WSKG Public Telecommunications Council is rearranging the programming on its two networks serving the Southern Tier of New York State.
89.3 WSKG-FM Binghamton will flip from a mix of Public News/Talk and Classical music to all Public News/Talk. 91.5 WSQX-FM Binghamton will go all Classical during the week with a mix of Jazz and Folk on weekends. The changes will take effect on February 3.
WSKG-FM is also heard on 88.7 WSQA Hornell, 89.9 WINO Odessa, 90.5 W213BW Watkins Glen, 90.9 WSQG Ithaca, 91.1 WSQE Corning/Elmira, 91.7 WSQC-FM Oneonta, 105.9 W290CI Cooperstown. WSQX is heard on 88.1 WSQN Greene, 92.1 W221CW Ithaca, and 90.7 W214AA Corning.
On Sunday, February 3, 2019 WSKG public media will make bold programming changes on its two radio stations, WSKG-FM and WSQX-FM.
WSKG-FM (NPR) will convert to all News-Conversation and WSQX-FM will convert to all Classical Music with some jazz and weekend folk. There will be more news and conversation on WSKG for listeners who prefer that programming, and more music on WSQX for listeners who prefer that programming. It will be more of what you love.
WSKG President and CEO Greg Catlin says “Right now, both radio stations are mixed format stations, meaning they both offer news, conversation and music. Listeners have to switch back and forth all day and night to get what they want, and it can be confusing. By making this change to one format for each station our listeners and members can have a choice and get what they want.”
WSKG expects that by making the changes it will lead to gains in audience, membership and membership revenue, and it will position the public media organization for future growth. We firmly believe the majority of our listeners will embrace the new sound as it becomes more relevant to their lives, and that it will enhance the long-term health of WSKG and WSQX.
Whether we like it or not the world is in a digital revolution and that includes radio and how we consume radio in our homes, in our cars, on our computers, and especially on our mobile devices. WSKG and WSQX are ready so anyone can listen 24 hours a day on our website wskg.org or on voice-activated smart speakers.
Quickly skimming through the current schedules (not reflecting the upcoming changes), it looks like there were some major daytime shows (Morning Edition, Fresh Air, and All Things Considered) that have been airing, in some form, on both stations–kind of like time-shifting.