4:09 p.m.
Radio listeners tomorrow will notice some changes to the Washington airwaves.
Two local radio stations flipped formats yesterday, introducing a new playlist at formerly classical 104.1 FM and bumping Mozart, Beethoven and the gang over to WETA, 90.9 FM, which previously aired all-news programming.
“George 104,” which debuted at 3 p.m., features hits from the 1970s and 1980s as well as “whatever we want,” said Bruce Reese, president and chief executive officer of Bonneville International Corp., which owns the station.
“George 104 will give Washington radio listeners another alternative between Top 40 radio and urban stations that currently document the music landscape,” Mr. Reese said.
The station kicked off 104 days of commercial-free programming yesterday afternoon with Sheryl Crow’s “A Change.”
Meanwhile, the demise of WGMS means the rebirth of classical music on WETA. The Arlington public radio station abandoned the classical format in 2005 after 35 years in favor of National Public Radio and other news broadcasts. The station has applied to the Federal Communications Commission to transfer the WGMS call letters to its 89.1 Hagerstown simulcast frequency and, pending approval, it will be known as Classical WETA 90.9 FM.
WETA, which has the strongest FM signal in the area, is also benefiting from WGMS’ library of 15,000 CDs donated by Bonneville.
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