Comments from the petition: Page 27

people are talking everywhere. i'd rather hear music! good music.

The news of losing our classical music, (opera,etc.) and other programs such as
Caravan is heart-breaking. The news of losing faculty behind these programs is
devastating. How can we boast to be at the vanguard of a classical radio station
with the programming changed to talk radio for a university of this magnitude?

Please, please, let's return to music programming.

I am very disappointed in the changes that have occurred in programming for
WUFT. I was a regular supporter and listened to a wide range of the programs
previously offered. I loved listening to the classics on the great sound system
at my home. Now I am told to listen to a tinny sounding HD radio. No longer can
I relax and enjoy the commute tuned to the radio. Rather, I bring CDs in the car
and leave the radio off. I especially enjoyed ending the week listening to
Theater of the Mind as I prepared for bed. Now it is replaced with a BBC news
loop.My listening has decreased from several hours daily to 1/2 hour in the
morning for the news. I also have concerns about all the staff who were hosts,
what happened to them? I will no longer send WUFT any contributions, as it is
not a station that is meeting my needs.

When Dame Gilian Weir (one of the pre-eminent organists of our time) played at
First Presbyterian Church in 2008, she remarked appreciatively on how the size
of the audience indicated a lively interest in good music. She added that in
order to have good music we have to get rid of the bad music first.
The WUFT change is exactly the opposite of Dame Gilian's insight. Rock 104 was
kept, despite its being indistinguishable from other commercial rock stations
(not to mention vulgar, anti-woman, etc) Classical music was relegated to the
obscurity and inaccessibility of HD radio, thereby giving the back of the hand
to loyal supporters who, supposedly, were "members". If a different audience
wanted NPR talk shows, why not ask them tostep up and buy the HD radios - or put
the NPR talk on 104 - or put it on AM radio (talk doesn't need the fidelity of
FM anyway)? With this decision UF has chosen to follow, not lead, an odd
position for a supposedly flagship university.

Stop the "Talk" schlock, bring back the music.

Please add our voice's requesting WUFT-FM's format be returned to the classical
music style we have enjoyed and supported for so many years.

Way to go! You have destroyed an excellent radio station.

I am terribly disappointed that the station format has been changed. It seems to
me, we have plenty of talk,information and opinions coming at us on a near
constant basis and from many directions. Classic 89 was an oasis of serenity
amid all the hub bub!
I have spent many pleasant hours listsening to the previous music and programs
as I work in my quilting room.My time is now less enriched.
I no longer even turn on your station and I surely will not contribute money to
support the changed format.

Mr. Wright:
Do you know anything about classical music? Could you differentiate a Bach
Contata from a Beethoven Symphony? I doubt if you could. You changed the station
format because talk radio and its impact is what you studied in school. Your
whole career has evolved around your narrow view of the talk radio format, and
once given the chance,you foisted this view on the listeners of Gainesville's
only decent station. I no longer turn on 89.1 since the format change, and do
not expect any funding from me. Moreover, your comment about listener's need to
purchase an HD radio was rude and demonstrates your callous disregard for the
limited technical abilities of some of your older listeners, who are not as
technically savvy as younger ones, or yourself. Please return to the old format
or modify the format to accommodate listners of classical music. Otherwise you
might find yourself isolated by the community that really counts most:
donors.