Weird situation for the Dutch "Alternative" classical station Concertzender

[otterhouse]

Hello all, a bizarre situation has developed in the Netherlands.
Everywhere in the world, classical broadcasters are shutting down,
because of dropping listening figures. In the Netherlands however, the Concertzender,
a sort of "alternative" classical radio station, who many of you might know because of there splendid internet channels,
has to shut down because it has become too popular...

Dutch Public radio host's the Concertzender, and working with 150 volunteers
and a handful of paid staff members, they operate on a basis of 500.000 euro a year.
Cable companies in the Netherlands are now opting to broadcast the concertzender,
instead of the non-classical Radio 6 (operating on a budget many times of the CZ!!).
Instead of looking for a good solution, the co-ordinator of radio 6 just wants to
pull the plug from the Concertzender...

To make things even weirder, a message explaining the situation with a call for
support had to be removed from the homepage !!! The call was mirrored on an other site,
and a small flood of support letters came in, prompting the board of management
of the Dutch public radio to postpone their decision.

Because the Concertzender has also a large international following,
could you please write a mail to: mening@concertzender.nl
and write something like: "Please don't pull the plug from the Concertzender"!
(and a "because... " after that is also an option
For if you never heard of the concertzender, take a look at:
http://www.concertzender.eu/?language=en/
I hope I can count on your support!! And please mail this message to your "music friends" all over the world...
Latest developments can be find at: http://www.concertzender.eu/index.php?id=473

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

You can count on my support!

[karlhenning]

Because the Concertzender has also a large international following,
could you please write a mail to: mening@concertzender.nl
and write something like: "Please don't pull the plug from the Concertzender"!

Done.

[karlhenning]

. . . should I have added, "because you should broadcast my compositions"? 

[mahler10th]

Done here too.

[bhodges]

Rolf, thanks for this notice.  I don't know why I hadn't run across this site before, but there you go.  It looks amazing, if for no other reason than the volume of material available for listening.  I've bookmarked it, hope it will survive, and am happy to send a note supporting it.  Let's hope it works...

--Bruce

[bhodges]

Some good news: On An Overgrown Path reports that the Dutch Culture Minister has halted the closing of Concertzender.

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2008/11/classical-music-community-1-philistines.html

--Bruce

[Lethevich]

I too sent a mail, and am glad it somehow worked, even though I had never heard of the place before