Definitely not a college try. Bonneville, one of the better radio companies, and the Washington Post, one of the better newspapers, put together a radio station about 18 months ago in DC. WTWP was an attempt to bring the talent of the Post to the air on a daily basis. Next month the attempt ends, when Bonneville switches the frequencies to syndicated talk shows. A perfect example of radio’s commitment problem — if it doesn’t show in the Arbitron ratings within a year, it’s gone. The stories say Bonneville “lost” about 3 million dollars in the “experiment.” Pretty cheap programming overhead for a live talk station in DC, I’d say. The newspaper thought it could do radio without breaking a sweat, shuttling reporters through the studio. They said they’d give it three years. I’ve heard that before. Think you could create a new radio station out of a respected newspaper in a year and a half? I don’t. Somebody needs to do it. But I’d say the chances somebody will are now slim to none. Links: The Post’s obit | The Washingtonian’s story
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