Note: WHQR's tribute to Jemila Ericson is here. And see below.
Robert Dickson wrote:
You folks have a really nice Saturday night lineup until 10 pm when you broadcast Woodsongs. After 120 minutes of really excellent curated music I’m presented with Michael Jonathan’s ode to himself. Waaay too much talking and preachiness. The only thing worse was when y’all used to broadcast E town. I’d vote for bagging Woodsongs and going straight into Front Street Blues. It’s 921 Saturday night and I’m unhappy with the fact that I’m going to have to change to some other music source when George’s show is over.
By the way, I asked Robert, as I always do, if he was OK with our using his full name. He replied:
You’re welcome to use my full name. Too much anonymity in comments these days. Y’all keep up the good work.
Listener Carol wrote:
Waiting … to find out if you upgraded the HD radio signal last month? If yes then please let me know if it has been tested in Sunset Beach if not when will this be done.
For Carol and others, we are still waiting on our HD upgrade. We tried to finish the work in November, but a critical part was missing from the manufacturer’s shipment. We’ll try again in early January. In the meantime, we are shipping HD radios out to some Pay It Forwardwinners in areas closer in. Our tests have confirmed that listeners in western Brunswick County, like Carol, will not be able to get HD reliably at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience, and will keep you updated.
Here are some more comments from our December one-day drive:
Carole and John VanGorder of Leland wrote:
We are really enjoying the changes to more news and talk.
Zach Rudisin wrote:
[I] Listen every morning/afternoon on a long drive to & from work! Your election coverage and debates really help me be an informed voter.
Listener Raoul wrote
We love WHQR! Thanks for creating the news station and including the programs we used to have to stream from other stations around the country. And thanks for the JAZZ, George.
Walter and Carolyn Prentice wrote:
In addition to our regular contribution. Thanks for all the great music.
For those of you keeping score at home, here is some Feedback from the December 11th drive. We received 308 pledges, totaling $23,515, plus additional gifts that have come in after the 11th. 55 of those pledges were from new members, which is a strong percentage. Thank you.
52 per cent of pledgers overall said they listen just to HQR News. 9 per cent said they listen only to Classical HQR. That may not sound like much, but an additional 36 per cent said they listen to both. When you add “Both” to the mix, 88 per cent said they listen to news in whole or in part, and 45 per cent said the same for classical music.
In Wilmington alone, where the classical FM signal at 96.7 is strongest, the comparable figures are 48 per cent news, 18 per cent classical and 34 per cent both. So the combined scores are 82 per cent for news and 52 per cent for classical.
Speaking of classical, we hope you are enjoying the holiday specials we have been running all this week on Classical HQR. The acclaimed Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be simulcast on HQR News and Classical HQR on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, from 10 am to noon.
Jemila Ericson’s last regular day on the air on Classical HQR is a week from today. Please check whqr.org for a special page for comments and tributes to Jemila’s 20-year career at the station.
We’d love to hear from you on Friday Feedback. You can always leave a message via email to feedback@WHQR.org. Our Feedback Phone is 910-292-9477. And thanks for your feedback.