KCUR-FM picks up the baton for classical music Public-radio station begins new evening format Monday

There's hope on the horizon for classical music fans. KCUR-FM (89.3), Kansas City's local public-radio station, announced Thursday that it will begin broadcasting classical music four nights a week starting Monday. It will fill some of the void left when KXTR was removed from the FM band last month. "We have a mission to serve our community and to provide for their needs and interests," said KCUR general manager Patricia Cahill. "If there's not another vehicle for classical music, then we can help. This is the logical thing for us to do." The classical program will air 9 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday. It replaces the jazz programs "Take Five" and "The Swing Club." "There's a need for classical music," Cahill said, adding that the area's two other public radio stations - KANU-FM (91.5) in Lawrence and KCMW-FM (90.9) in Warrensburg, Mo. - also play jazz during that time period. Cahill said KCUR will use the 24-hour classical service from Minnesota Public Radio, which also syndicates the popular shows "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Marketplace." It will include NPR news breaks on the hour and the flexibility to break in with local announcements. "Take Five" announcer Mike Pettengell will become the local voice of the new classical programming. KCUR-FM, operated by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, says its agreement with Minnesota Public Radio can be terminated within 90 days if local response is unfavorable. "When you do new programming it's always on a trial basis," said Bill Anderson, the station's program director. "We'll monitor it in several different ways." That will include listener e-mails and phone calls, Arbitron ratings and listener response during the membership drive Oct. 14-21. Anderson says he expects the programming to do well, adding that KCUR and KXTR have a 32 percent overlap in listenership. It dovetails with the schedule of KANU, which plays classical music from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday as well as 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, KCUR's Sunday-afternoon jazz programming will be expanded by an hour, from 2 to 5 p.m. "Am I heartbroken? You bet," said Robert Moore, KCUR's music director and jazz partisan. "But it's radio. Based on numbers and fund-raising and other factors, I could see that jazz was not doing well." Moore says the challenge is now up to classical music lovers. "I think this is a great move for the community. I just hope that they embrace it." - Paul Horsley Slow union talks at 41 In June 1999 producers and technical workers at KSHB, Channel 41, voted to unionize. Nearly 15 months later they still don't have a deal with management. Negotiators for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 53, submitted a proposal in February for the 45 station employees it's representing. That number includes employees of KMCI, Channel 38, now also owned by E.W. Scripps Co. and housed under the same roof as KSHB. The proposal included pay raises and benefit packages comparable to those found at channels 5 and 9, both strong union shops. "We don't view our proposal as unreasonable," said Tarry Younghans of Local 53. "We're wanting parity with the other stations." Beyond that, Younghans said it is hard to compete for production talent with the pay and benefits currently offered at KSHB-KMCI. In rejecting the proposal, management said the contracts at those other stations took years to evolve. But the biggest sticking point may be the union's request for "exclusive jurisdiction," or the "who presses what button" clause. At many unionized stations, employees control who performs the various jobs. Younghans said it's a way to ensure that managers don't replace current staff with unqualified or non-union employees. But a negotiator said management will not accept the "straitjacket" of exclusive jurisdiction. "We are very serious about retaining that right to make assignments as business decisions warrant," said David Holcomb, a partner in the Cincinnati law firm used by Scripps. The two sides have agreed on disciplinary, grievance and substance-abuse policies but not much more. Nor do they expect to reach agreement anytime soon. Negotiations won't resume until October. TV alerts If you're looking for "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies," the newly renamed movie-review show starring film critic Roger Ebert and commentator Richard Roeper, it's at a new home. KCWE, Channel 29, carries the syndicated program at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays. DirecTV, the nation's No. 1 satellite-dish service, is about to begin carrying the local signals of Kansas City TV stations. An Internet-based satellite guide shows channels 671 through 674 have been set aside for the four top-rated network affiliates: WDAF (Fox), KCTV (CBS), KMBC (ABC) and KSHB (NBC). The nation's No. 2 dish maker, EchoStar, already offers those stations to its Kansas City customers. Typically satellite companies don't confirm channels that haven't been launched. But area DirecTV dealers have been advertising the local channels for weeks. - Aaron Barnhart >>>