RIP, classi--*bzzt*crackle*

I like classical music. I don't go out of my way to listen to it, but I'd hardly be inclined to turn it off, either--and it's far more tolerable than a great deal of what passes for "music" these days.

However, I hardly ever listened to WFMR-FM, which was Milwaukee's only classical music station--until midnight Monday, anyway, when the station switched to smooth jazz--and consider its format switch no great loss.

Why?

Because I listen to the radio pretty much exclusively when I'm in a car, and WFMR's radio signal was exceptionally weak. Rarely, if ever, could I get a clear reception; static riddled the station's broadcasts, and occasionally, when driving through the wrong spots, other stations' feeds would overlap and actually break through.

If there's anything less welcome than classical music with more static than cello, it's classical music interrupted by bursts of country or hip-hop.

The classical music radio format was already in decline; given the lousy way it was presented around here, it's amazing WFMR held on as long as it did.

--Shack