After 16 years at Chicago’s classical music station, WFMT 98.7 FM, Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Robinson is leaving, today. On the eve of his departure, which was announced last month, Robinson answered a few questions about the station, his long run there, and the future of the business.
I inherited a healthy station. But I increased the amount of live broadcasts that we do. We’re now doing something like 250 a year. Why? Because you can’t get it on Pandora, Spotify, satellite.
For FMT, it’s more than just streaming. For example, Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin [which Robinson created] went on the air in 2003 and now is on 65 stations just in the U.S. It’s also on in Australia and the Philippines and Guam, and it’s heard everyday in Beijing, in English.
Which birthday was that? [Pause.] If I was a woman you’d never ask me that. Seventy. Never felt better.
