6 years or 7?

[navneeth]

When was this station launched? One host says 6 years while another says 7. :confused:

[OperaTenor]

I'm pretty sure they started in 2000, so the answer would be "yes".

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I thought the answer was "42". (The station was already established when I found 'em, I don't know when they launched.)

[DavidS]

Well, the BBB server is sometimes at sixes and sevens...
But like I said, it rights itself when someone gives it a good (re)boot.

[pipergirl]

Originally posted by Selma in Sandy Eggo:
I thought the answer was "42". (The station was already established when I found 'em, I don't know when they launched.)

Quite right, Selma. 6 x 7 = 42 after all. Toss the question to a numerologist and see what comes of it

[navneeth]

I've been listening to this station for about 6 months, but during this time, it has aged by 2 years. So who's been moving close to the speed of light? Oh, wait, it's all relative!

This station has been entertaining people "for 8 years". That's what HRH says these days.

[bignaf]

maybe it's 8 if you count their radio-based radio station.

[piqaboo]

I've been listening to this station for about 6 months, but during this time, it has aged by 2 years.

Well navneeth, I know I've aged about a decade in the last two years... maybe the station had a kid ?

[navneeth]

Well navneeth, I know I've aged about a decade in the last two years... maybe the station had a kid ?

[analog]

WTMI existed as a classical music FM broadcast station in Miami for about thirty years.

In Feb 2000 theyannounced the upcoming sale to Cox. Cox let the classical format run for a year or more, then replaced everybody with horrible automated " dance music" machines and totally lost listenership. To this day I boycott COX stations and any of their advertiser I become aware of.

I'd estimate it was two years before that, 1998, they started Beethoven dot com as a place you could get a free email address. I think it operated then out of the Coral Gables office. Shortly after that they started talking about their internet radio station,,,,
so I'll guess they launched the internet radio station in late 1998. Probably from Coral Gables.

a

[Serenity]

Shouldn't someone at the station answer this question?
Why is this question so important?

[Sarge]

Beethoven.com Hangs Tough
by James Careless

Beethoven.com bills itself as "The World's Classical Music Station." However, perhaps a more appropriate title would be "Dot.com Crash Survivor."

The site has managed to stay afloat since 1999, when it first became a commercial Internet radio station. Today, this classical music Webcaster is breaking even through a combination of smart budgeting, canny ad deals and persistence.

"We're just waiting for advertisers to discover Internet radio the way they discovered terrestrial radio 70 years ago," said Alan Tolz, group vice president of Marlin Broadcasting, which owns Beethoven.com. "We don't know when this is going to happen, but at least we have the staying power to wait."

History

Beethoven.com was originally the Web site for Miami classical music station WTMI(FM). However, by the time Marlin Broadcasting sold WTMI to Cox Radio in 2000, Beethoven.com had evolved into a bona fide Internet radio station, one with its own programming, online identity and Web-based ad sales.

This said, Marlin Broadcasting's managers knew the market was not ready to support commercial Webcasting; especially after the dot.com crash in 2000. This is why they moved Beethoven.com's operations to Hartford, Conn., not far from where Marlin owned WCCC(AM) and WCCC(FM). Then, in a "man bites dog" reverse, the AM was renamed WTMI and turned into a terrestrial rebroadcaster of Beethoven.com's Internet feed.

"Had we not found a way to link Beethoven.com to a terrestrial radio station, we would have had to run it with a skeleton crew," said Tolz. "However, by rebroadcasting our Web feed over WTMI(AM)'s 500-watt signal, we could use the same staff to program the site and the station.

"Since WCCC(AM) had been doing little more than relaying WCCC(FM) at the time, we didn't lose anything by making this switch. In fact, we've been able to pick up some new advertisers, because West Hartford is home to some affluent communities that belong to the classical music demographic."

... WTMI Signs On: March, 1971 - South Florida

Sarge