these instances, classical music was unable to sustain itself. The debt load was to heavy to be carried through voluntary support.

Classical music is losing ground. In both cases the music will be available digitally, but free over the air broadcasts are going away. The move to HD 2 and TV 8.5 in Houston is free. They will be hard to find. HD Radio has not reached deep market penetration. Finding HDTV 8.5 is viable for at home listening...not in the car.

Sesame Street - We've Strayed A Long Way

New episodes of Sesame Street will be aired on HBO first. 

I guess it's good news for the Sesame Street Workshop. They're getting an infusion of revenue to double the new episodes per season. The new episodes will eventually air on Public Television.

The Workshop has been running deficits for a while. It seems voluntary public support wasn't enough to sustain the program.

After the five year deal, will public television still be in the loop? Will HBO still fund Sesame Street or cut it loose?

After reading the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967...it seems we've strayed a long way. Are we headed in the direction of those who can pay will have access to quality programming? What about the rest of us? Has the marketplace decided educational programming for our young only goes to those 'who can afford it?

The Congress hereby finds and declares that —

1. it is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting, including the use of such media for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes;
2. it is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of nonbroadcast telecommunications technologies for the delivery of public telecommunications services;
3. expansion and development of public telecommunications and of diversity of its programming depend on freedom, imagination, and initiative on both local and national levels;
4. the encouragement and support of public telecommunications, while matters of importance for private and local development, are also of appropriate and important concern to the Federal Government;
5. it furthers the general welfare to encourage public telecommunications services which will be responsive to the interests of people both in particular localities and throughout the United States, which will constitute an expression of diversity and excellence, and which will constitute a source of alternative telecommunications services for all the citizens of the Nation;
6. it is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities;
7. it is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to complement, assist, and support a national policy that will most effectively make public telecommunications services available to all citizens of the United States;
8. public television and radio stations and public telecommunications services constitute valuable local community resources for utilizing electronic media to address national concerns and solve local problems through community programs and outreach programs;
9. it is in the public interest for the Federal Government to ensure that all citizens of the United States have access to public telecommunications services through all appropriate available telecommunications distribution technologies; and
10. a private corporation should be created to facilitate the development of public telecommunications and to afford maximum protection from extraneous interference and control.