WTMD(FM), Towson, Md., has tweaked the format of its HD2. It’s still AAA but now airs music from Baltimore-based musicians 24/7.
Called “The Baltimore Channel,” the tweaked format on the digital multicast signal at 89.7-2 launched this week and is also streamed at wtmd.org. The WTMD site hosts a video archive of Baltimore-based band performances and other news about the region’s music scene. Free music downloads are also available from the Baltimore Channel’s featured artist of the month.
Several Baltimore bands have been in the station this week to help launch the channel and take part in WTMD’s pledge drive. Baltimore musicians solicited station memberships on air with WTMD DJs and answered pledge phones.
During the launch, the Towson University licensee was airing a live stream which GM Steve Yasko enthusiastically called “Pledge TV for radio.” Here’s the station site.
Pledging. It kind of takes me back to the days when I was answering the phones after my on-air morning drive shift was done and getting caught up in the excitement; it’s almost like the money people are pledging is really going to you, not the station. (But, of course it is, and occasionally, callers overpromise on their pledge, and then don’t actually send in the money, but that’s a story for another day.) In this case, those who pledge have a chance to enter and win a Polk I-Sonic HD Radio that includes an iPod dock and iTunes tagging capability.
