A representative from Columbia told The New York Times that the online shutdown was not due to the recent Copyright Royalty Board decision, which set new rates for non-interactive streams and has caused concern, uncertainty, and shutdowns among the ranks of smaller webcasters. Instead, the rep said the issue was in contractual terms with the station’s provider.
Listeners, especially those outside of New York who cannot access the station on its FM or HD channel, have taken to social media to express their distress about the outage. WKCR is famous for its deep approach to niche programming, especially in classical and jazz. The station is widely beloved for its extensive radio documentaries,some of them lasting for days, celebrating composers and performers on birthdays, anniversaries, and passings. Scheduled for this month are memorials to Pierre Boulez (who died), Max Roach (birthday), and jazz pianist Paul Bley (also died). For many years WKCR has run a celebrated Bach Festival each December.
Unique programming has earned the station a far-flung audience of listeners and financial supporters. Outside of New York City, those listeners feel a mix of loss and anger. “I thought when we make our contribution of support late last year that it was for station improvements, not loss of our listening ability,” one fan commented on a recent WKCR Facebook post. “We’ve financially supported the Jazz on WKCR for many years and this was a definite slap in response to our doing so.”