It deliberately chose to ignore mainstream music in favour of artists that were not being played on the other stations. But, unlike our student station in the 70's, Radio Ragtime was a commercial station. Advertising agencies don't like stations without a definable format. It makes them nervous of buying airtime because, like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, they never know what audience they're going to get. The owners of Radio Ragtime gallantly stuck to their programme policy, but it all ended in tears on September 30th 1999 when economic necessity forced them to sell the station.
Nobody seems sure who they have actually sold it to.
Presumably the Slovak Radio Council knows, as they approved the sale and change of format of the station. But the station has denied that the new owners have any connection to Slovak media baron Pavol Rusko, who has recently bought into other media outlets. Ownership, however, is not the issue that concerns the station's former listeners. Most of the Ragtime presenters have stayed on at the new station, and have pledged to keep the same quality while changing their programming sufficiently to attract more listeners. On October 1, a small group of eight Radio Ragtime supporters protested outside the stations' office, shouting that they wanted new B1 Programme Director Olga Z black to quit.