WGBH tells the Globe that when the purchase of WCRB goes through, it will eliminate folk and blues programs because there are other outlets for that in Boston (so good news for WUMB, Boston's other other public radio station) and it wants to keep its programming "unique." And by unique, it means adding news and information shows just like the ones WBUR and WBZ already broadcast.

To keep the station all classical, only now without commercials.

Via Aisle Be Seeing You and HubArts.

Philil Greenspun runs some numbers, concludes that WGBH on-air fund drives don't bring in enough to cover the costs of annoying listeners and driving away advertisers sponsors and that the non-profit station could make up the difference in the compensation of the 14 vice presidents who made between $200,000 and $350,000 a year in 2006. Because, he says, WGBH no longer has a monopoly for the high brow in Boston:

... I'm listening to CBC Classical right now, which is free of all commercials, free of fundraising solicitations, and streamed at a much higher audio quality than WGBH's Internet feed.

Mandatory week off without pay all around, the Boston Business Journal reports.

The Boston Business Journal reports WGBH will let 12 employees go and is making unspecified operations changes, due to declining corporate contributions.

If you have an analog TV and analog Comcast cable service without a converter box, and you turn on WGBH-TV-2 right now, you're going to see something very wrong: video of normal WGBH programming, accompanied by audio of WGBH's continuously-looping Ready for Digital TV special.

The picture says "This TV is DTV Ready" while the sound says, from time to time, "This TV set is not ready for the switch to digital TV in February 2009". Also, the picture is shrunk down and enclosed in a black box.

WGBH says this is a "Comcast engineering problem", not a problem with WGBH's broadcast or with your TV set.

More specifically, its Jumbotronish display next to the turnpike, which is going dark until cooler weather returns or the station installs a new cooling system to keep the LEDs from overheating.

Will is distracted by that giant LED thing that got turned on this week at the new 'GBH building by the turnpike:

What is WGBH thinking?? A massive screen hanging over the highway?? ... I drove by this a week ago as they were testing it and it was distracting enough. ...

Corie Lok reports on the filming of a Nova pilot in which passersby were invited to pose tough science questions to a trio of grad students sitting outside Grendel's Den:

... For about four hours, the graduate students—two from MIT and one affiliated with both MIT and Harvard—fielded dozens of questions, from the straightforward ("How do you measure a decibel?") to the practical ("How can we tell if there’s lead in the crystal glasses we drink from?") and the esoteric ("Which is faster: the speed of light or the speed of thought?"). ...

Michael Pahre relays the news that WGBH tomorrow begins testing a 30x45-foot outdoor TV screen - visible from the turnpike up to two miles away:

... Scheduled to become operational in mid-September - when WGBH formally dedicates its new studios - the 30-foot by 45-foot screen will display slowly changing images that evoke WGBH's award-winning science, history, public affairs, lifestyle, drama and children’s programming. ...

Ed. idle questions: If they pointed it upwards would it be visible from space? And how would it look on a big-ass table?