Efforts in Europe, however, are something else. The president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra asserts during every fundraising period that WFMT is broader, deeper and more daring than any other fine arts broadcaster in the world today. Those who are more than passingly acquainted with, say, Radio France or the BBC know the assertion is false. A recent ad to get corporate sponsorship also is untrue. Recalling the old days, management claimed its programming is not background music.
Radio is a foreground and a background medium.
We accommodate listeners for both. Which helps explain why mornings and afternoons the station has predominantly short, light selections played by recitalists or chamber ensembles. Brevity combined with a narrow emotional and dynamic range keeps the music pleasing for listeners who have the radio on but are not, in fact, listening. It is certainly a new WFMT that caters to them. Schmidt and Yocom give the impression that the rest of the station's programming should be as successful, but tune in regularly and before long the effort shows itself as formula.