Wilmington NC Radio: WSFM Drops Classical Music Format

Two years after its debut, the curtain has dropped on Wilmington, NC’s only all-classical-music radio station.

Hometown Wilmington Media's Bach Radio, which began operations Nov. 22, 2011, ceased its programming earlier this month.

WSFM 1180 AM and Translator 95.9 FM will be replaced by a new one that the company will unveil later this month, general manager Beau Gunn told PortCityDaily.com, also owned by Hometown Wilmington Media.

The Wilmington area may not have to wait too long for another 24-hour, all-classical station.

Non-Com WHQR is planning one, and there's "a good chance we'll get one," said Cleve Callison, WHQR station manager. But there is no timetable yet, he added.

Callison said he wasn't surprised that Bach Radio didn't make it.

"I always felt it was an iffy proposition to say that a classical station could support itself with a commercial model, particularly in an area with a public radio station that plays classical music," he said.