Scott Cornwall recently turned to our overnight BBC coverage for some information. He wrote this on our Facebook page:
I'm not really interested in British soccer scores, and that's all the BBC is talking about. I was hoping to hear something about Mali, a music festival, or something. At any rate, odds and sods....you should have played Stockhausen all night! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……..
Listener J wrote:
I'd love to be a member and support WHQR, but the truth is a good 1/3 of the time that I would like to listen to you to be informed, I instead get classical music. So, I click the NPR app on my iphone and listen to other stations instead, and often end up listening to them for the rest of the day, even when WHQR is actually broadcasting something other than classical music. I am also not comfortable donating to a station that, from outward appearances, would use 3/4 of the donation for classical music programming on the dedicated, separate classical station as well as the supposed NPR station.
Well, let me offer a clarification. Listener J is wrong in his guess about the proportion of spending on programming for classical music. It's not true. We raise on average more money from our news and information programming than from the classical, including our online and HD channel. And the costs of the HD channel are much less than the costs of music on our main channel. The news and information programming are correspondingly greater than classical music. There’s a pretty good equivalence between hours devoted to programming types, money raised and spent, and listener favorites in surveys.
You've heard on the station about the death this week of William "Paco" Strickland, well-known local guitarist who for many years hosted a flamenco program on the station. We aired some tributes, and will re-broadcast a Soup to Nuts Live show he did for us tonight and tomorrow night at 9. Listener Laf commented on our website:
He will be missed by the whole community! What an artist!
Susan Spalt wrote:
We live in Carrboro, but spend time at Wrightsville Beach and support and appreciate WHQR. I thought you might enjoy these memories of Paco. I heard Paco's Flamenco Cafe one time in 1996 when we were at the beach. I discovered he was playing at a restaurant (now long gone) at the beach and we went to hear him. I introduced myself to him… I asked him if he ever gave lessons. No, he told me, he was not mature enough for that. However, we talked for a while and talked about possibly getting together. Then Hurricane Bertha hit. Sometime after that we had a family party to celebrate surviving Bertha … and invited Paco. Paco arrived with his guitar. We grilled steaks and then Paco and I played guitars together. It was wonderful. While we were playing various dramas played out, people coming and going--I did not want to stop and take time away from the experience of playing with Paco. I saw him many times after that, at concerts, classes, guitar gatherings, but I will always treasure the memory of trying to keep up with him playing in our living room at Wrightsville Beach in July, 1996. Thank you for sharing the memories of him on your website. We will all miss him. He truly captured the spirit of Duende…. He was one of a kind. We will miss him.
Donna from Shallotte wrote:
Perhaps what I love the most [about WHQR] is the combination of excellent national news programming and the distinctly local flavor of the station. I always know where I am, and I am made to feel a part of the community. Wonderful!
Thank you, Donna.
We’d love to hear from you on Friday Feedback, for your questions and comments, likes and dislikes about any aspect of the station. Please fill out our Listener Survey. You can also send us feedback by filling out a Comment below, by sending us an email message or by calling our Feedback line: 910-292-WHQR (9477). And thanks for your feedback.