On Tuesday, Benjamin K. Roe was named the new general manager of WDAV. Most recently NPR”s director of music and music initiatives, Ben Roe is a consummate public radio professional with a long and impressive resume bringing over 25 years of public radio and media experience to the job. He is a Grammy and Peabody Award-winning producer who brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his new role at WDAV. Perhaps best of all, he”s a music, culture, and media afficianado! Read more about Ben at the and at Ben”s blog.
I read the article in The Charlotte Observer about Mr. Roe joining WDAV and quite frankly, it made me nervous. Sounds like he is wanting to make big changes. Makes me nervous, but I hope to be proved wrong.
I hope Mark is proved wrong and Mr. Roe does not make big changes. I’m wondering what he means by bringing WDAV into the 21st century. The formula that WDAV has used since I moved to Charlotte in 1981 has worked well. The station should remain classical, not any jazz or other music types. Welcome Mr. Roe but please tread carefully.
I WORK THIRD SHIFT WEEKENDS IN A HOSPITAL LAB AND REALLY NEED MY CLASSICAL MUSIC TO GET ME THROUGH THE TRAUMAS IN BLOOD BANK. NOW ALL I HAVE IS THE BBC (WHICH IS AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE) INSTEAD OF MY MUSIC. PLEASE BRING THE MUSIC BACK AT NIGHT. THANKS
I’m not sure what the previous writer is referring to, but WDAV has NOT made any changes to our overnight schedule. We continue to be the region’s only all-classical radio station, as we have been for many years now. Our terrestrial signal in the Charlotte area is at 89.9 FM, and listeners on the Internet can access our 24 hour stream of classical music at wdav.org.
There have been recent changes at WNSC, the Rock Hill radio station for South Carolina ETV. They dropped their all jazz format for a mix of news/talk and variety programs. But they did not have classical music on recently, so it’s not likely the writer was referring to them. Still, there is often confusion between stations because of their proximity on the FM dial, so it’s a possibility.
There will undoubtedly be changes under Ben’s leadership, but his commitment is to the classical music format, and there are no plans to deviate from that in any way.