CLASSICAL MUSIC HIKES KPBS RATINGS

A year ago, amid a certain amount of in-house and outside moaning and gnashing of teeth, San Diego’s public radio station, KPBS-FM (89.5), began broadcasting classical music again.

Twelve months later, the station’s key midday listenership has more than doubled, a survey shows, in response to the change.

Besides shifting to Bach, Brahms and scores of lesser-known composers, KPBS has also begun to emphasize the local arts scene in its programming. The results of the format shift clearly satisfy management, if not every critic.

“We’re doing a heck of a lot better than we have . . . at least in the nine years I’ve been here,” said program manager Craig Dorval.

While afternoon music host Dan Erwine aired a recording of Russian composer Ippolitov-Ivanof’s “Caucasian Sketches,” Dorval went over the results of the latest Arbitron survey for the months of July, August and September.

Total average weekly listenership is “growing at about 8%,” having passed the 100,000 mark for the first time, Dorval said. The survey revealed that, before the format change, many listeners did indeed tune to the station, he said. But they didn’t linger or come back. “The time-span-listening numbers were very low,” he said.

When Arbitron also began measuring Spanish-speaking audiences for the first time last fall, Dorval found that KPBS’ nighttime Spanish-language program, “Contacto 89,” garnered a 5.3% market share of the Spanish-speaking population in San Diego County. A year ago management almost cut the program because of perceived low listenership. Its 5.3% audience share equals the station’s overall audience share, also 5.3%, Dorval said.

The sacrificial lamb in the midday format change was a three-hour local news and information program, “Contact 89,” aired in the morning and rebroadcast in the afternoon. The show clearly suffered low listenership, station officials said.

In place of “Contact 89,” classical music emanates over KPBS’ airwaves from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The music ranges from pieces by 17th-Century lutenist John Dowland, to that of 20th-Century Norwegian composer Harald Saeverud.

But even a year after the format change, the “Contact 89” supporters still harp about the program’s loss. The chief criticism is that by dropping the show, regardless of its popularity, the station neglects its duty to provide alternative programming.

During a recent call-in program, station manager Tom McManus received “a call for and against everything we do,” he said. “We had several calls pleading for a return to the old format. Some people say they want more classical. Some don’t like vocal music. Some want more vocal classics.

“We value the people that are 100% antagonistic. We appreciate their intensity, if we don’t agree with them. People are emotionally involved with public radio. When we changed the format, I was still getting letters from people protesting the last change, and that was five years ago.”

The change brings the station into the “classical” music and information format most common among public radio stations around the country, McManus said. It also ended a five-year experiment with the purely news and information format that began in 1981. Before 1981, the station operated with a classical music format.

Along with the music, McManus said, the station will retain its mix of national news and information programs such as “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”

An hourlong weekday national arts program will begin airing Nov. 2. Called “Fresh Air,” the show is produced in Philadelphia. Host Terry Gross profiles authors, painters, musicians and other artists. Before the format shift, KPBS carried “Fresh Air” as a 30-minute show on Sunday afternoons.

McManus also hopes the station will develop “more involvement” with the local arts community.

Last summer, at the request of the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, the station taped the concerts of the society’s Summerfest music festival in La Jolla. But there was a hang-up: money.

The station still hasn’t raised the estimated $5,000 in musicians’ fees to locally broadcast the tapes. For about $8,000 to $9,000, KPBS could send the tapes over a National Public Radio’s national feed, he said.

McManus sees the arts as a vital element in the modern world. “The arts are important to society with all the pressure of today,” he said. “The arts are something we need in our diet.”

While the musical arts are most obviously suited for radio, McManus hopes also to interview local visual artists. He wants to see the station record at least one concert a month, most likely chamber music, for local broadcast.

“We have the finest digital recording equipment and people very skilled at recording,” he said. “And it gives local musicians more exposure.”

The problem remains raising money for this new service.

The latest Arbitron figures should play a role in raising more money. With a larger listener base, McManus expects the coming fall fund drive to bring in more dollars “to make all of this possible.”